Spaghetti Squash

Seeing as one of my older boys does work for a vegetable farmer, we have access to the seconds on everything which is grown there.   I am hoping we can get a lot of spaghetti squash so I can sneak it into everything which has pasta in the ingredients.   Tonight’s meal was something I made up similar to a meal I make in the winter anyway.   It is a sort of taco lasagna.   

I mix and cook the following ingredients.

One pound ground sausage

One pound ground turkey

One large onion

a clove or two of garlic crushed

brown all of these and add, one heaping tablespoon cumin and one of chili powder.   The juice of one lime, one large green or red bell pepper,  leftover corn from corn on the cob, twelve or so tomatillas and 12 of romas seeded and chopped.  One large zucchini chopped well.   Then……the meat from one large or two small spaghetti squash.  Stir well.

I then took several packages of tortillas left in the fridge from previous recipes and lined my sheet cake pan with them.   Put half the meat/vege mix over the tortillas, spread the contents of one large container over top of this, add the other half of the meat/vege mix, top it with a bag of cheddar cheese to your liking and then I take the remains of tortilla chips that the kids have left, crushed them and sprinkled over the top.   

I baked it at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes depending on how hot you prefer your dinner and enjoy.   The kids were very happy to eat dinner and didn’t even notice the spaghetti squash.   Tomorrow I am going to try adding a spaghetti squash to my homemade chicken noodle soup but still add the noodles.   We shall see if the kids notice.

Take note my recipe is for a crowd also known as my family.   Cut the amount in half or freeze half in a pan for another time if your family does not require such a large quantity.   

And of course

if you blog on not grousing, then everyone will make you nuts so you are tempted to grouse.   Hee hee.....hee, heh, heh. heh,.........

Don't Stew

I didn't know what else to call this post.   It isn't related to meat.   It is about stewing over past hurts and disappointments.   I read recently, and wish I could remember where, an article about how to avoid letting hurtful words get inside you and fester.   I don't know why the article seemed fresh to me.    I have heard this sort of message plenty of times in conversation, sermons, advice given, but it struck me differently this time around.    The article was completely a reminder to discipline yourself not to give recognition to hurts by repeating them to yourself or to others.  

Examples of this came to mind.   I don't think I go anywhere without hearing women grousing about something.   Famous grousing is over little bitter comments of what their mother-in-law said or mother or neighbor or friend did......at their wedding, while they were expecting their first or second child, at church.    The example helped me ponder what would happen if we could just keep our mouths shut over these little hurts and injustices.   What if.   Well, I think the hurt and injustice would not become cemented in our brains so hard.  We might get along with those people more.   Repeating it just makes it fresh and hurtful all over again and of course we hurt the person who hurt us to begin with.   Why do this?


I think we tell these stories because it is fun and gives us attention and makes us feel better about ourselves.   That is not MY fresh observation (thanks Pastor).   (Thanks Jesus).   Shutting down our urge to grouse is a hard discipline but a worthwhile effort.   It isn't our effort but the work of the Holy Spirit.  

Explaining this further is hard for me to put into words.    Looking backwards, I can think of the many brides who spent years griping about what went wrong at their wedding.   What if..........they just overlooked what happened, if I overlooked what happened that was actually not that big a deal in the great scheme of life, and instead loved our neighbor by forgiving them and shutting up about it.   The hurt would leave the crevices of our mind and maybe we wouldn't have as much fun talking about our neighbor who hurt us.   Would that be so horrible?   50 plus years of grousing can be repeated and to what profit is THAT????   What if someone hurts us this week????   What if we just kept it to ourselves?   What if we didn't confront the person who hurt us (already screwed up with that thought today), then what?   Well, I am not going to try to answer that question but I do know this concept will always be a struggle for us sinners.   Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord that our sin is forgiven.   Thanks be to God that the Holy Spirit gives me a good shake every so often.   Thanks.   I needed that.  

