Recipe Time Again

Fish In Foil

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Fish - Tilapia, Salmon or Red Snapper

Garlic - 3 cloves

Dried Thyme - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 1/2 stick

paprika - to taste

lemon juice - to taste

salt & pepper

scallions (spring onions) - 1/2 cup

Method:

Take a piece of foil and put the fish fillet in the middle. Now take a small sauce pan and heat  it up, add butter, thinly sliced garlic, dried thyme and let it warm up with the butter to infuse butter with the flavor. Take off the heat in a few minutes.

Season the  fish with salt, pepper and paprika. Squeeze on some lemon juice.

Now pour at least 2 to 3 tablespoon of the butter with garlic slices onto the fish.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of scallions if you want.

Now roll-up and pack up the fish in the foil and put it in the oven at 350F on a baking sheet. Let it cook for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets adjust the time.

Fish comes out juicy and delicious. Serve with mashed potatoes and a side of spinach.

I Got My Cool On!!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, and that's what I did on the weekend. Yes people I picked up my mama-butt and went to a concert. After four years for the first time went and did my thing without my kids or hubby in tow. Thanks to my peeps who dragged my sorry ass to this exhilarating concert otherwise I could have easily just sat at home and changed diapers and folded laundry in my sweats. I came back home high on the experience and now when i am cleaning poo and scrubbing orange juice off the carpet I have a spring in my step. I probably did not realize how much it means to 'get a break'. I might not be complaining for a while I guess and that kind of gives me a lot of free time, hm.. what do I do now. I think I used to be nervous and guilty leaving my kids even for a few hours. It was hard for me to let go and trust that they'll be okay even with their dad. Thank God for my husband that he forced me to go to this thing. I guess he did it for his own sanity as well as mine because I was about to loose it. Dancing on chairs is good for you moms, should go do it once in a while.

Packing for A Two Day Trip

Feels like i'm moving, really does. If only you could see the amount of stuff I have to pack to go on a two day trip your eyeballs might pop out. Apparently I'm going so I could have fun but as of right now it feels like work. I've been getting things ready since yesterday believe it or not and I have to leave today in the evening and i'm thinking even then i'll be running around like a chicken getting everything together. Writing this isn't helping my time management but procrastinating seemed to be logical at this time. Whenever I go somewhere I think it takes me three trips to the car to get everything inside, and then we are the first leave because 3 or 4 hours is the maximum time they give us. I guess the smaller you are the more stuff you need to compensate for your size. Anyways enough chatter got to go back to my packing, two carry-on's and a diaper bag left. UGH!

Encouragement Vs. Criticism

As I sat researching about behavior issues of toddlers it hit me, my baby is actually a tiny person. I know you always think about them that way but to actually act and respect them as little persons is something at least I wasn't doing.The more I read the more I became conscious of the fact that I better mind my words and my attitude in front of her.I went in to this blog thinking how I'll write that kids need more criticism than the ridiculous encouragement band-wagon everyone is getting on. But guess what the first thing I come across is, a poem by Dorothy Law Nolte, a few lines in respect to this blog are:

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence

That made me instantly realize that's how I am, I am a person who condemns since I come from a place where criticism is the integral part of your upbringing. Confidence I lack and the reason is apparent. I apparently have to change a very basic and engraved part of my personality in order to give my kids the confidence I desperately want them to have.

Encouragement is easy coming but criticism and by that I mean constructive criticism or behavior-correcting stances that you have to take are tricky business. First of all if a kid breaks something or does something wrong, we have to stop our reflex action. Kids get in to trouble at least 50 times a day and if every single time I get frustrated, say demeaning words and criticize her for her actions it will be devastating for her personality. Now I know I have to stop, calm myself down, gather my thoughts and make an act-consequence routine.

I think I related criticism with rejection. But I realized one had nothing to do with the other. My point is to teach kids what rejection is and how to deal with it. It is an integral part of growing up and I want my kids to know how to accept and deal with it without getting depressed. 

Encouragement however, I realized the more the merrier. Like us adults, if someone says something nice and if we get appreciated even for the smallest thing, it stays in our heads for the longest time and makes up happy happy happy. 

So everybody out there great job and well done for all the good work done. Keep it up.

