My List of Achievable Goals

Cooking:

* Try all my recipes (will take about 18 weeks because of my planning)
* Make a (new) dessert every 2 weeks
* Make pork chops
* Make pot roast
* Make my own soft pretzels
* Make my own graham crackers
* Make my own cheese crackers
* Make my own chocolate pudding
* Make my own bread
* Make my own toffee
* Make my own fudge


Crafting:

* Add pages to the my scrapbooks for:
. * A-School (Navy)
. * Robert's professional photos (Navy)
. * Family Day 2009 (Navy)
. * Mark Twain/Cameron Caves (Family)
. * Maryland visit (Family)
. * Tulip Festival (Family)
. * Seattle/Space Needle (Family)
. * Wedding Ceremony (Family)
. * Mount Rainier (Family)
* Sew my own apron
* Crotchet a few pot holders for the kitchen
* Finish at least one architectural floor plan


Other:

* Save enough to go on a "real" vacation
* Visit all our siblings (hopefully they'll all mingle to the same place one day!! lol)

I will post about each of these when I achieve them. -- Aside from the "other" goals, I should be able to accomplish everything in just a few months!

New Recipe Night

Sorry I haven't posted much this past week. It's been so slow here.

I'm making the Chicken & Noodles tonight. It's a crock pot recipe. It smells awesome - just carrots, mushrooms, onion, cream (of mushroom) soup, chicken and some spices. The recipe calls for peas too but I'm not a big fan. They're too starchy for me. I also added the mushrooms myself (they weren't called for) because we had some left in the fridge and I didn't want them to spoil.

Creamy Chicken & Noodles
Better Homes & Gardens (75th Anniv. Ed. p. 238)
Makes: 6 servings Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 8-9 hours

2 c	sliced carrots (4 medium)
1 ½ c	chopped onion (3 medium)
1 c	sliced celery (2 stalks)
2 T	snipped fresh parsley
1	bay leaf
3	medium chicken legs (about 2 lbs), skinned
2	10 ¾ oz cans cream of chicken soup
½ c	water
1 t	dried thyme
¼ t	black pepper
10 oz	dried wide noodles (about 5 cups)
1 c	frozen peas
	Salt (optional)
	Black pepper (optional)

In a 3 ½- or 4-quart crock pot place carrots, onion, celery, parsley, and bay leaf. Place chicken on top of vegetables. In a bowl stir together soup, water, thyme, and ¼ t pepper. Pour over chicken and vegetables.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8-9 hours or on high heat for 4 to 4 ½ hours. Remove chicken from cooker; cool slightly. Remove and discard bay leaf.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package; drain. Stir peas into soup mixture in crock pot. Remove chicken from bones; discard bones. Cut into bite-size pieces; stir into soup mixture. To serve, pour chicken mixture over noodles; toss gently to combine. If desired, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meal Planning 4/26 - 5/9

My first 2 weeks were kind of hit-or-miss. My parents were visiting and tomorrow we're having friends over for dinner, so I've had to rearrange the schedule a bit and some of our meals were not made. So, let's see how well we do this time!

S	4/26	Leftovers OR Soup & Sandwiches
M	4/27	Creamy Chicken & Noodles with corn
T	4/28	Lasagna and spinach salad
W	4/29	Chicken Tortilla Soup
R	4/30	Leftovers
F	5/1	Pizza & Breadsticks
S	5/2	Ham & Cheese Quesadillas

S	5/3	Leftovers
M	5/4	Crab Cakes & Asparagus
T	5/5	Lasagna and spinach salad
W	5/6	Chicken Tortilla Soup
R	5/7	Leftovers OR Soup & Sandwiches
F	5/8	Pizza & Breadsticks
S	5/9	Black Bean & Salsa Soup

Knots, Knots, and More Knots

Yesterday was pretty busy. I ended up doing three full loads of laundry. Also, we finally fixed the nightstand that got broken by the movers. I still get irritated whenever I look at my furniture (2 bookcases, file cabinet, nightstand, sofa table). I am so turned off now by paying for movers because of all the damage that was done this past time. Whenever we have to move again - Robert better be here! Because I'm not paying anyone to damage my furniture again!

As you can see by my book list, I'm learning to tie knots. Robert called me his "little boatswains mate"! I just think it's fun and interesting. And some of the knots are really beautiful. A crown knot is the one I learned on the ship - I found that in the book I bought over the weekend.

