McReader of the Month

I am so proud of my Avery. She started the year struggling a bit with her reading, but she kept at it and studied hard. She is now reading quite well. At their school the kids read a book, then take a test. They earn points based on the level of their books and the score they recieve. She was the first in her class to reach a 50 point level, which is quite an achievment for a first grader. We're so excited that she is learning to love reading.

Winter Fun

We had a great time sledding at Murray Park. It is the place to be during a snow storm. The hardest part for this old mom is getting back up the hill. Carson couldn't get up on his own, so I had to drag him up on the sled. Good work out!

My kids on drugs.....

When your child is sick, legitmately sick, ie, strep throat, ear infection, etc., you take them to the doctor. You get the anibiotics that they need and plan on a recovery with a few days. You keep giving them the dosage, even though the feel better, until the 10 days are up. That is the plan and for normal people, that's how it goes. However, my little people's bodies have a different idea.

This is my baby boy 9 years ago. 3 days into his antibiotics for an ear infection. We were on vacation. We thought of course he was dying of luekemia or something horrible. It took 1 trip to the dr's and 8 hours in the children's hosiptal in Cincinatti to determine he was allergic to his antibiotics. The reaction is called eurithema mulitforme minor. Different from your run of the mill allergic reaction. This isn't a histimine reaction, but a immune system reaction. Scary, but the cure is no more of these medicines.


Fast forward nine years. My little girl was taking the same anitbiotics. 7 days later she woke with a slight fever. 12 hours later (2 am) she wakes up like this. Scary again, but knowing what Easton went through we didn't rush her to the ER. The peditrician said he was a different presentation of a allergic reaction, (usually starts day 2 of taking the meds), so she is now on 3 histimine blockers to clear her up. Which should occur in 3-5 days. My poor babies!

The moral of the story. It's true when they say don't give them anitbiotics unless they need them. You can form a resistance to them!

More home cooking!

So, I decided to make another from scratch recipe. This time I tried to duplicate Zupa's Tomatoe Basil Soup. I found this recipe online. I made it how it was written, but then decided to tweek it a little. I think it's pretty close to perfection now. The tweeked version is below. I read the instructions, realized I didn't know what pesto was, goodled a recipe for pesto, made the pesto from scratch. Quite simple really and the result is super yummy. The best of all, an entrie pot cost about $10.00. Sure beats the $6.00 a bowl at Zuppa's. Enjoy!

Fresh Tomato Soup/Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
Joy of Cooking
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2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
4 cans stewed tomatoes with juices
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoon pesto sauce
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1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices.
4. Simmer until hot, about 8 minutes.
5. Puree until smooth, either in a blender or using a hand blender (be careful either way--the soup is hot).
6. Return to the pot and stir in the salt and pepper.
7. Stir in the heavy cream and pesto sauce. Gently heat through and serve immediately.

Top with gazo pasta (I think that's what they're called)

Pesto

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Special equipment needed: A food processor (Check Amazon.com's sales on Cuisinart food processors)
Method
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Makes 1 cup.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

Help!!! and a warning

I am need of some help on my blog. I went searching for a cute background and went "off roading" if you know what I mean, and found some obscure background. Well, it messed up my template. No matter what I do I can't get the side bar to post on the side. If anyone has any idea how to fix this, please let me know. It's just bugging me! Thanks

Bon Apetit!

Have you redboxed Julie and Julia yet? I know, I thought it looked stupid too, but rented it anyway. When you work graveyards, it's amazing what you'll watch to stay awake. So, I popped into the laptop last week and watch it. Guess what? It was totally cute. It reminded me of myself a little. Julie kinda has a breakdown right before turning 30 (hmmmm, I never freaked out, ummmm, sure I didn't) So, to help get out of her funk, she decides to cook all of Julia Child's cookbook in one year. Blah, blah, blah,....It's funny, she completes it, the end.

Long story short, it made me want to cook, and not the easy, throw a couple of campbell soups in a crockpot kind of cooking. Like mincing garlic and a white wine reduction kinda cooking.

So, Saturday afternoon, I got a bug up my !@#$ and found myself at the liquor store (fish out of water there!). I bought the cheapest white wine I could find (later spent 15 minutes trying to open it, and yes I had a cork skrew, why, I don't know). I next hit the farmer market where I bought all fresh ingredients. So, $40.00 later and off I went to my kitchen.

The result: Chicken Glorioso and a yummy bruschetta

JD thought I had taken speed as I ran around the kitchen puting it all together. In the end the sauce was thicker than it should be, but tasted fatastic.

My husband being the sweet guy that he is, finished his last bite and said, "you know we could have this a Buca di Beppo for $20 bucks with my coupon and wouldn't hav had to do the dishes." Yes love, but it wouldn't have been so much fun! Just look at the smile on my face. It was a good time.

Say a prayer for Lulu

My friends little girl will be recieving a new liver today. The courageous battle of this family is inspiring. I'm in awe that the first thing this mother thought of was the loss the mother of the donor child is going through. I have little doubt that she would not accept the donor if it would have save the child, but since it can't with a heavy heart she is accepting this new liver know that the loss of one child is saving the lives of many.

It has made me really ponder. Heaven forbid I'm ever in that situation, but if I find myself there, I hope that I have the state of mind to be a donor. I have no problem giving my organs away, but to be able to give your child's away is a different matter.

Bless the family of this new angel in heaven and bless Lulu with a safe and successful transplant.