We're Moving!

A call came to my dh's phone this morning at about 8:45. I thought, no one calls this early unless they live on the east coast. Well they did! My husband got the Professor of Political Science job at Ocean County College in New Jersey! So we will be leaving sunny SoCal sometime in mid-August. I am very happy for this job, but I'm very sad to be leaving all our friends here and the beautiful weather. And my garden.

Here's my dh's post on the topic.

Stay tuned!
Alberta

Updates

Sorry, this is a boring post. It's for my own record, but feel free to read it if you like. I have more interesting stuff to post, but it will have to wait until later!

Resolution Update:

1. Keep up with my exercise routine.
So far so good, but I lose my walking partner next month! :(

2. Eat more legumes.
Good. I have succeeded in adding legumes to all the soups on the menu and I even cooked some in the crock pot and froze them for later. It was so cheap and easy, why didn't I do it sooner?!

3. Write in my journal once a week.
Not as good but not terrible. My Sunday's tend to get swallowed up in primary stuff. I do think journal writing is important, though, so I plan to keep trying to keep my resolution.

4. Write in my blog once a month.
Still good, though my first post this month was a recipe, not really content rich. But, hey, it still counts!

5. De-clutter one room a month.
So the porch didn't go so well. No one on Freecycle wanted my trike or shop light! And I kind of lost my momentum after that. Oh well. I did finally Freecycle the gigantic bookcase that was eating up all the space in my bedroom though! Yay! It looks so much nicer! For May (which is already half over) the de-clutter room is the kitchen. It shouldn't be too bad. As part of the de-clutter, I would like to find a place to put some water storage.

Compact Update:
I can't seem to get my dh or dss to sit down and help me make up an exception list for the compact! We're still following it, it just would be nice to have it in writing so it's not so easy to forget (or cheat). We probably also need a specific 'forbidden' list for things that might qualify, but really shouldn't.

Here's my rough draft of our exceptions (so I don't lose it!):

Food ;)
Underwear/socks (non-fancy)
HP7
School supplies
Craft supplies (ie markers and paper for the boys)
Fabric and notions (but only if I can't use what I've got)
NOT yarn!
Clothes for the boys (mostly my older ds)
Running Shoes
1 (maybe 2) articles of clothing for the adults
Option of 1 new item per person at Christmas
Health and Safety purchases (ie medicine and tires for car and bikes etc.)

This is not really part of the compact, but we're also trying a "no out-of-pocket spending" streak. So far our longest stretch is 6 days in a row! After 20 days (not necessarily consecutive) we will go out to eat. We're up to 9 days. It's been fun and challenging so far. I think it will help keep our expenses down by keeping us from being "nickled and dimed to death".

Later!
Alberta

Broccoli Cheese Soup

So no regular post yet, but I thought I'd better play catch-up since there are a few loose ends in my blog to tie up. So, here's my recipe for broccoli cheese soup, finally! (Sorry Becky!)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

In large saucepan, bring to boiling:
3 cans (14 ½ oz each) chicken broth

Add:
2 packages (16 oz. each) frozen cut broccoli
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp bottled minced garlic (or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced)

Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Transfer half (or so) of vegetable-broth mixture to blender or food processor; cover. Blend until desired consistency. Return to saucepan. Or if you have a hand blender, like I do, just stick it in the pot and blend away! Don't get carried away though, you still want some identifiable broccoli pieces left.

Stir into soup:
1 ½ cups dry milk (could also substitute potato pearls or pureed cooked green garbanzo beans for some of the milk)
¼ cup all-purpose flour (if you are afraid of lumps, add the flour to the blended mixture)
Salt and pepper to taste

Add:
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Stir over low heat until melted. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Serves 6.


Stay tuned for my 'real' post!

Alberta

Cooking Beans the easy way

As per Amy's request, here's the recipe for cooking beans in the crock pot. So easy!

1 (16-oz.) package of dried beans, rinsed and picked over
5 cups very hot tap water

1. In a 3-1/2 quart crock pot, combine the beans and hot water.
2. Cover and cook on the high heat setting 3 to 4 hours (or on low heat for 5 to 7 hours), until the beans are tender but not falling apart.
3. Drain the beans into a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain well before using.

The cooking time can vary depending on the size and age of the beans.

If you don't want to use the cooked beans all at once, you can put them in ziploc bags and store them in the freezer. Then just pull them out and toss them in your soups, salads, whatever!

There you have it! I'll post a regular update soon, but until then you can read my dh's blog and find out about our CRAZY weekend!

Musically,
Alberta

Deaf Video

This youtube video is awesome! I think even people who don't know ASL would appreciate it.
Let me know.
Alberta

Humor Break

I laugh hysterically every time I watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP7tgFBYoMg

Or read these:
http://www.engrish.com/

Especially late at night.

Enjoy!
Alberta

Life in SoCal

It's the season of vacationers! My dh's sister and her family visited us last week and some of my family are visiting us this week. Whew! And I'm sure our primary will have many visitors on Sunday, though not as many as if we were still at the 11am block. And, of course, our dizzyland passes are blacked out for the next two weeks because of vacationers. So it seems that everyone is on vacation except us! Actually, I don't want a vacation so much as I want to MOVE..... but that's a post for another day.

We actually took our vacation a month ago to Utah, and while we were there my bil asked about my favorite bread recipes. I thought I'd post my favorite here. It's for my bread maker and he doesn't use one so I'll just post the ingredients without instructions.

"Bran Bread"
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. butter
3 3/4 flour (divided however. I like 2 cups whole wheat, 1 3/4 cup white or white whole wheat)
1 1/4 cups bran flakes cereal (Kashi "Good Friends" or AllBran "Buds" have the most fiber)
2 Tbsp dry milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast OR 2 tsp. bread machine yeast
I also like to add a 1/4 cup or so of flax seed meal for flavor and texture.

For more great bread recipes visit breadworld.com and join the "Bread Brigade"! Once a month they'll send you an email with four recipes to try, one for each week.

Resolution Update:

1. Keep up with my exercise routine
I did okay. I missed several days due to visitors, but that's pretty typical of my routine. ;)

2. Eat more legumes.
Great! I added beans to all the soups and they were very good. The best was the green garbanzos in the broccoli cheese soup. They thickened the soup nicely and added a vibrant green color. I am right now cooking some garbanzos in the slow cooker to freeze and add to soups later. Next I want to find this book so I can hide beans in my meals and the kids will actually eat them.

3. Write in my journal once a week.
Very bad! I missed three weeks in a row! But I did write yesterday, so this month is starting off right.

4. Write in my blog once a month.
Perfect! I even had an extra post last month.

5. De-clutter one room a month.
Last month's room was easy. I cleaned and organized the cupboards under the sinks and even found some stuff to get rid of. I've started Freecycling it too. For April I'll be organizing the porch. Yikes! It's a mess out there. But it's a good time since I've been thinking about using my grow light to start some seeds and it's sitting out there. There are also two of my younger ds' old bikes out there that need to be freecycled. Unless any of you want them!

As far as "The Compact" is concerned; I still haven't completed our official exception list but we have done very well at not buying "stuff", even things that could be considered exceptions. It has not been easy, but it's easier then I thought it would be. And actually liberating! But then I don't like shopping in the first place. I may actually buy some stuff this week. The boys are growing out of their Sunday clothes and I figure sales will be good for Easter. (Kids clothes are on the exception list, within reason of course.)

And finally whale watching pics! They are still sitting on my camera! Sorry! Maybe I'll do a mid-month post....

It's all good,
Alberta