Only brush the ones you want to keep

Chasing after all the little things and big things the kids need to be actively doing, can certainly be exhausting.   Teeth.   I have a hard enough time chasing after mine let alone the kids.   My hubby is better at chasing after their teeth and he hasn't been here much.   So I decided, after seeing a woman my age with disgustingly, screaming white teeth, to have a 'get your teeth whiter' contest.   I took pictures of their grins and next week we are going to take some new pictures and see if there is a difference.   I have picked up two minute hour glass timers (or whatever you call them) and that has helped some in the past, but the mere fact that they don't understand the twice a day concept makes me a bit tired.  

My mom, a dental hygienist by trade, seemed to have no trouble impressing upon us the importance of brushing but there were only two of us.   Charley and I have been boosting bottoms up on the counter, changing table, etc. for teeth brushing for almost 22 years and still counting.   The little ones get help and the older ones, we at this point, we can only pray they are chasing their teeth.   I have made the drill noise when asked what happens if they don't brush their teeth better............they have blank faces in return.   I hate that noise.  

It seems we escape the drill mainly for not drinking soda or juice etc.   They also have a mother who is incapable of making them cookies so that is a plus for them and my pocket book in dental bills.   Their father hates gum chewing.   He inherited that loathing from his parents who probably were strictly opposed to gum chewing from the lack of money for that luxury.   That too has helped.

I think I will go brush my teeth now.   Our reward for improvement in teeth brushing has been decided upon too by-the-way.   One package of Oreo cookies to be woofed by the kids who have shown improvement.   Perhaps we will have one package of Oreo's a week to make sure they are keeping up.

Acknowlegement

Acknowledgement is a word I have been pondering.   I think one of the hardest things to do as a human sinful person, is to acknowledge the person you are having conversation with or email with and stop thinking about yourself.   Wow.  I know I struggle with it.   I see others struggling with it.   Why is it so hard to just reply to questions or even get off our rears to go and help someone as an automatic response to a need.   Well, because we are sinful and caught up in ourselves would be the obvious answer.   

My kids hate it when I do not acknowledge them when I am working on the computer.   They do not like it when I am rushing about the house chasing after messes and can't sit down with them and just listen to them.   It is funny that I see glaringly why they might be frustrated with me over that and then on the other hand I see how impatient I am with others for similar reasons.   It is hard to remember that the person who has asked us something or told us something, might want at least a little 'yes, I hear you' or a reply of some sort.   So my pondering has been weakly focusing on acknowledging my 'people' when they need something and stop thinking about my own lazy butts need to chill in a chair or whatever.   

It is simply hard and please forgive my overlooking of all of you whom I may have offended.   Blessings on your day!

Talking and listening

It seems this is the most challenging thing.   I personally feel the stress of a lot of talking coming at me but how to model not feeling a need to fill the air with talk.   Large families with a lot of talking going on inside their walls can be quite exhausting.   I have many short people and tall people too who have something to say to me.   I am glad they do but it is a struggle to keep listening!   No answer is not an option.   I have been chatting with the kids about turning their focus a bit to listening, ignoring siblings who are purposely trying to get their goat, listening to themselves.   I don't think this will solve the problem, but having an awareness and teaching an awareness of how much talk is going on out of their own mouths and not their neighbors, is making a tiny bit of difference.   I will continue to plug along with this thought with the kids and my own mouth.   Being 46 though might result in my forgetting what the goal is as my forgetting things is the standard.
Proceeding in Faith.........

Married

My eldest was married three weeks ago.    I could blog a lot on that occasion which was every bit the most wonderful occasion and the simplicity that I love which any mom would wish for her daughter.   She and hubby drove away yesterday after picking up her belongings, or as many as she could find in one day, to continue on their journey to New Orleans.   I cried of course.   Hugged her and wouldn't let go.    I didn't want to let her go but she is not meant to be here with me.   I will look forward to her calls and the interchange we can have with good ol' modern technology.  

