I Break for Food!

It's been a month since the last time I posted something up.  I was going to post about my cooking adventure, but was too busy cooking. So here are some of my recipes I remembered to take pictures of.

I love love loved this carrot cake recipe.  Just the right balance of carrot and nuts. But the best part of the recipe is the cream cheese frosting. I just kept "sampling" the frosting to make sure it tasted okay. ;) It's a bit time consuming getting the carrots shredded, but it was worth it. You have to try this carrot cake recipe!  Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chicken and Spinach pasta bake.  I didn't care for the canned tomatoes in the recipe next time I'll use fresh tomatoes, but otherwise an easy recipe. chicken and spinach pasta bake

These crescent pockets are so easy and delicious.  My kids loved them and leftovers are easy to pack for my hubby's lunch. Chicken Crescent Pockets

My Julie&Julia kick... Tired of the same ole meals

I loved the idea to this movie. Although I love Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep the movie itself was a little disappointing.  This is not a post about a movie review though so moving on.  


I've been on a new recipe cooking mood and it's been wonderful.  I absolutely love cooking.  Cooking has always been one of those things that can bring my spirits up when I'm having a bad day.  Even if I'm slaving in the hot kitchen, piling up dishes and pans I know I'm going to have to clean later, I still love it.  It's the one thing I know I'm good at.  If I have a recipe and I can get all the ingredients and the tools I need, I can cook it.  


So, now that I don't have volleyball taking up my evening hours I have more time to prep dinner instead of throwing the same old chicken in the oven.  I love trying new recipes, so I was thinking if I could do my own little Julie/Julia project.  Of course I can't do it every night like Julie did in the movie because I do still have five kids.  However, those five kids and the hubby have to eat, so if I'm going to be busy with something it might as well be something they can eat! 


Two nights ago I tried a new meatloaf recipe.  I was rushing through a little bit and didn't season it as well as I wanted. But the meatloaf is gone, so it must have been good.  I tried this recipe last night and it was a big hit!  Even my oldest son, who hates any kind of food if it's not sweet, from a cereal box, or ramen noodles, ate it.  He ate a small serving, but he ate it.  My sister and I broke out a little white wine to go with it, and it was divine! 


Eight Layer Spinach Casserole
Click on the link for the recipe.  

*Note* I used penne pasta instead of egg noodles, and ground turkey instead of ground beef.  
Today I'm making stuffed pork chops.  Got to get to cookin'! 

The Secret to Well Behaved Kids

"Don't be afraid to impose rules and structure, and don't try to be your kids' best friend. They can have lots of friends, but only have one mom and one dad."
— Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

People ask me all the time how do you get your kids to behave so well?  Like there is some big secret to being a parent that my husband and I are keeping to ourselves.  I hate to break it to people, but there is NO big secret to raising well behaved kids.  Just do what you know needs to be done.  Discipline your kids when they need it, talk to them about how they feel, teach them the value of work, teach them how to be respectful, and for goodness sake teach them some manners.  I don't understand why it's so hard for parents these days to BE parents. 

From now on when parents ask me how do I get my kids so well behaved, I'll ask one question.  "Are you best friends with your kids?"  If they say "Oh yes totally".  Then I'll say, "WRONG!  If your kids at one time in their lives don't hate you or want to run away, or think their lives are unfair because of you, then you are not being a parent.  You are being their friend.  And last time I checked I don't give a crap what my friends tell me to do, I'll do whatever the hell I want!"

Being a parent isn't easy.  It's the hardest thing in the world to know that what you do and how you shape these little people is the difference between whether they are "normal" and well adjusted OR just plain screwed up in the future.  Even with well behaved kids, I still wonder if they are not screwed up in some way or another.  Who knows we will just have to see.  I'll never stop trying though.  Not ever! 

Confessions of a Pisces

I believe this quote to be true.  Although this could apply to mothers in general, being a Pisces mother can magnify this fact ten times more.  Sometimes I don't realize I'm doing it.  I love helping people, and most of the time I don't think it's going to be that hard.  But sometimes, I get in over my head and then I just end up working myself into physical and emotional exhaustion.  And I know that I can spread myself thin sometimes, but my cousin made me realize how much I do put other people's desires higher than my own.  