Yard Work

It's not like I do any but it makes me mental!! The thing is it's my husbands all-time favorite, back-breaking, labor-intensive, muscle-pulling pass time. So the minuscule time he is at home and can take care of the kids in any way he's got a long long list of things to do in the yard.I mean I definitely enjoy a lush green lawn but hey am still stuck with my diaper-changing, baby feeding, behavior-managing duties. I just want to do something other than what I do 24 hours of the day. And after he's done he's pulled at least a muscle to have a genuine reason to plop on the couch and be served painkillers and food. I told him well how about I do all the yard work instead, he thought I was being funny. I mean it would just tank his reputation in front of the neighbors. So now it's just become yet another thing the wife nags him about. Darn this nagging tag that we poor women have to deal with...i swear husbands nag the same its just called 'reasoning' when they do it. I think if I can somehow manage to get involved in the work I'll be very happy. I do enjoy the yard work if he lets me touch it, I just don't wanna end up running after the kids. I think when he says 'honey will you watch the kids while I do this' makes me loose my head because i'm thinking 'what the hell do you think I was doing with the rest of my time'. I guess it's sort of their escape, like golfing, but you have to teach them the concept that we need time off too. Being a stay-at-home-mom does not automatically mean break-time 24/7. I guess I need to go shopping more often.

Why God should give mom's a pass on the Flu

Here's the thing when moms get sick.....nobody cares. That just about rounds it out. You could have 103F fever, chicken pox and a stomach bug altogether and still no one will get you a glass of water and a cup of soup. Except you will hear Mommy!!! where's my milk, honey where are my socks and the baby throwing food at you instead of eating and dirtying 5 diapers instead of 3. I swear if only, only if, however many ways  you can say it, can we Phulease get a day off. Try throwing the day-off idea to the husband and he'll look at you like you've asked him to give birth. I know I complain alot but whats a blog for. One of my aunts once told me pre-kids that the only people who will ever genuinely ask you how you are doing are your own parents. Those are the only two people who would ask if you feel better, if they could come over and feel bad for you. I think it's what she told me that keeps me from going loco on Mr.Z and the kids. This darned Flu that i've had the past few days has tested my limits of patience and my driving skills. Try driving with a migraine and two screaming kids and i'll ask you how far you get. Well you'll make it home from the grocery store but don't try to do more. Here's to taking care of yourself.

Flopsicles

Okay so has anyone ever tried making Popsicles with a 2 or 3 year old. Well this dude Zefronk (mom's who watch Playhouse Disney know who i'm talking about) let me on to it. So I decide why not, sounds like fun and my kiddo loves them so much she can go through at least four in five minutes. So I set up the table and bring out this popsicle holder thing with colorful sticks and things, my new carton of orange juice, a new paper towel roll and a spongy sponge. So we started pouring juice in the little sections and sticking the sticks in. The darn thing took about more than half the orange juice carton. Then my daughter thought that dipping the sticks in and out in and out in and out and licking them was just toooo much fun and ooo soo yummy. So we did that for about 30 minutes and i think dumped about a cup of juice here and there. Anyways, after a fight and some resistance I talked and bribed her into putting the thing in the freezer and explained to the best of my abilities how this juice will turn into a Popsicle stick which will be the awesomest thing in the world. Well she bought into the whole deal and I had to pull and push to close the freezer door. Now about 20 seconds later she's like mommy are they done yet? I'm like no girly you have to wait, I swear if she could talk better she would've said...what the hell does 'waiting' mean. So I tried to explain the concept of time and space and how the hands of the clock go one way and what the numbers represent (woooff). well 10 seconds after I was done she said, mommy are they ready yet? I was about to pull my hair off,not really but you know if mom's pulled their hair out everytime something like this happened we will be bald by the time the babies are 3 months old. Well I was like lets play this that and the other she agreed. After 2 minutes she comes and says so mommy can I have ice cream instead...I was like ohhkay so as soon as I open the fridge she crawls from under me and pulls out the popsicle tray...sneaky sneaky kid. One more cup of juice on the floor and in the freezer. At that point I just took it out and let her lick the sticks till the juice was done. So ladies and gentlemen I suggest this...unless your kid knows what "waiting" and "freezing" means do not attempt to make popsicles. Thank you.

O Sleepless Nights

man O man how many sleepless nights can one take. Well after two kids I realized quite a bit. I mean you won't be the sweetest pumpkin pie on the block but you can survive. My older one always had sleep issues so I read almost anything and everything on how to make babies sleep better was even tempted to order a fifty dollar book but dear lord O mighty the words 'baby' and 'sleep' do not go together in atleast my dictionary. I used to bathe and massage her every night before bed and she still got up every hour and a half to two hours.  The first year you might get a full nights sleep once in probably 3 or 4 weeks. With my older one though I got a continuous 4 hours of sleep once in 13 months. The only thing that helps is if you teach your baby to fall asleep on their own without any aid...no bottle, no binky, no rocking, no singing, no dancing. For alot of mom's out there you know that sometimes you don't have a choice and at one point you want the darn thing to just go to sleep (I say that with all the love in the world). With my second baby my mom suggested a binky to help sooth her to sleep, now I wake up three, four times a night to go find it for her and give it to her. Seriously, one time my neighbor, she has twins by the way, told me the twins took 4 hour naps and slept 12 hours straight at night, I thought she was taunting & teasing me. Who are these people and who are those kids man....what am I doing so wrong.  

