Andy is following in the footsteps of my techo boys quite nicely. Yesterday he found Bren’s squarish kid’s digital camera and held it up to his ear and chattered away, with lots of Dadas thrown in. It was obvious he was calling Daddy on the phone.
This morning, in a fit of desperation for just 3 more minutes of remaining horizontal, I handed Andy a small calculator. He immediately picked it up, pushed a few buttons and turned to the tv, fully expecting it to turn on.
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Wish Darrell luck on the interview. He and Brendan are going up there tomorrow. They’re bringing Mimi back for another visit. 🙂 Despite this just being an interview, we can’t stand not planning for if it works to our specs. Bits of conversation include what large items to keep, do we need to hold a garage sale and how to move the rest. It’s hard to sit still.

Andy learned something new yesterday. ANGER. Boy, can he get MAD now!!! He and Brendan were playing in the tub with all kinds of toys and lots of water. Andy was having a ball because I usually bathe them separately, giving Andy only a toy or two and a trickle of water. When I pulled him out he screeched and kicked and hollered. Oh my. You’d think he’d done it a million times before.
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We went shopping to get Darrell some nice interviewing clothes. He got a nice light gray dress shirt that has a touch of blue in it to go with his darker gray pants that have a touch of blue in them. We also bought 2 ties with grays and… a touch of blue. LOL. The ensemble works really well. New clothes always make me feel good about myself, I hope it does for him too. Not that he lacks in the confidence department. He even said he’s looking forward to this interview (huh??! lol) because it really doesn’t matter if he gets the job or not. It’d be totally opposite if he were currently jobless.
The plan is now for him to go up the night before and the boys and I stay here. That’s a switch. Usually it’s us that’s gone.
Also, Brendan’s hair is much darker brown than it used to be. Andy Andy still doesn’t take more than a few crawl-steps at a time. He slithers like a snake quite well.
Brendan keeps asking for a Pokemon game. Haha. Not until you can read!

If you ask Andy where his bottle is, he will look around the room for it. If you tell him to go get it- he will! Yeah!
If any of you out there have a baby who refuses their formula, this turned out to be the magic formula (punny haha!):
3 oz water
1 scoop formula (would normally make 2 oz)
2 oz Yobaby drinkable yogurt
This makes slightly more than 5 oz. If I change the proportions in any way except more yogurt, he won’t drink it.
Yobaby Drinkable is bottlable and sippiable and comes in 2 flavors- banana and peach.
PS… the huaraches were DIVINE. The peach creme cake… too much spice. I’d use 1/2 t next time and make the dessert taller by using a square brownie type pan. Otherwise, it was good.
Here’s my invented Huaraches/ masa cakes recipe:
2 c dehydrated masa flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t garlic powder
1 can chicken broth
In a bowl, mix ingredients together until a soft dough forms. Pat into roughly 1/3 inch thick patties with hands.
3. Heat skillet to medium-high heat. Add 2 T oil and fry cakes until bottoms are brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Brush tops with more oil, flip and brown the other sides.
Serve hot topped with meat (such as perco adobado), guacamole or refried beans and lettuce, cheese and salsa.

DH has an interview for a potential job on Monday that is 6 hours away from here. The What Ifs are killing me. I can just imagine me here alone without adult company, assistance or a car, trying to pack a whole houseful of crappola my DH can’t be parted with (and some of my own not to mention a BUNCH of toys) while he is up there starting a new job all by himself. All the while watching the kids and my usual mothering stuff.
Will the house sell? Will we find another within our rather small budget? Will this interview be a waste of time?? When DH first emailed them he asked the salary and they replied that it started out at what he currently makes. He was nice and replied back saying that was what he made now and he was looking for $15,000 more so,even though the position is perfect for him, thank you, but he’d keep looking. They immediatley replied back with- due to his experience, they’d bump it up some, please come meet with us.
So KNOWING what salary he requires to make the move and still wanting to meet him… would they really go up $15,000 or are they being cruel and making him take off work and spend $100 in gas for a dead end?
UGH!!!!! Half of me wants to start packing now to get ahead of the game and the other half is saying Whoa, Nellie, it’s just an interview. And ALL of me is wondering if we’re on the threshold of a really big change in our lives and will it be a good one?

