Herb of the Week. . .

Rosemary, is my herb of this week. It is so versatile, anyone can grow it. Just ask my husband. I have a tendency to kill plants but, with most of my herbs I am successful. Rosemary is not only very fragrant but it is also pretty. I like to put a bow on mine during the Christmas Holidays. I use rosemary with turkey, chicken, and sometimes pork. I do a turkey breast in my Pampered Chef ( what else would I use?) deep dish baker with lid and I add a 1/2 cup of white wine and some garlic and fresh rosemary. I also spritz the bird with a little olive oil.

I wash my rosemary and the I will pull the leaves off and rub them on the breast then I will take another couple of stems of rosemary and lay them in the dish around the bird. You can do this with either turkey or chicken. I bake it covered for about 2 hours and the uncovered for about 45 minutes. The uncovered baking gives the bird the golden color.

Now here is another use for rosemary that is a little out of the ordinary. For baking you can use fresh or dried rosemary just remember that using dried herbs you want to rub them between your fingers to bruise them to release the oils and flavor. Now for my unconventional use of rosemary. My sister told me about this one when I was in college. Take your fresh rosemary and boil some water in a sauce pan after your water comes to a rolling boil take it off the heat and add your rosemary. Let it steep for about 15 minutes. This is making kind of a rosemary tea. After the rosemary has steeped in the hot water remove it and cool your water. Now here is the unconventional part. You want to get the water cool because you are going to take this to your shower. Wash your hair as you normally would then rinse and pour your tea over your hair. The rosemary strips all of the gunk that builds up on our hair after fixing, gelling, spraying, ect.

Then rinse with warm water and style as usual. Your hair should feel soft and it should shine too. I tried to do this about once a month when I was in college. You figure I was in college in the late 80's with BIG hair and lots of styling product. HA HA!!!

Thomas' isms

Thomas has been studying Abraham Lincoln in school the past few weeks. He was telling his Daddy what he had learned about him. He told his Daddy that every time he saw a bottle of log cabin syrup he thought about Abraham Lincoln. Mark asked why. Thomas replied, "he was born in a log cabin and he died at the movies." I could not help but laugh. Thank goodness Thomas was not around while Mark and I were discussing all of this. I love my children they bring true perspective to life.

Thomas played basketball this past weekend and the poor dear had two games in one day. My folks were able to come and see both Jack and Thomas play ball. Jack won his game and Thomas won his too. They got to see the two best games the boys had played all year. Thomas scored two points and had a rebound too. It was an exciting game. Thomas also had a rebound and shot two points at the wrong goal. That was cute. Everyone laughed and I asked, "Whose kid was that?" After the game Thomas came and sat with my Mom and she was congratulating him on a good game. Thomas said, as he was pointing to the offending goal, "Gee, I didn't mean to do that." We all laughed. She said that was ok that sometimes we all get a little excited and forget which goal we are shooting at. I think that is a good life lesson too.

This was Thomas first year playing basketball and he loved it. He is not very good at it yet but he enjoyed it. I think it all clicked during the game my folks saw. You could see him watching and trying to steal the ball. He seemed to understand the concept of the game. He got called for a foul and he looked up at the referee questioning, "what did I do?" Thomas did not understand the foul. He looked puzzled for a few minutes and then continued.

Now baseball starts. He is very excited about baseball. He cannot wait to start practice. Jack moves up this year to player pitch. This should be an interesting year for us.

Nobody is perfect. . .

I always joke when I do shows that I am pampered and not perfect. I won't everyone to know you don't have to be a professional chef to make wonderful recipes in their own kitchen. Well this not so perfect moment has nothing to do with cooking or even the kitchen.

Yes, I am telling on myself, but I have learned that you have to laugh at yourself and allow others to laugh with you. I know I am not alone out there and for anyone else who has done this before just know it is ok.

I was trying to get ready for Thomas' birthday and I started calling our usual place to have it. They were booked up til mid March. That would not do. Thomas is upset enough that we are having his friend party a week later. So I asked him where else he would like to have a party. He decided and I made the arrangements. I began making his list of friends and sending the invitations. There were a few friends that I only had phone numbers for so I called them and invited them. I also sent some emails. I ordered my cake and everything was set. I came in yesterday and checked my email and I had two responses from the emails I had sent. Come to find out I had put the wrong party day in the email and when these ladies got their invitations it had the actual party day. Thank goodness they emailed me and questioned it because if they had not I would have been missing 4 kids and a cake. Worse than missing the kids they would have show up at the party a day late. That would have been terrible.