Crown Knot (the one I learned on the ship)


Good Luck Knot (I think it should be called a Double Crown)


Simple Chain Knot


Braid Knot


Chinese Button Knot (says it can be used in place of a button on clothing)


Fireman's Chair Knot (one loop goes behind the armpits and the other one at the knees - used to lower people down from buildings)

Pictures - as promised

Just a note - my mom took all the pictures and there's no pictures of the air show (because she wanted to stay in the hangar bay to keep warm - it was pretty windy on the flight deck).

This is only a fraction of the 1500 people that signed up to be here!!


An RHIB used by boatswains mates for hull maintenance


Just a display of "fire power"


My mom had a thing for taking pictures of the ladder wells.


One BIG door!


A nice picture of the 3 of us


Just a display - I'm not sure if it's still used.


The island!!


It's a long way down - you can't even see the bottom in this picture.


Each link weighs over 300 pounds!


A beautiful mural on the floor in the foc'sle. I wish the picture turned out better!


Taken off the fan tail - the water is so aerated, you can't stay afloat!


Our view from the fantail. If you look REALLY close, you can see the mountains!


A better view of the mountains


One final shot - of us!

Family Day 2009

Well - today was the LONGEST day ever! We were on the ship at 4 a.m. this morning and did not actually touch the pier until about 5 p.m. I was up at 2 o'clock in the morning and was the only one who didn't get to "nap" on the ship - in the library.

There was tons of food - breakfast and lunch. We got a free t-shirt and I learned how to make this cool knot (I don't know the name of it though). I saw the forecastle (or foc'sle), the fan tail, flight deck, and library, plus the ward room - because Robert had to stand a 3 hour watch there in the morning.

It was amazing though, especially the air show. They were doing a touch and go performance and fly-bys. They are so loud! Everyone on the flight deck was required to wear ear plugs. It "shakes" you from the force when the planes are near the ship.

I will post some pictures as soon as I can!

Meal Planning 4/14 - 4/25

I'm trying to grocery shop less often because "the less you shop, the less you spend". I started today - but I planned for one meal shy of two weeks because I wasn't going to make anything big just for myself tonight.

So, here's my plan:

T	4/14	Tuna noodle casserole
W	4/15	Mexican casserole
T	4/16	Family Day 2009
F	4/17	Pizza & breadsticks
S	4/18	Chili & cornbread

S	4/19	Leftovers OR soup & sandwiches
M	4/20	Salmon Patties
T	4/21	Tuna noodle casserole
W	4/22	Tacos & burritos
T	4/23	Leftovers OR soup & sandwiches
F	4/24	Pizza & breadsticks
S	4/25	Spaghetti & creamed spinach

Busy, Busy (all day long)

Well, I've sure got a lot to do today and tomorrow. I seem to get pretty lazy when I know Robert won't be home to see what I have (or haven't) done!

-Grocery shopping (I'm starting my 2 wk plan!)
-Wash the sheets & comforter
-Wash towels
-Dust
-Clean Bathrooms
-Vacuum
-Mop kitchen floor
-Empty all trash
-Clean kitty litter
-Empty dishwasher (that I finally got to run last night! after 4 days - took that long to get a full load)

Holy Thursday

I've often wondered why the Easter Triduum were not holy days of obligation for the Church. Jesus' death and Resurrection is of utmost importance in the Church and for being a Christian. I also heard that a Christian church in the area is not doing anything for Easter Sunday. It's just going to be a regular Sunday service. -- Isn't this the reason that we're Christian?!

I've learned so much this Lent about traditions and the story. Most of it I was taught growing up but apparently it never sank in until now - like that Jesus was betrayed with a kiss. Something so simple yet unknown to me until this year.

I'm also trying to find ways to start traditions in my own family (of course we'll have to wait til next year for us to be together). I want to do a Seder Meal on Holy Thursday, go to mass every day throughout the Triduum, and fast from Thursday night until Easter morning. (The last one I read in my Daily Roman Missal today.) I would also like to go to Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent. We tried to do that this year, but we only ended up going one time because of Robert's work hours.

I also read somewhere today that you should try to stay up all night tonight (Holy Thursday) to represent being with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I'm going to do that tonight and also watch The Passion of the Christ. It will be very difficult for me (to watch the movie) but I think it's important.

Save Money - Use Cloth!

I made pizza tonight for dinner. It sure sucks having to eat it alone. I stuck the leftovers in the freezer so they'd last longer. The artichokes weren't as good the second time around. They got a pretty hard in the refrigerator.