Any hooo, the best solution to this problem I found was to let the baby go to sleep on their own and they'll do that after crying and whimpering a bit becasue da da da rein...they know as little tots how to manipulate and blackmail you into picking them up and being there for their every illegal need. Well sometimes the crying is a bit much so do go and sooth them because they have to know you are around. And as i'm writing this my baby has woken up in the middle of her sleep so..back to my 24 hour shift. Good luck to the other moms out there.

Recipe Time (Great for Lunch)

JUMBO SHELLS WITH SHRIMP & ALFREDO SAUCE

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2 to 3

Ingredients:

Jumbo Shells -  15 to 20

Shrimps - cooked, small (20 to 30)

Alfredo sauce - one bottle (any kind)

Cajun seasoning - to taste

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, add salt to taste and the jumbo shells. cook till aldente'.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a frying pan, add the shrimp and season with cajun seasoning and a pinch of salt. Cook till done and set aside.

Take the cooked pasta shells arrange then in an oven-proof serving dish and put 2 shrimps in each shell. Pour the entire bottle of alfredo sauce on top. Sprinkle cajun seasoning. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes.

Serve with garlic bread.

You can easily add more to this dish, but this is the basic spin on it. It's easy, quick and yummy. I always have these things in my pantry and a bag of frozen cooked shrimp in the freezer so it's a quick meal any day.

Hope you guys enjoy.

First Park Day

It was the first nice day of spring and who wants to stay home right. Lo and behold a plan for a trip to the park was made thinking what a good idea. For some reason completely being oblivious to the fact that it might be everyone's idea. Let me tell you the darn park was so crammed that I had to park on the street. It was like people had been put off of of house arrest or something. Anyone who was anyone was there at this teeny little park having lunches and mommy play groups and what not. Tough winter is all I can say. The awkward thing though is that you make small talk with every mom you stand with while giving your child a push on the swing, or trying to keep them from going up the slide instead of down, during all this time you know how many kids they have, how old they are, what they do for a living, how their husbands are and then not even know their name.Then all of a sudden you go well Bye, see you again sometime (maybe). Is it just me who feels weird because i'm always thinking should I have given my phone number, she seemed so nice, should've atleast told my name etc etc. Anyone with a better send-off edition please let me know.

Busy Food

For a baby pasta is like the best food I think you could give. I mean screw the nutritional value they can easily kill an hour just playing with the darn thing. Anyways make it with a little bit of ground beef, tomato sauce and garlic powder I guarantee your baby will eat it and it will be good for him.
The older one is now into computer games. She plays for a coupla hours at a time. It was well quite exciting at first that she could open the laptop, enter the password, open explorer and go on her webpage all by herself and play. Now it's been a week and i'm thinking do I restrict it, do I limit it, I don't know it seems kids get a bit isolated playing these games and they seem so darn addictive. I can give her this much as of right now when I ask her to click on the red 'x' and close the computer she listens. Wonder how long that will last. Spring is here so thank God we can take them out to play, really really looking forward to that.
By the way the previous poop issue seems to be settling down, sorry for talking about it in the first post, but people it's not only mom's who are so interested in poopy business i mean Oprah doesn't have kids and see how excited she gets.
Would love comments from anyone reading the good the bad or the ugly, here anything goes.

Here go's

I'm a stay-at-home mom of two little girls. One is three and one is nine months old. Let me tell you the things I encounter with my three year old sometimes boggle my mind. For some odd reason the baby is less trouble. Either I think parents are too hard on their first-born to begin with or its just me. The latest thing in the book is "mommy my tummy hurts". UGH!!! it just drives me nuts because I really don't know whats going on with her and what I should do about it. I remember as a little girl I had the same thing I think I must have bugged my mom for about 6 or 7 years with the tummy ache problem. Now I know why she just lost her poor mind when I said the same sentence pretty much 5 times a day every day. Well my 3 year old was having bad poopies for a month and then few weeks ago she caught a stomach bug so I did ask the pediatrician and she put her on the Lactose-Free milk so now i'm in the testing phase. Gotta run that for about 2 weeks and then we call for poop cultures. And mom's out there only you can know how its gonna go when it comes to taking a sample. By the way people it was such a relief for me to know I had an alternative to milk and I didn't have to cut it out of her diet because you can't take them off milk that easy.Hmmm.. wonder if we could do the same for infants, give them that lactose-free formula when the catch those bugs here and there. Well sweet dreams to all the mommy's out there, we know how rare sleep-full nights are.