It wasn't a serious talk or some deep discussion we were having.  I was telling my cousin about my Dad asking me to help them out with some dances for a dinner dance/luau they were going to have at their church.  My dancing days are so over it's not even funny.  And my initial answer was no of course.  But me being me, I think I can do anything.  I could do some research, make up some choreography for a hula, and something else, and then I could skype or video chat with my sister and teach her the dance so I didn't have to drive over an hour.  Yada yada yada, my brain keeps trying to figure out ways to help out my Dad. As I'm telling this to my cousin she just says, "But you are too busy with five kids".  That's it.  That's all she said.  Not only once, but twice. After I mentioned something else about maybe getting a part time job.  That's all she said.  So simple for her to just say it.  But how is it that it doesn't just click in my head that way.  Knock, knock, hello there you...yea you who is trying to do too much.  STOP IT!

I don't really know if I can.  It's become habit I guess.  If I'm not helping somebody with something I kind of feel like a slacker.  Which is why I volunteered to help with my kids and their annual Variety Show at their school.  Turns out I was THE ONLY parent that sent in the paper to volunteer.  I don't know if that's a sign for me to stop with the extra work on top of my number one job, but I'm still going to help out.  I've already told my kids I was going to help.  And it will probably be the last thing for a while.  Oh wait I volunteered with my daughters dance group too.  Okay after that.  That one will be the last time.  

Well we will see how well that goes.  Wish me luck!

"Mom can you do....EVERYTHING?"

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture.  And not because I'm not this Mom, but because I AM this Mom.  I thought, "Wow I really need to stop doing this to myself".  Just the other day my 4 year old was in a really bad mood.  Everything I asked her was answered in a high pitched whiny little cry.  Oh how I hate that voice!  So she finally just said, "I need to go potty!"  To which I answered as patiently as I could muster, "So go potty already".  Then she cried in that voice "But can you walk me to the bathroom!"  To our bathroom down the hall, literally 5 steps away.  LOL! Of course I walked her.  She's my baby and she wasn't in a good mood.  Which is what I'm telling myself now so I don't feel absolutely ridiculous for being that mom in this picture.  The things we do for our kids. I hope I'm not the only one out there like this. Right?.....Right! (crickets)

The Hunger Games vs. Telesa The Covenant Keeper

First of all before I get all kinds of appalling comments and bashing, I'm not comparing these two books as a competition of which book was better.  Although it was hard for me to read S.C.  It felt like I was reading someone on A.D.D. jumping from one subject to the next without any warning it seemed to me.  And I had issues with the way she ended the books like it was just another chapter.  But it doesn't mean I didn't love the books and finished the trilogy in a matter of days.  It's just my opinion as a reader.  I know nothing about writing books, so that's all I'm going to say about that.  I just recently read THG trilogy and I loved the books, but was left with an obsession over some pretty depressing books in my opinion.  I've read Catching Fire twice already and went back to re read The Hunger Games, but I had to stop reading it.  

I thought, "I really need to stop reading this series.  I love it but it just leaves me feeling sad."  

So what's my cure for depression over fictional characters? Of course Telesa.  Except for the obvious "Girl on fire" in both books.  The story of THG and Telesa have nothing in common to me.  Both books are awesome.  But being that I was tired of reading about people dying and favorite characters being killed off, I started reading Telesa, AGAIN, for the umpteenth time.  The only thing good about my Alzheimer like memory is that I get to relive certain parts of my favorite books like it was my first time reading the book again.  For example, how did I forget about the whole Mele and Leila confrontation before Leila does her taupou siva while Daniel sings.  While I was reading through that I remembered why I wanted Leila to burn that heifer's face off...LOL.(harsh I know)  And my heart just melting with just the little gesture of Daniel's arms around Leila in a crowded McDonald's.  Or the way he sticks up for Leila against the Telesa "psycho bitches". (swoon) What girl doesn't want a man to stand up and protect her against unimaginable supernatural power?  No girl, that's who.  I haven't even finished re reading Telesa again, but I just felt like I needed to blog about it.  Poor Jason is still sick in the hospital, so I gotta get back to my reading. (As if Jason will stay sick if I don't finish reading. smh I need real friends. lol)  Anyway, if you haven't re read your Telesa book lately, you totally should.  It always makes me feel better.  

A Tale of Two Weddings...Part 2

First of all let me apologize for taking so long to finally finish this Tale of Two Weddings.  I would have finished part 2 the week after part 1, but it's kind of hard to write about your second wedding to your loving husband when he was totally getting on your nerves.  But it's okay now.  ;) I'm also in season for my Club Volleyball team so that's been another factor in my neglect of my blog. (excuses, excuses right?)