I made a simplified version of Alton Brown’s Brown Rice Salad last night. I’d more likely call it a side dish- maybe Bacon Brown Rice. It was very good and nicely different. DH didn’t care for it as much as I did. He thought it was too vinegary but then he had his without the fried onions and they really cut the twang. This is a good time to use brown rice instead of white- you can’t tell in this recipe! Leftovers make a good lunch.
6 slices bacon
1 small onion sliced into half circles
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 t dijon mustard
1 t Splenda (or Sugar)
1/2 t black pepper
2 pouches Uncle Ben’s “Ready Rice”
Fry bacon and set it aside to cool. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon drippings. Fry onions in remaining grease til edges are golden (about 5 min). Add remaining ingredients plus crumble the crisp bacon and add it too. Cook stirring often until the liquid is absorbed and serve warm.

We are having the most amazing weather! It is unREAL. Late June in south Texas and we have had mostly in the 80s weather- plus the next 10 days are forecasted in the 80s also!! We have had at least some rain most days. Some it has really poured! I am very thankful for the coolness but the rain has produced some nasty mosquitos! Poor Andy just can’t tolerate them at all- he takes WEEKS to heal from the bugger’s bites and for more than a week they look awful. 🙁
And where was this beautiful weather last year when I was biggo preggo with swollen feet to my calves and BEGGING for a break???

I am making “huaraches con puerco adobado” tonight. DH and I listened to a food podcast last week and they talked about them. They are masa mix cakes (think pancakes) shaped like little sandals (huaraches means sandals in Spanish) and panfried in a small amount of oil and then topped with chile and lime marinated pork balls and fresh salsa made from garden tomatoes and no heat jalapenos (this is my first batch!) and onions, lime juice and cilantro.
I also made a reduced sugar Peach Creme Cake. My own invention but heavily inspired by this kraft recipe. I’m taking Cinnamon graham crackers and lining the bottom of a 9×13 pan with them. Then I am covering them with a filling made with SF vanilla pudding mix, 3/4 cup pureed peaches, 1 t apple pie spice, 1 cup milk and a container of SF Cool Whip (mix that in last). Another layer of graham crackers, another of filling, another of grahams and a thin top layer of filling. Cover and refrigerate 4+ hours. The grahams are supposed to soften and resemble an eclair type dessert with peach filling. YUM!
I was only able to do this much today because Andy is currently fascinated with the sippy cup cupboard and Brendan with playing at washing dishes in the sink. 😉

Oprah mentioned her smoothie recipe on her latest Bob Greene epsiode. I tried it this morning (except I used vanilla soymilk and chocolate syrup). It was okay but I can detect chemically tastes much better than most people (I can also smell things before other people, I wonder if it’s related?) and soy is one of them. I can hack soy in soy rice cakes and soynuts and if spiced really well, soy protein like fake hanburger meat. Apparently I can’t hack soy milk though- even vanilla flavored in a smoothie.
Hungrygirl is always touting Almond Breeze for her smoothie recipes. I think I’ll make Oprah’s recipe again except I’ll use unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze + Splenda instead of soymilk. I’ll let you know. Otherwise, it was a very good recipe.
I used 8th Continent brand. Does anyone know if Vanilla Silk is any better? Leave me a comment!

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Bren: Knock knock…
Me: Who’s there?
Bren: Orange
Me: Orange Who?
Bren: Giggle, giggle.
Mimi has been trying to teach him knock knock jokes. 😛
Apple Jack’s 6th tooth peeked out yesterday and popped through today! Upper tooth to the left of the front two. So he has 3 top teeth to mash down on his 3 bottom ones. He has yet to pop out any on the right of his front teeth. 😀
Andy also clapped in response to me telling Brendan “Yay!” He’s made the connection between the word and the movement, not just the mimicking!

It’s not often (ever?) that I am wowwed by anything marketed as a meal kit. I have to say though that this time I was. Tonight I made Wanchai Ferry’s Spicy Garlic Chicken. The kit came with seasoned cornstarch to toss your chicken in, jasmine rice, a sauce packet and a can of bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. It came out perfect!! The right amount of sauce and really delicious.
At first glance I was tempted to not buy it because I hate cooking rice. It takes forever and doesn’t come out right for me. And even though I would add 1/4 cup more water and cook the rice 2-3 more minutes it didn’t seem a chore because all of the other preparations and cooking took up that time exactly.
It was spicy but just at the right level for our family. And as an added bonus for us- no onions, celery OR mushrooms to pick out. Brendan scoffed at his plate but once he tried it he ate it right up. He likes spicy stuff though. This dish would be good with a few cashews tossed in at the end or maybe even use orange juice instead of water for the sauce. I can’t leave a recipe alone.
Go visit their website… there’s a $1.00 off coupon! And don’t believe the box… it really only serves about 3. Maybe 4 for a small lunch. I can’t wait to try the other 3 varieties!