Through the Glass Dimly

In an effort to reduce our monthly grocery spendings we are going to be eating less meat. Tuesday (my husbands Saturday) I sat down and went over the grocery store flyers to find out what was on sale, and build my menu for the next two weeks based on sale items and reasonably priced foods.  Tofu was on sale......  dun. dun. dun!!! So, for a dollar I could get a package of tofu if I bought in groups of 3.   I liked the idea of buying this cheap tofu because I was looking for ways to increase our protein while cutting out several "meat meals" a week. But I have NEVER been brave enough to cook tofu. So, I  scoured the internet for interesting recipes that I could make with tofu that sounded fun and interesting to make. And then I came across this recipe: Tofu Alfredo What a great idea, says I. Alfredo Sauce is one of my loves BUT one that I always feel guilty about because of all the heavy cream and heart clogging factor.  ... and on the menu it we...

This has been an unusual week. We live in the basement suite of a house. Over the last month of living here, I've been irritated on numerous occasions with the tenants above us who have yelling matches and frequently make use of the "F-bomb" during said yelling matches. Not good when you have a one year old learning to speak. And also not good when you are trying to get a baby to nap during the day. I had just imagined that we would probably move out at the end of our 6 month lease because of this (although we love the basement suite-its quite cute!), but last weekend we found out that these loud tenants would be moving out. They are an odd pair of roommates. A woman who seemed to be in her late 50's, who most obviously has lived a hard life, and a man who appeared to be in his mid 40's. The man had a bad temper, and the woman was always peaking out her windows in, what was to me, an I-Spy-With-My-Little-Eye creepy kind of manner. I never actually met either o...

Josh and I had the opportunity to go for an ultrasound of our baby #2 last week. We learned that day that we are having another girl whom we had already decided to name Margaret Anne Barnett, aka Maggie. Here is Maggie's picture. I'm pretty sure she's adorable. So Thursday was my regular prenatal appointment for this month. It had been a week since our ultrasound when we found out who we are expecting. We got some less than awesome news about our little Maggie Moo.  Maggie apparently has a cyst in her brain, but no other abnormalities. Its called a Choroid Plexus Cyst. Apparently these cysts are quite common and tend to go away on their own before the end of the pregnancy, if there are no other issues. However, it does mean that she has a greater chance for Trisomy 18, which is normally a 1 in 3000 chance for a normal pregnancy, but when there is the presence of this type of cyst the chances go up to 1 in 300. So we will be monitoring our sweet little Maggie, and havi...

As I write I am 9 weeks pregnant with baby #2. For the last 3 or 4 weeks I have felt really really yucky. My confession is this: Pregnancy seems to bring out the worst in me... I was thinking about that the other day. My mood is never worse, my energy so low, my ability to make dinner almost completely goes away, and I seem sad all the time in what should be a HAPPY joyous time. The nausea medicine I just began taking last week makes me sleepier than sleepy all day long. I am so not proud of this. Some people are good at being pregnant. Some people are still sick, but manage to maintain their super-woman-hood: ie my sister. Lindsey is pretty amazing to me. All her talk about cleaning and cleaning products and making fabulous meals, while having all day morning sickness... well that sounds miraculous to me. Washing a load of laundry is probably the extent of my energy expenditures during the day... and that is just washing it and drying it... I can never quite seem to get it fol...

I suddenly awoke to my heart beat sky rocketing. It was literally 180-200 beats per minute. I hadn't had a bad dream. I wasn't extra stressed about anything in life. I was 25, 9 months into a brand new marriage, and was living in Houston, Texas surrounded by good art. That morning changed everything. My husband called an ambulance and the paramedics came. I laid on my couch in my living room while they struggled to find a vein to start my IV. Finally, after 5 attempts the iv was in. As I searched for my husbands face and held his hand I was told they were going ton push a drug that would cause my heart rate to beat normally. My heart was still pounding 180-210 per minute, and was extremely irregular. My chest was beginning to ache from my heart working so hard. "This is going to feel really weird" they told me, as I grasped Josh's hand so tightly and stared into his eyes. And with that they pushed this medicine that made my veins feel greasy, made my heart f...

We are in love with these burgers!!!!!! Wow were they ever good. I think this is the best new recipe I've made in years. I made some changes to the original recipe to make it my own (as always). Just wanted to share with you: Indian-Spiced Turkey Burgers 1Ib Extra Lean Ground Turkey 4 Scallions, thinly sliced 3 Tbs Chopped fresh ginger 2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice 1 Tbs Paprika 2 tsp Ground Cumin 1/2 tsp ground cardamon 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper coarse salt and fresh ground pepper Vegetable Oil Whole Wheat Pitas Halved 1 Cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on the diagonal 1/2 C fresh cilantro sprigs Preheat grill to medium high. In a bowl mix together the turkey, thinly sliced scallions, ginger, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, cardamon, cayenne, 1 1/2 tsp coarse salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. Gently form the mixture into 3/4 inch patties (I made minis so I could put 2 in each pocket). Oil your grill with the vegetable oil. Season patties with coarse salt...

I don't write because I don't think I have anything brilliant to say. I don't create because I don't think I will make the greatest piece of artwork ever made. And I did not write this because its brilliant (it most definitely is not), but because writing has a kind of therapeutic value for me. I always felt like I had something to say before, but I'm in a new stage of life... a stage where I know very little about anything. You can always know that your life is going to change dramatically whenever you get to a point where you think you have things figured out. You think you have the puzzle pieces that make everything make sense. I remember wanting this. Desiring to be a wife and stay at home mom so badly. I remember my sister saying something like, "Shouldn't you aspire to be something greater?" I was so mad. So now this is my life. Its funny how 10 years changes you as a person. How different I am now from when I was 17 and in high school,...