It was good to witness her husband preparing to return to work and the seriousness of his vocation.   I don 't think the general population understands the life of a professional musician.   I am glad I get a peek at that as it is sort of brain food to me to ponder what all is involved with a symphony members preparations for the joy of those who come to listen.   I admit, I am sort of jealous.   I love playing in the symphony myself but am no where in the league of Son-in-Law.   Hopefully I will get to hear him play someday.

Speaking of vocations, I myself keep up early to have quiet time and also time to get a few things done without running interference.   Sigh.   Maybe I will blog more again????   It is a journey.

Still sleeping

I've decided to try a vitamin pill to see if I just need a boost in vim and vigor.   In between succumbing to the bed magnet, I did manage to whack away some more grass in the field, and find flowers to use at the wedding.   We are keeping that very simple.   In fact everything is pretty simple.   Now I just need to remember to take very good care of said flowers til at least July 6th.   I received instructions and a pep talk from the garden center and hopefully I don't sleep away the time I should be fertilizing and watering.  

Second son planted tomatoes and peppers and went with me to get some soaker hose in hopes of a good year.   He and first son are very enthused to help now that they have been released from SAT preparation bondage.   I am amazed at the willingness to go whack trees and weeds and shrubs out of the woods and walkways.   Their enthusiasm might catch on with me again as I was doing those things before hauling to Massachusetts and back.

My bed.   I love my bed.   It is the best place ever.  Perhaps I can add reading books to the time spent there but I just fall asleep.   It is a very strange thing.   My hubby is dumbfounded by all this sleeping and lounging.

Sleep

I have been making an attempt to catch up on some sleep.   Today my pedometer reported 181 steps at 10:30.   That was the total from getting up to make sure short people were occupied and then returned to bed.   There must have been glue in that bed.   There are tasks screaming at me to get done and yet I didn't give a hoot this morning.   For that matter, I didn't give a hoot the morning before.   Hmmm.....I wonder how late I can sleep in tomorrow?  

Whining some more here......I think sleep deprivation and stress have done a number on my tummy too.   Tomorrow we are having some nice chicken and noodle soup.   I will have to parcel some off for later.   If there isn't time to rest, I am going to ignore the stress and rest okay?  

And I am going to be in deep trouble when the short people get a little older and learn to love their bed too.   Twenty-two years of sleep deprivation........I am allowing myself some freedom to be a sloth this week.  Perhaps next week I will feel perkier.   Goodnight.

Our family is loud

You never notice how loud your family is until a quiet family comes to call.  Of course this was a reminder to me of what happens when I don't make any attempt to quiet the fam down.  My eldest daughter dear is the oldest of nine and is marrying the oldest of nine.   I think her hubby-to-be's Papa stressed the need for people to in the family to keep it to a low roar.   It was his family which came to call and I hope they will be okay with returning.  

Loud

 - I stubbed my toe.
- I have a teeny tiny scratch which mom can't see, but it hurts.
-I am Howard Cosell of the family and must describe everyone's activities as if we didn't notice them ourselves.
- We can't open the peanut butter jar.
- Everyone wants to the center of attention....duh.
- You have headphones in your ears and can't hear your parents calling you (loud parents).
- You are a short person and you like to scream and run around in circles with the other short people.
- You were an only child and you cannot understand why it is loud and then get louder to be heard.
- The manners pictures books are not sinking in.  
- The Tattle Tail book isn't having any effect either.
- Your parents are too tired to take you to time out in your room for the benefit of everyone else's nerves and improvement of headaches.
- Or.........everyone in the family is a comedian and wants the stage.
- the children of all ages have never been in study hall and don't realize that it might be helpful to keep quiet when other people are trying to study.   If no one realizes this then.........

It is true that the loud happens in a louder fashion when there are guests to tell stories to.   Wow.   It will be okay.  

There are many reasons to be loud but there are also some reasons to work on being quieter.   Can a family of eleven  learn to be quieter???    This is what I am pondering now.   How loud we are......sigh.