So if you get an invitation and an email to a party make sure they have the same date on them and do not assume anything. Make that call. You may save your party hostess a good deal of embarrassment. Of course if she is like me you may give her blog material.

Thanks to Beth at A Mom's Life, and Jennifer at The Ramblings of a Crazy Woman. You can connect to their blogs in my blog list to the right. Check it out.

Spice or Herb of the Week. . .

I picked basil for this week. I love basil. I especially love it fresh. I know that is hard to do at this time of year. But, even dried basil is good in most recipes. I am a big fan of fresh herbs. I try to grow my own every year. I do pretty good for a novice. My mother always had a garden and fresh produce and it was always so much fun to go to the garden and pick fresh corn, strawberries, sweet peas, zucchini, yellow squash, beans and much more. I do not garden to that magnitude but I do small things. My sister helped me get started with spinach. That is really good fresh. It is so much sweeter than anything you buy in the store.

Back to my basil. I either buy a small pot at Lowes or I buy seeds and do my own. When it gets cold I bring them in and keep them in my kitchen. The one I brought in this year just died. So I am ready to get started again. This warm weather we have had has made me long for my fresh herbs. I use basil in all sorts of recipes. I love it in anything that has a tomato base. The basil just brings out the flavor of the tomatoes. You can even use it in mexican dishes too.

Now if you do not have fresh basil you can use dried basil. It is important when you use dried herbs to rub them between your fingers as you are adding them to your dish. This bruises the herb and allows the oils to be released in your food. If you don't believe me take some dried herb; oregano, basil, or cilantro and smell it. If you just take it out of the bottle it will have a little aroma but if you rub it between your fingers you will really get a boost of aroma.
So this Spring try your luck at growing fresh herbs. It is really not that hard.

Until we eat again. . .

This House is a Wreck Cont. . .

You remember my dear husband who said my house was a wreck. Well I did not tell you that he set in to play all these grand plans to clean up this messy house and promptly was called out of town on business. So here I am doing all the work, as usual, because I am the one with the uterus.

I did not mention the grand plans he had for our children. He has deemed that our children watch to much TV and the probably do. I will bet that they don't watch more than the average child. They already do not watch TV or play video games before school or right after school. He has decided that they are only allowed 2 hours of TV per day. Now I agree to much TV is not good but I do believe he is on a little bit of a power trip. I am unsure of where all this has come from. I believe that my kids and maybe one or two other kids are the only ones that do homework after school. My door bell starts ringing as soon as they get home from the bus stop. I always tell the kids they cannot come out until all their homework is done. Jack does not have a lot of homework but he always has something he needs to do. He has to read everyday for 15 minutes and then do his other work.

So here I sit as we prepare for the day holding down the fort while dear hubby is out of town.

Monday. . .

It is so hard to get back in the groove after the weekend. I try so hard to keep the boys on a schedule so we don't have issues and it never fails something come up and my schedule goes out the door. HA HA!! Mondays are always crazy. And since my house is so messy well, that just adds to the trauma of getting up and going to school. I try my best to have the boys clothes laid out and their book bags packed and it never fails. Oh, mom I was supposed to take a 2 page report to school on the ground hog. I am sure you have had this too. This is why Mondays are the way they are at my house. I feel like I am running the local nut house. The kids don't listen and the hubby is to concerned over his own issues to notice that the kids aren't dressed and it is 7:25 am. That is because he is to tied up making grand plans to keep our house clean and neat and organized. HA!

Now that all my crazies are at school and work, ahhhhhhhhh the sound of silence and my little key strokes. Now I set out on my goal to do dishes, do laundry, and dust. Oh, and let's not forget to try and clear the clutter.

I think I shall re-name Monday as Ventday. Sorry for the Venting but it is either to you or the first telemarketer that calls today. HA HA!! They don't call that often anymore and I don't know why.

Time for some Chi tea.

The House is a wreck. . .

The house is a wreck! This is what my husband said last night. Now hmmmm, how did it get this way? We have two wild boys and two even wilder adults living here. Now let's see. How did our house get messy? HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! Sometimes my husband just makes me laugh and laugh.

Ok, so here is how it went down. Mark decided that our house needed to be organized. HA! I agree we could be more organized and a good portion of it is my fault after all I am the one with the uterus and all. Sorry, I did not sleep very much last night so I am a little punchy this morning. Here is Marks' plan to get us back on track: We are all going to have to start picking up after ourselves. Hmmm, now where have I heard that before? The boys are going to have to start picking up the playroom and their bedroom. "Everything will have it's place." says Mark. Yes, I agree everything should have it's place but please. I am not a neat person and he knew this when he married me. I am afraid if I put everything up I won't be able to find anything when I need it.

