January 31st, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: 2.5

Spencer had his half birthday last week and while we don’t do much, we do try to at least acknowledge it. My original plan was to make some cupcakes, but I lost all motivation, but I’m glad I did. We picked up one of those big slices of cake when we got some takeout for dinner and I think it was the first time Spencer had chocolate cake. The results were hilarious. By the time he finished eating (and we gave him maybe a quarter of a slice), he was singing songs comprised mostly of jibberish.

He's got the 2 down, working on adding the point five

Do you have a wordless wednesday post? Link up below!

January 30th, 2012

Heart Shaped Croutons

Heart shaped croutons are a super easy and fun way to make a salad festive for Valentine’s Day. It is such a simple way to add an extra little touch. Nothing says romance like toasted bread. Fact.

And, to be quite honest, any shape would do. I plan on making bunnies for Easter and you could even make footballs for the super bowl. All game days need a salad. It balances out the good stuff. I went with a simple salt and pepper combination with these, but feel free to spice them up with a little garlic powder, dried basil or oregano or red pepper flakes.

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Heart Shaped Croutons
Serves 4(on a salad)
4 slices sandwich bread (or french or whatever you have laying around)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper. fresh ground
Heart shaped cookie cutters, pastry brush, cookie sheet

1. Using cookie cutters, cut heart shapes out of bread and place on cookie sheet
2. Let sit for an hour, then preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix oil, salt and pepper
4. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, brush heart shapes with oil mixture. Flip and brush other side.
5. Place in oven and cook for 8 minutes. Turn shapes over and continue baking for an additional 8 minutes until shapes are golden brown
6. Let cool on cookie sheet and enjoy!
7. Croutons are best enjoyed on the same day, but will keep for a few day in an airtight container at room temperature.

I had a little helper today. This is a great cooking project to do with kids. Spencer is only 2.5 and could cut the bread, remove the shapes, and brush them with oil. I did a little evening out when he was done, but for the most part he was able to do it. (It does depend a little bit on your desire for neatness and precision. Some of the hearts ended up a little rustic and he ended up a little… oily.)           Pin It

January 28th, 2012

P366: Week in Photos Jan 22nd-Jan 28th

Super fun week! Mostly. Except for Spencer’s cold still dragging on, but he went to school both days and then my sister came for a quick visit and Spencer had his half birthday! Fun times were had by all.

Sunday January 22nd

Sick toddler needed Toy Story and cuddles.

Monday January 23rd

Lounge Day

Tuesday January 24th

Vacuums!

Wednesday January 25th

1st nap in 2 weeks. Kiddo just passed out.

Thursday January 26th

Playing in the sunshine with chips, new shirt and Aunt Laurie. Life is good.

Friday January 27th (Half Birthday!)

Poor thing was worn out.

Saturday January 28th

Playing outside with Dad. I was asked to leave.

That’s our week! Crazy cake pictures from his point five cake to come on Wednesday. Linking up with Amy for week in photos.

January 26th, 2012

Drives Me Crazy

I’m a bad driver, probably a horrible one. I don’t enjoy it and it mostly just serves as a way to get me to the places I need to go. I avoid deviating from the route I planned in my head, unassisted left turns and driving on the freeway. I’m also a magnet for aggressive asshole drives. I once had a girl flip me off because I pulled over to let her pass. Classy.

I’m also a nervous driver, not aggressive (or even assertive) in the least. I’ve been told I drive like a grandma and absolutely hate driving with other adults in the car. I avoid it at all costs. My big issue with driving on the freeway is that I feel like all the cars are going to hit me. That and I hate passing. And merging. I’m a mess.

In an unfortunate turn of events, this is all exacerbated when I am pregnant. I noticed it last time with Spencer and except for one local highway, pretty much quit driving on the freeway for nearly a year. I’m not sure if it because of the increased hormone levels because I am carrying twins, but it is much worse this time. I can barely even ride on the freeway. My gasps and flinches and (literally) hiding behind my hands drove my husband insane during the drive to Knott’s Berry Farm. I had to stay focused on my phone to get through it at all.

Even my neighborhood doesn’t feel safe. There are three main roads that run through our neighborhood: two of them only have oncoming traffic from one side and the one down the middle is two sided. I can barely make it down the road that middle road with out having a heart attack. The stop signs are all on the side streets, but people have a tendency to roll them and not by a little but front wheels completely over the limit line is a normal stop. I know this. I know they are going to stop. Yet. Every time some one approaches, I flinch, my breathing stops and I can see, hear and feel the car crashing in to the side of my car. The sensation ends as soon as I get away from the other car.

It seems like a car almost hits me every time I drive. I’m not sure anymore how often it is real and how much it is in my head. I’m not entirely sure I can tell the difference. My accuracy rate when my husband is driving is about 75% for the car actually being too close for comfort. It doesn’t help that I have had a series of wacky things happen when driving recently that I know weren’t just my imagination. Cars not yeilding, turning in to my lane when going through a double-laned left arrow intersection, just the usual Southern California suburban driving adventure.

But, the panic attacks and the OMG THAT CAR IS GOING TO HIT ME AND WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE every time a car passes a smidgen too close is much, much worse. I tried googgling, but mostly got results about pregnant women dying in car crashes, which wasn’t really what I needed. So, for now, I guess I’ll just spend the next 20 weeks only driving on city streets, on familiar routes during the daytime. Should be a piece of cake.

If only all the roads looked like this one.