Turn about's fair play?

So, I've always been on the moving end of friendships. And, I've always known that I wouldn't be too long in one spot, so it was always inevitable that my friendships would quickly become long distance. (Which is really why I blog.) I've always been prepared for that.

Now I know how everyone has felt. My best friend here is moving. To Idaho. Now what do I do?

Most of you know I have a hard time making friends. I have one or two real friends from everyplace I've been and that's really it. It's actually all I need. I'm perfectly comfortable just having one or two true friends. I don't have the energy for more. And I don't have the patience for flighty friends. So, here I am. And, this friend isn't even in my ward! She's in the southernmost ward in our stake and I'm in the northernmost.

Is it rare to have found a true friend everywhere I've been? I know lots of women who don't seem to have that. I don't know how they do it. It's pretty critical for me. Will I survive this?

Probably. Is it lousy? For sure.

Bottomless Pit!

The other day Jonah was really grumpy. Being the health-conscious gal that I am with a penchant for a healthy food relationship, I decided food was the answer.... Good thing, too. He ate everything in sight! The menu:

scrambled egg (x2)

graham cracker (x2)

banana (x2)

frozen Go-Gurt (x2)

full cup of milk

Uh, yeah. I was amazed. In my defense, I'm pretty sure he's going through a growth spurt. Actually, they all are. Also, he's cutting teeth, so the frozen Go-Gurts probably felt really good. But, I'll tell you, if this keeps up, I'm gonna go broke!!

What's for dinner?

Ok, ok, I realize when I first cracked this hair-brained idea I mentioned Monday would be posting day, but that just isn't a good reality for me. At the end of the week I look back at what we've had and figure out what was fabulous and worth sharing. (Just in case you checked in all Monday with baited breath waiting to see what delicious concoction I come up with next... Ha!)

This is a Brandon Chapman favorite. If I haven't made it in a while, he will request it, which is generally unheard of by him. I'll bet you won't be surprised to find it has garlic and onions! It started as a side, but sometimes I'll throw in a veggie and protein and have a one-dish dinner.

Without further ado:

Sarah's Noodles

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced (or more if you love garlic)

oil (uh, I guesstimate how much I need)

1 tbsp butter

salt

1 lb noodles of your choice, cooked al dente

In a good sized skillet over medium heat (on my electric stove I set the dial to 6), add a healthy amount of oil. Enough to cover the bottom of the pan and then that much again. Get the butter in there too. Toss the onions in and let it all cook for a bit.

When the onions start to get soft, add the garlic and about 1/4 tsp salt. If you add the garlic sooner, you will end up with cute little pieces of burnt garlic. Not as yummy. The garlic does not take long to cook. As soon as you can't see it anymore, it is done.

Now, here's where is gets a little tricky with the oil. Incorporate the noodles in with oil and mix it all together. All the noodles should have enough oil so they don't stick. There should be a little oil left in the pan. If you need to add more, just make sure your pan is still warm and add away. It'll take on the flavors nicely and won't make the dish cold. Now, taste it and then season it with more salt until it tastes just right to you. This is not a bland dish, so it needs enough salt. If you add too much salt, just add some more noodles. It's hard to mess this up.

There you have it. Brandon loves it. Sterling won't touch it because of the onions. If I make it, I just set aside some noodles with butter and parmesan for the kids.

Maybe someday I'll take a picture, but it's not much to look at...

Eating my words... again

Once upon a time I was a young mother. I dreamed of kind boys dressed in polos and khakis who were exceptionally well mannered, kind, and polite. I wouldn't dress them in clothes with characters on them, and I would never, ever put them in matching outfits. Coordinating? Yes, of course, but never matching. They could grace the pages of the latest Gap kids ads.

Oh, the fantasies of the young and naive.

We were at Walmart checking out the clearance rack (cause even Walmart has polo shirts on their clearance rack, and who doesn't love a good deal!) when Hyrum saw this amazing, talking Transformers t-shirt. He's so stinking sweet and the shirt was on clearance, so of course I said ok. I even got a Batman shirt for Sterling.

See, I gave in to character shirts a long time ago, but they are only for play. At least I'm not the meanest mom. I'm just the runner-up. Plus, have you ever noticed how spendy those shirts are!?! I could buy two shirts at the Children's Place for the same price, and I'd actually let them wear the CP shirts out in public!

But I digress. Of course, as soon as Sterling saw the talking shirt, the Batman shirt was absolutely sub-par. I promised on our next trip to Walmart I'd see if they had another one in his size, fully anticipating they'd be gone.

Um, no.

So, there you have it folks. I am eating my words yet again. You'd think I'd learn by now...

What's for dinner?

Feta Burger

I realize not everyone is in love with feta cheese, but if you've never tried it, you should! I love it. It is divine on salads. So, when I saw a recipe on wegmans.com with feta in it, I knew I had to give it a try. Here's the original recipe. The following is my version.

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup feta cheese

3/4 cup frozen spinach (thawed)

salt to taste

1 medium onion

buns

lettuce

mayo

Preheat grill on High 10 min.

Combine ground beef, feta, spinach, and salt. Form into patties (you knew that). Make them nice and fat and then indent the middle. Rachel Ray says so, so you better believe that's the right way to form a patty. Grill 'em until they look so delicious you can't wait another minute.

While that deliciousness is cooking, slice the onion, toss it in a pan with a good slab of butter and let it sit over med/high heat to caramelize. Don't fuss too much with them, just let them cook until they are beautifully brown, sweet, and soft.

Slather your toasted bun with mayo, add some lettuce, generously top with those amazing onions, carefully place the showpiece and sandwich it all together.

Let me just tell you, these were delicious. I made hot dogs for the boys but it would have been just as easy to patty them a burger before I added all the good stuff.

The original recipe calls for roasted red peppers and a portobella bruschetta. I'm gonna make it some time with the red peppers and grilled mushrooms.

As a sort-of related side note, let me just say that I miss Wegman's. I yearn for Wegman's. Anyone who's ever lived in central and upstate NY will know what I'm talking about.

(The pic is from wegmans.com. That's what their burger looks like.)

Reality check

Soooo, I got the flu. I honestly have not had a full-on case since sixth grade, so I guess I was due. It was worse than I remember, but it came at an ideal time.

See, since Jonah the nine pound baby was born, I've been slightly baby hungry. I felt like I didn't get the tiny, snuggly, sleepy baby time since he came out line-backer and grew off the charts for three months before he finally slowed down.

Let me tell you now, I'm pretty well cured of that particular desire. Being up half the night paying homage to the porcelain god was sufficient to put all such thoughts straight out of my mind. And then, just for good measure, there was a repeat the second night. Just to be sure no lingering wisps of longing were left floating around. If I were Jewish, I'd say oi vey. It was awful.

The most ridiculous part is, I still feel like we've got a sweet baby girl waiting for us to be ready. If someone could just reassure us that it wouldn't be like last time, that I wouldn't have to have someone move in to take care of my family while I was in and out of the hospital, I'd really be open to it. Heck, I'm sure not getting any younger!! And I, for one, had some crazy idea that I'd be done having kids by the time I was thirty.

Pregnancy into my thirties just doesn't sound appealing to me.

The most heart-wrenching part was my sweet Sterling coming and asking if I had a baby in my belly. He had the most hopeful look on his face I've ever seen. He knows he has a sister and keeps asking when she's going to get here. OH! What do I do?

What's for dinner?

Chicken noodle soup.

I have the flu.

But my friend Paige is playing along and has a couple yummy looking recipes.

http://paigebyram.blogspot.com/

Happy cooking!