bullets

• We inherited an outdoor cat to solve our mouse problems from some friends who moved away.  Our outdoor cat has suddenly become an indoor-sleep-on-Rufus's-bed-22-hours-of-the-day-until-I-put-her-out cat.  My husband likes We like her though. 
• I've decided that my favorite daytime listening Pandora station is "70's easy listening" - there is rarely a song I don't love.  I know, I should work in a doctor's office.
• I'm seeing my sweet Squirt blossom at four and a half years old.  I agonized over the thought of him going to Kindergarten this fall, but now I think he's really ready.
• Two weeks ago a dear friend and I set up a "let's meet for dinner come hell or high water" night.  That night was last night.  It was blissful.  We ate lots of food including fried green tomatoes.  We talked and talked and laughed until the restaurant closed and then we walked to my car, I drove her to her car, and we talked for another 30+ minutes.  I left with a smile on my face.  It was a treat.
• Fifth grade homework sucks.  I hate that projects become MY work and I wind up caring more about his responsibilities than he does.  Then again, I thought that midnight feedings sucked until I was on my third and fourth child and then they were easy.  So maybe fifth grade will be like that.  Or maybe not.
• I hate the school science fair.  Please refer to my previous bullet.
• My kids are so hungry when they come home from school.  Today I have dinner prepared for them at 3:30 so we can eat for real and then a snack later.  I'll report back with how that works.
• One of my older children still wets the bed at night and I've gotten my hands on a "potty pager" to try to train the stubborn child out of the habit.  Last night was the dry run, except it wasn't dry, it was wet, more than once, and he hates wearing it.  I hate pee, so there.
• The first part of January was spent painting Mrs. Nesbit's room, and since we've lived in this house six and a half years and I've been looking at dingy not-so-white walls and ugly light fixtures in my bedroom, I just decided to push on through and paint that room too (which happens to be a rather large bedroom).  Ceiling, trim, walls, outlets, light switches, and light fixtures are all new now.  I was an aching, messy, paint covered, non-showering woman on a mission for an entire week, but it is done and I love it!  Now we are drooling over the thought of new carpet, and I hate to drool.
• Because I know you're wondering, our adoption paperwork is in the final stages and we look on track to leave for China on March 14th.  My waves of anxiety have started regarding our/her transition and I'm clinging to the proven fact that God works good through the hard stuff in life.  Not that I wish it to be hard, but I want more of God for sure, so pretty much I can't lose, right?
• The ski season has been a total BUST so far and I am actually praying for several big, powdery snow storms to crush our little town so that I can frolic on the slopes sufficiently before I bring a precious two year-old home from China.  Have you ever known me to pray for snow?  It's bad, people.

friends, food and healthy competition

Last weekend we had this good lookin' family over for dinner (sorry Katie, I had to steal it!).

Hubby and Tyler are hunting buddies, oh, and they also work together.  Tyler and his wife Katie have three gorgeous kids - I'll call them "Spunk," "Glitter" and "Teddy."

On the way to our house, Katie was giving them the "be well behaved, or else" lecture that we all know so well.  She said, "Now remember, best...." She was looking for the word "manners."

Glitter yelled out, "FRIENDS!!!"

Our boys love hanging out with these friends, who lovingly refer to them as their "new brothers."  The kids all spent the evening running from the living room to the basement and then up to the boys' rooms to jump off the bunk beds - young minds think alike.

After a smashing meal of "Elk Steak Parmesan" made by yours truly, we took out the game "Settlers of Catan" and although I was in the lead for a while, Tyler whooped us all in the end.

Although Squirt and Teddy went to bed, the older kids stayed up way too late with Noggin on demand... it's Comcastic!

In the end, one little Rufus didn't make it and this is what we found:

 

 

 

 

 

I am so sick of the same old recipes with our elk steaks and this one turned out so yummy that I thought I would post it for you to enjoy.  You can substitute regular beef cube steaks, just ignore the "pounding with a mallet" part.  I served it over spaghetti and with a big salad.

Elk Steak Parmesan
3 TB flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 eggs
2 TB water
1/3 c. crushed saltine crackers
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. basil
3 TB vegetable oil
4 4 oz. steaks
1 1/4 c. canned tomato sauce (I used spaghetti sauce)
2 1/4 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Use mallet to pound the crap out of tenderize the meat.
In shallow dish, stir together the flour, salt and pepper.
In separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and water with a fork.
In a third bowl or shallow dish, mix together the cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup of the parmesan cheese and basil.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Dredge the beaten steaks in the seasoned flour, dip into the egg mixture and coat with the cracker crumb mixture.
Place them in the skillet and fry just until browned on each side.
Arrange steaks in a single layer in a greased casserole dish.
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the spaghetti sauce, sugar, 1/4 tsp. oregano and garlic powder.
Spoon over steaks when the 25 minutes are up.
Top each steak with mozzarella cheese and remaining parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle remaining oregano over the top.
Bake for five minutes or until the cheese is melted and sauce is hot!

the family staple

I have been reading "Rocks in My Dryer" for a while now and every Wednesday Shannon does a blog carnival called "works-for-me wednesday" where her readers leave a link with tips or solutions to everyday life. This week's theme is recipes with five ingredients or less.

The fewer ingredients the better is my theory! In fact, the more cans the better and if it has celery salt, it's out! (Erin and Ashley, that's for you).

Well, if you've been to my house for dinner, you've likely had this dish. I serve it as a one dish meal with yummy french bread on the side. I found it on the Kraft website years ago and we eat it a couple times per month.

Mostaccioli with Spinach and Feta

1 lb. mostaccioli pasta (or whatever pasta you like)
1 bag fresh spinach, torn
1 pkg. feta cheese with basil and tomato (I buy the block and crumble it myself)
4-5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Cook pasta as directed on package, drain and return to same pan. Stir in a splash of olive oil (ok, the sixth ingredient - but does it really count if it is just a splash?)

Add spinach and crumbled feta cheese. Mix well and cover over the LOWEST heat for a couple of minutes until the cheese is slightly melted. Spinach will be slightly wilted.

Add tomatoes and onions, stir well and serve.

Now go over and see all the recipes at Rocks in My Dryer!