So like I said in part 1, two years after our Las Vegas wedding, Wolfy and I renewed our vows in a church wedding.  I'm Catholic, so it took almost a year for Wolfy and I to finish classes so we could finally start making plans.  We went to couples retreats, marriage prep conferences, financial classes, and Catholic Sacrament classes.  It was a lot but we were lucky to have a wonderful priest in Father Wallace, our local parish pastor.  We just happened to live in military housing right next to this church that Fr. Wallace was pastor. ("Things happen for a reason")  Fr. Wallace knew how to explain and teach things to my husband in a way I never could.  After classes with Fr. Wallace Wolfy told me he had a whole new understanding and respect for Catholic traditions and why we do things that seemed foreign to him, who grew up attending Samoan Congregational Church.  But no matter what Wolfy learned, the one thing about the Catholic mass he loved most was the ONLY one hour mass. LOL


So we finally met with Fr. Wallace to finally try to find a date for our ceremony and plan out the mass.  While we were talking about our families I mentioned that my Mom and Dad were in a Catholic Samoan choir that mostly consisted of my family.  A big smile came over Fr. Wallace's face and he asked, "Do you think they would come out here to sing?"  I was kind of shocked he asked.  I never even thought of it because at the time Wolfy and I lived almost two hours away from my parents.  But I went home and called my Mom and she said she would make it happen.  I was ecstatic!  Basically half my family would be coming already because they were all in the choir. Yay!  We talked about having our vows renewed during a normal Sunday mass.  Fr. Wallace found an open Sunday and it just so happen that the Gospel reading for that Sunday was John 2: 1-11, The Wedding at Cana (Where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water to wine). It was the perfect reading for such an event.  So the whole church would be showing up for a normal Sunday mass, except to find out that they were going to witness a young couple's vows being renewed in the Catholic faith.  My mother knows a lot about Catholic liturgy in the English and the Samoan mass so Fr. Wallace also allowed us to add Samoan customs to the mass.  


I don't know if it is because of my horrible memory or because my Mom took care of so much, but I don't really remember having to plan much.  I made heaps of phone calls to my Mom but I don't really remember stressing out over food, housing, clothes, or the service.  But I'm pretty sure it was my Mom.  She didn't want me stressing because I just found out I was pregnant with our first baby.  Which is the reason I opted out of another wedding dress for our second ceremony.  I wasn't about to pay for a fancy wedding gown just to have my little 5 month belly not fit in it.  So I chose some nice fabric my sister had just acquired from her mother in laws trip to Samoa and told my Mom to make me a nice and simple mumu'u and Wolfy a matching shirt.  Simple simple was my motto after all the trouble with the Las Vegas wedding.


The day was Sunday January 14, 2001.  It was the total opposite of our Las Vegas wedding as far as my stress level.  My family had already arrived in from out of town and they were all in their rooms.  Nobody got kicked out.  Everyone drove so no bags were lost.  I was pregnant so I had no trouble sleeping.  I even woke up early got dressed and Wolfy and I were early to the church.  Right at that moment I had a sense of peace and I just knew that everything was going to be okay.  


We were early so we greeted family as they arrived and headed upstairs to the choir loft.  My parents, my aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my nieces and nephews were there.  However, Wolfy's family only included his parents his brother and his sister.  All of his family attended our Las Vegas wedding so Wolfy didn't feel like inviting them all again.  It was especially emotional for Wolfy to have his Dad there.  Just four months before his Dad had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was going through chemo treatments.  He had already lost his hair and was losing weight, but he was always smiles.  Wolfy's Mom questioned why we needed to have another wedding, but Wolfy's Dad was a pastor's son, so he understood.  Although Wolfy and I appreciated everything they did for our first wedding, my Father in Law still understood that because of the way I was raised in the church, that it was just something that I really wanted to do.


Fr. Wallace arrived and was ready to start mass with his entrance procession, which was going to be including us.  Even though the majority of my family was there, it was nerve racking walking into a church full of strangers.  As we walked down the aisle people looked over but didn't really seem to care.  They probably thought we were going to be doing the readings for the mass.  Until Fr. Wallace announced the reason for the two extra people up front with him.  I wanted to look behind and see people's reactions but my Mom was out front moving us along the mass.  


