Menu planing for the last week of Feb.

This week is WSU's festival of contemporary music and most of the events are taking place Wednesday and Thursday night. I'm sitting in on music theater auditions Monday and Tuesday night. 

It's a nutty week and we needed to plan recipes that are quick and easy.

Monday

Flatbread with cranberry sauce, sautéed onions, and goat cheese.

What's the difference between flatbread and pizza anyway? I read something somewhere that said that pizza has yeast and flatbread doesn't... anyway, it's pretty yummy.

Tuesday

Bun cha

This is a Thai dish that our friends Keri and Andy introduced us to. It's so good, a bit complicated, but totally worth it. And perfect with a cold beer.

Wednesday

Flank steak tacos with cowboy beans

Aleks puts the meat in our sous vide a few days before and then finishes it off in the skillet.

Do you know what a sous vide is?

The French translation is "under vacuum."

Basically you vacuum seal the food you want to cook, fill the machine up with water, set the temperature, and then let your food cook in the water bath.

It's kind of like a slow cooker.

When we first got it, I thought we'd use it for a week and then put it in the garage. Well, I was wrong, we use it all the time.

Totally worth it.

Thursday

Indonesian peanut chicken in the slow cooker with rice

I've never made this before, so we'll see how it turns out.

Friday

Won ton soup.

I made potstickers last week and froze the extras.

This week they're going into soup.

We hope you all have a fabulous week!

Tooth Watch 2012 and other updates

 My darling 17 (almost 18) month old Ruby Ann has cut her second tooth!

She now has her bottom front left tooth and her top front right tooth. Watch out raw carrots, we're coming for you!

She's also saying bird- "ba", ball- "ba", pacifier- "ba", pancake- "pa", and "mama" and "dada."

Why should she talk when her sister does it for her?

The other day we made masks, which was a huge hit.

It's surprisingly hard to get the eye hole to nose cutout ratio correct.

Ruby's was the second one I made and it fit better. I think she looks like an owl.

Mark your calendars people!

Aleks is having some music premiered at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 9, 2013. 

You are all invited. 

Seriously. 

It's going to be amazing. You can check out more details here.

We interviewed a new nanny on Thursday and I'm really encouraged. I think it's going to be a great fit. With just that interview I feel like the chaos is starting to be contained.

This week is a busy one. It's WSU's Festival of Contemporary Music.

I'm performing on Wednesday night, the first time since we've moved.

Also, Nana's coming to help out! We can't wait to see her!

I got a haircut.

Well, I got them all cut. (*Groan*)

It's no Chelsea cut, but it's better than the last one.

I'm feeling homesick today for Pullman.

Ha! I never thought I'd say that.

So, here's a shout out to my Pullman friends, "hugs to you all!"

Menu for the week

Each Sunday, Aleks and I plan our menu for the week and go grocery shopping. We've found that it saves us a lot of money and is worth the extra time it takes.

I have to admit that often there are times that we get stuck in a rut and waste a ton of time starting at a blank sheet of paper before we are able to come up with dinner ideas.

There are other blogs that post menu planning, and I've found them somewhat helpful, but I think that there can never be too many ideas.

So, I thought I'd share our week's meals with you and who knows, maybe this will help with your dinner ideas.

Monday

Leek and potato soup- Alice Waters

Homemade bread from this book:

Tuesday

Homemade pizza with sausage, caramelized onions, and mozzarella cheese. No tomato sauce, just a drizzle of olive oil. (I'll put peas on my slices).

Wednesday

Wheatberry and arugula salad from:

Thursday

Roasted turkey breast with cranberry sauce and broccoli.

Friday

Crazy day= take out

Let me know if you have any favorite recipes to share, I'd love to try them out!

Flower-gedden

Three weeks ago I went to Michaels to buy some felt for a possible Valentine's Day project.

(Here it is- completed a day before Valentine's Day)

I also purchased a 6 inch florists styrofoam ball.

I saw this on Pinterest and was interested in replicating it for Maia's room:

My sister-in-law taught me how to make felt flowers, and since I love felt, I thought I'd use it instead of paper.

I headed back to Michaels, where I picked up 16 sheets of pink felt. I cut each sheet in half and then created ovals by rounding the corners. I cut the ovals into spirals and cut a wiggly edge on the outside of the spiral.

Then I rolled the felt, starting at the outside end until I got to the middle. I used a glue gun to secure the finished flower.

Once the flowers were made, I glued them to the ball. 

So, 16x2= 32 flowers. 

Which covered a little less than half the ball.

As I was gluing flower 25 or so, I began to grasp the enormity of this project.

So, back to Michaels, where I picked up 14 more sheets of pink felt, which created 28 more flowers.

This time, the felt sat on my work table for a week.

Finally, this past weekend I buckled down and whipped up more flowers.

And then I started gluing them onto the ball.

And realized that I was still going to need more flowers.

So, Aleks was still out of town and we happened to be by Joann's, so I picked up 7 more sheets of pink felt there. That night I cut, and rolled, and glued with a renewed sense of determination and drive. Then I took the flowers upstairs to glue them onto the ball and discovered that it was a different shade of pink.