I have a feeling we will be visiting this issue again as Marks' plan progresses.

My public service announcement for today is: Ladies do your self breast exams and get your mammogram. "Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 to 55." this is from the Breast Cancer Relief Foundation. www.breastcancerrelief.org

Spice of the Week. . .

I am going to start trying to post quick tips for the kitchen each week. Today I want to talk about pepper. There are several different varieties of pepper. You have black, white-pink, or green. There are some that are combinations of those too. Black is the most common and is the strongest. It is a bit hot with a hint of sweetness. White has a mild flavor and the green is fresher and the pink has a lite citrus flavor. The Pampered Chef has a peppercorn medley that is a combination of all of these peppers. If you are dieting and you would like to spice up your meal reach for the pepper.

Now there are those brands you can buy that are already ground. These may lose their flavor over time. Think back to the last time you ate out and your server came around and asked, Would you like fresh pepper with that? Do you remember the aroma? Do you remember the wonderful flavor? You could have that every day. All you need is peppercorns and your own grinder. The Pampered Chef also has grinders as well as the Peppercorn Medley and a wonderful Himalayan Salt and sea salt.

There are many varieties to choose from. Check out your local supermarket.

Don't forget to pass the pepper tonight.

These are my little sports stars!

College Savings. . .

Ok, I know nobody wants to think about this right now especially with the economy the way it is. But, as good parents we need to be thinking about this, even if your kids are only 5 years old. Mark and I started saving for Jack before he was born. We started a jug with change and whenever we had spare change we put it in Jacks' jug. Every now and then my folks would come by to visit and they would add their change and sometimes some dollars. Well, spare change is not going to be enough so we started both of our kids a 529 plan. If you do not know what this is I recommend you talk with someone that does. There are several financial people out there that are good people and will help you find your way in all the lingo.

Mark and I started with a Columbia 529 and as you can guess with the economy the way it is that has lost a significant amount of money. I told you about finding help through Dave Ramsey. Well, his financial people helped us get that straight. The person I spoke with is Paul Brewer of Brewer and Associates in Greensboro, NC. Mr. Brewer asked why we had two 529 plans. I simply replied because we have two kids. He said you do not have to have two. The plans can be passed down from one child to the other. That saves on service charges. Say Jack gets a scholarship and only needs a portion of the money we saved then the other money can be passed to Thomas. Mr. Brewer moved us from a Columbia 529 to a different one that lets us choose where our money is invested. I am hoping since our move that our money will grow. And since we only have one now our money should grow faster because it is not separated.

I went to one site and figured up how much college is going to cost for my kids. Get a chair you will need it.

Jack; let's say he goes to NC State. Nice state supported school. $200,291 that is for four years of school.

Thomas; I added his up with him going to UNC $283,767

Here are some helpful sites to figure your heart attack: www.vanguard.com, www.cfnc.org/nc529 , www.hartford.com

I used the Vanguard site to figure the numbers the other sites have good info on how to save for all of this. The Vanguard site is very informative.

And no I am not being paid to say any of this. I just thought that today should be a public service blog.

I hope I have not given anybody a headache today.

Snow Daze. . .

I used to love snow days when I was younger. Now I dread them just a little. My kids were up at the crack of dawn this morning wanting to go play. I kept them in till 9:00 and I could hold them no longer. I dressed them in about 4 layers: boots, gloves, coat, toboggan, on top of the base layers.

Thomas stayed out until 11:30 and Jack stayed out until 1:30. They were both soaked to the bone. They came in and ran to the fire to warm up and Jack requested hot chocolate. Even though they were really cold I think they had fun playing around. This was not a really good snow but it is the first we have had in some years that the kids have actually been able to sled in since we moved in 2005.

Mark is such a kid too. He has been complaining all winter wanting a good snow. We just got a good dusting last night and the kids played in it too for a while. Then it stopped and we all came in. Mark firmly believed the kids would go to school today. Of course when we woke up we had gotten even more snow through the night and school was closed for the day.

The kids have been so tired from playing in the snow they have actually been good since they came in. No fights, arguments, or whining. I cannot tell you how much I hate whining. The snow day was a wonderful day after all.

Hope everyone is safe and sound.