I started researching cloth diapers today because I was reading someone's post about them last night. You know, besides the environmental problems and the diaper rash issues - did you know that you can save more than $2000 over 3 years by using cloth over disposable diapers?! And you can still save that much buying the AIO (all-in-one) one size diapers (which fit just like disposables).

I did my own price checking and used some numbers from The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. The total cost of disposable diapers and disposable wipes for 3 years is $2536. Even potty training by 2 1/2 only saves about $400 and some children aren't trained until 3 1/2! The total cost for prefolds, covers, and doublers is $326. The total cost for a starter pack (24) of AIO one size diapers and 12 doublers is $451. It's about $44 for washcloths (used for wipes), a small wet bag for the diaper bag, and a large wet bag for home. So basically even if you have to replace all your cloth diapers after one child, you're still saving $2041. These numbers do not include laundry costs (which are pretty minimal).

bumGenius products are manufactured and distributed by Cotton Babies Inc.

Another Nice Day!!

It was so beautiful outside again today. We got to open the windows and Angel and I went outside to "play"! - I read; she lays in the sun. I feel bad for her because she going to get used to this and later in the week it's supposed to be cold and rainy again so we'll have to stay inside! :-(

I got sucked into this stupid door-to-door thing today and paid almost twice as much for Catholic Digest until I read the receipt -- it says you can cancel within three days with no penalty so I'm definitely sending it in tomorrow! I didn't realize it was two times the normal subscription amount until I called my mom. That's when I decided I'd been ripped off and I wasn't going to stand for it! I can't believe people actually pay that much!

Angel had an accident this morning. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and threw up and it looked like it just went on the floor so I was relieved that I wouldn't have to wash the comforter, but when I went to clean it up I saw that it was all the way down the side of the bed! GRRR!!! lol

No News ...

I was reminded of a very important Navy lesson this weekend - so I had to go back and edit some of my posts.

I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to take Robert to work today. It's days like these that I wish we had two cars - but I know we don't need it and it would cost us too much. It's actually nice out today though. The sun is out and it's supposed to be 65 degrees for the high. You could see the sunrise through the mountains this morning! It was gorgeous. I love being here because when the sky is clear, you really get to see God's beautiful landscape.

I get a day off from chores today because I had to do laundry last night for Robert. It's not that exciting because now I'll probably be bored!

A Couple Pictures

I thought I would add a few pictures because Robert doesn't like the one I chose for my profile!

Day 1 (supposedly)

Not much went on today, but I did decide to start making my own peanut butter (if it's cheaper than store brand). And I'm going to make our pasta sauce too. I made it once last year and Robert and I really liked it. I don't have an excuse for why I haven't made it again - especially since we buy a jar or two almost every time we are at the grocery store. I also made a two-week meal plan - so we can lessen our grocery shopping. (We normally go every 7-10 days now).

Peanut Butter
Makes: ½ cup

1 c	dry roasted unsalted peanuts
½ - 1 T	EV olive oil
1 T	honey

Place all ingredients in food processor and blend for 3 to 5 minutes, or until desired consistency. Store peanut butter in fridge in an air tight container.

NOTE: You must have a fairly good food processor for this. When I made this, I could smell mine starting to smoke, because you have to run it for so long. Be safe!! : )

UPDATE: You can definitely add more oil or honey to your liking. Also, you could add salt since you're using unsalted peanuts. As a variation, you can make peanut butter using just peanuts by themselves (without any additions).

I'm always looking for ways to save money but it seems that we do everything suggested or it's not relevant. Sometimes we even do more than what's suggested already. The only way I think we can cut back now is if we got rid of cable TV and used The Grocery Game. - The only problem with that is I look at the coupons each week and we never use anything that's in there! If you can think of any creative ways to cut money besides the usual ones listed everywhere, let me know - leave a comment or email me.

Just Bored

I know, my blog seem so boring. I have no pictures! So I decided to take a picture of my progress on the house plan today:

I know, it's blurry. Robert's the photographer - I don't claim to be!

I've been going a little crazy lately - being so bored. I know what my mom is saying: "get a job, volunteer, go back to school". But I don't want to do those things, at least not right now. I'm going to start scrapbooking for my sister as soon as she sends me the stuff. That should keep me occupied for a while.

On another note - I can't wait til our marriage is blessed. I don't understand why we had to wait 4 months to have an open weekend! Our parish is NOT that big!

Well, I think that's enough pettiness for today. I need to go dust and clean the bathrooms before Robert gets home anyway!