Blerg.

At this point, the felt flower ball was not going to win.

The next day I went to Michaels with a scrap of the correct felt and finished this sucker.

I used a glue gun to attach a hook to the ball. I'm a little concerned about the weight of the whole thing and have daymeres of it falling on Maia's head in the middle of the night, but Aleks seems to think it will hold.

I was going to wait until it was hung to post this, but honestly, I don't know when that is going to happen. So, here it is finished (all 74 flowers!) and I'll be sure to add a picture of it hanging in Maia's room at some point.

The original plan was to create three of these in different colors, but I don't know if it's worth it.

If you're laid up in bed for a few days, I'd say go for it and make your own. 

Otherwise, this might be one decoration worth buying.

Memorial Video

My family held a memorial service for Grandpa on Friday. 

Since we couldn't be there, I made this video to be shown at the gathering.

Peter Sr. from Emily Sternfeld-Dunn on Vimeo.

It's gonna be a long weekend

The girls and I dropped Aleks off at the airport this morning.

As soon as we pulled away from the curb, Ruby spit up all over herself and her carseat.

A rather ominous beginning, but story time went great, the girls behaved themselves in the grocery store, and then as soon as we set foot in the house, it all went crazy.

Ruby had her first time out today. And her second. And her third.

All because she is throwing her food onto the floor in a fit of rage. She so desperately wants to talk and gets frustrated to the points that she turns into a demon and starts spitting fire and venom.

I thought after a nap, she's be in a better mood. But it was more of the same.

In her defense, we're on day 5 of her first cold ever. Actually, it's the first time she's ever been sick with anything. And she's got 2 teeth trying to cut through.

My Aunt Annie once told me that water is a great cure for cranky kids, and sure enough, after a bath, Ruby was relatively happy for the rest of the afternoon.

Well, not happy enough to avoid her 2nd and 3rd timeouts, but still...

And yet, in the midst of our less than peaceful house, there were some real gems today.

1. When Ruby was in timeout for the first time, she started to get up and I said very sternly "Ruby, sit down." Now, Ruby was already crying and as soon as I said that, I heard a real, "I'm hurt", cry from Maia. I looked over at her in surprise and said "why are you crying Maia?". She stopped crying, looked at me, and said "Well, Ruby doesn't want to be in timeout." 

That empathy is going to serve her well in life.

2. Maia was in timeout and Ruby brought over Maia's socks to her big sister. Maia paused from her fake crying to say "No Ruby! I'm in timeout!"

3. I made popcorn for the girls today and as the popcorn was nearing the top of the pan the sound changed. Maia called from across the room, "Is Ruby tooting?"

4. Ruby was crying today (surprised?) and Maia came over to her and started patting her back. Maia asked "What's wrong little sister? What's wrong?"

5. Earlier today Aleks posted a status on Facebook and included a hash tag, that said #thisiswheremyjobtakesme. Later, I texted Aleks to let him know that it was snowing here, but not sticking. This was his response.

Sadly, we're out of wine, but tonight I'm roasting broccoli, which in my opinion is the only way to eat it.

A little olive oil, salt, and a dash of panko at 400F for 20-25 minutes and you've got the most amazing broccoli you've ever had. 

And I don't have to share.

Hump Day

Is it only Wednesday?

I feel like things are a spinning out of control and it's all I can to do keep my head on straight.

I'm under the illusion that things might get better by the weekend, but in reality, I think it's just going to be a rough semester.

1. Our sitter backed out on us last minute and so we've been scrambling to try and find someone new. Without any family near, we don't have a cushion for times like this. We're making it work, but I'm starting to forget what Aleks looks like; we're always passing each other as one of us heads out the door.

2. Suddenly I'm on the board for 2 different organizations and trying to start a new music ensemble for Kansas composers and musicians. All of which I am very passionate and excited about. All of which I have no time for.

3. Aleks and I are trying to be healthy and exercise on a regular basis. He's been getting up at 5:00 a.m. on the weekdays to head to the gym. I've been going when Aleks gets home from work, before dinner. Since it was beautiful today, I thought I'd put the girls in the double stroller, strap on my new Garmin watch, and go for a run so that Aleks and I could eat earlier and spend more time together tonight.

I'm never doing that again. A) Running with the double BOB sucks B) the girls get too bored. It was a disaster.

4. The other moms at Maia's dance class and the girls' story times are super sweet, and all of a sudden it seems that every one of them lives in my neighborhood. Potentially awesome. I just don't have time to get to know them!

So, to cope, I'm making these tonight. Perhaps not the most responsible thing to do, but maybe I'll take them to my new neighbor friends tomorrow.

And while Aleks and I are busy handing off the kids and taking them to work with us, they are pretty wonderful.

And the weather has been beautiful. I feel like it's spring. And the other day the sky looked like this as I was leaving work.

And my aunt sent me these old school pictures of my dad, which makes me really happy.

And even though finding the time to work out is hard, this weekend I ran 5 miles. In a row. Without stopping. 

I was pretty excited.

I know things will settle down soon enough.

My fingers are crossed that I make it until then!