This part of our ceremony was the Ifoga.  My Mom was signaling for Wolfy and I to step to the center of the church in front of the altar to kneel down.  My Mom and Aunt then covered us with a fine mat.  In the programs my Mom made for the mass it explained the ritual so that the congregation wouldn't be confused as to what was going on.  She described it as "...a Fine Mat, a symbol of humility and shame, and at the same token, asking for forgiveness and reconciliation from God. (The two covered represent all of us)."  I'd like to say that as we were covered I was emotional and deep in thought.  But I was pregnant, and it was hot under the mat so no deep emotional thoughts that I can remember.  However, it was weird, when Fr. Wallace removed the fine mat, I REALLY did feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  Not just the weight of the fine mat, but the weight of my guilt.  And I felt my eyes welt up with tears.  When we sat back in our seats, I grabbed Wolfy's hand and just smiled.  I couldn't help but be happy at that moment.


After the readings from the Bible, Fr. Wallace spoke of how perfect it was that the Gospel of the day should be about a Wedding and we were there to renew our vows in the faith.  That the Sacrament of Marriage was so celebrated that in John 2: 1-11, at the Wedding in Cana, Jesus at the request of his Mother, performed his first miracle.  That will always be my favorite Bible story.


It was then time to bless our wedding rings and recite our vows.  This was the least favorite part for Wolfy and I.  Yes it's the most important part of the ceremony, but we aren't people who like attention, and all eyes and ears were on us.  Thank God neither of us  fumbled any words.  But I think Fr. Wallace thought we were trying to whisper our vows because he held the microphone closer and closer as we said the vows.  Afterwards, everyone clapped and that was that.  The Sacrament of Marriage complete. 


The mass went on as normally done, with some other Samoan customs added to the liturgy.  At the presentation of the gifts, the choir switched gears, and sang a Samoan song.  My cousin, dressed as a taupou, lead the procession in dance followed with the gifts of the bread, wine, and flower leis.  I could just feel the excitement from the congregation as they were witnessing a Samoan siva for the first time ever.  And in church, during mass no less.  I couldn't help but notice a little smile on Fr. Wallace's face as stood a little taller after receiving his lei.  


When it was time for Communion, I was finding myself getting emotional again.  It would be my first time receiving Communion again after probably a year.  It actually should have been two years, but I was misled by another priest at a different church.  You see, I went to confession after Wolfy and I were married, knowing that I wasn't married in a Catholic ceremony and asked if I could still take Communion.  I don't know if the priest could hear me clearly because he was really old, but he told me I could continue receiving Communion.  One Sunday, not long after our first wedding, we visited my parents.  We were all in church and when it came time for Communion, I lined up as usual.  But my Mom stood up from the choir, walked over to me and pulled me out of the line.  That had to have been one of THE MOST embarrassing times in my life.  I looked at her confused and she told me I shouldn't be taking Communion.  I was genuinely confused, but she let me take Communion anyway.  But I couldn't help it, I was still just totally humiliated in my mind, and of course my mother made me cry.  Anyway, back to our second wedding day.  I was finally able to receive Communion, and just like the removing of the fine mat, I literally felt different after receiving Communion again.  I can only explain it as just finally being true to myself.  It was the way I was raised and falling in love, and getting married somewhere else couldn't change the fact that my faith is what put my soul at ease.  And when I was finally true to my faith, I was extremely happy.  


Mass finally ended and we walked up the aisle with Fr. Wallace.  A church full of strangers, and every single aisle we walked by were full of smiling faces, and congratulations.  How could I be any happier at that moment?  I tell you how...food! LOL I didn't realize that my family had been setting up a buffet line outside of the church for everyone to share in the festivities.  As soon as I walked out of the church I could smell Mom's sapasui, and I was immediately starving. (Did I mention I was pregnant lol)  As people were coming out they stopped to congratulate us, and just couldn't stop going on about the choir and Samoan parts of the mass.  I grew up singing in a choir, so I guess I don't appreciate it as much as the people who don't get to have mass with a full choir every Sunday.  I do have to admit that with the acoustics in the church they sounded beautiful.  Wolfy's Dad described it as sounding like a choir of Angels.  


So we ate, took pictures, cut cake, took more pictures and ate some more.  But afterwards when the men were all full and heading back to their t.v.'s to watch Sunday Football, I just couldn't stop thinking how the day could not have been more perfect.  It was just a simple little day, but oh so perfect.


At the beginning of this long post I used my irritation with Wolfy as an excuse for my lack of inspiration to finish part 2.  But it was actually my hubby who pushed me to finish what I started.  Even after 13 years he still inspires me.  I'm constantly giving him a hard time because I'm always tired and busy, but when I really need him he always takes care of me.  It hasn't been easy, and sometimes still isn't, but knowing that I have him as my partner in life makes me look forward to the next 13 years.  Here's to hoping I'm able to share those wonderful years with you all too!


 ~Reenie