Date Night In #1 is tonight!

Date Night In! Date Night In! Date Night In!

Tonight is the first edition of Date Night In, featuring Ashley Rodriguez’s UHMAZINGbook and a lot of prep work from yours truly. Ingredients have been purchased that I’ve never used before (miso paste anyone?), spices have been freshly ground, homemade barbecue sauce was simmered (with ruuuuummmm), coconut has been toasted, pineapple and mangos and jalapenos sliced, and a lot more. We will be taking pictures and summarizing our date together. Not sure if it will show up on my blog, Roy’s, both, or each giving separate accounts, but adventure fo’ sure! After all, we did this entire Date Night In with 7 holes in the kitchen ceiling and walls and the refrigerator blocking the main entrance. 

The most amazing spiced caramel was made two days ago in preparation for the dessert. One taste and I knew, even if the rest of the dinner bombs, we’re guaranteed a spectacular ending.

Today’s 1%: The Paderno shreds cabbage for slaw. Stick the whole head on there and get ready for a show.

An awful day

Today was an awful day. There was disappointment, discouragement, frustration, anger, and weariness. There were barf buckets and fussy, teething babies. There was bad news on top of bad news. There was grime, waste water everywhere, and dusts of both saw and plaster. There were concerns about finances and hastily prepared meals from prepackaged boxes. There was, for the eighth day, no use of our only shower or upstairs sink and toilet.

But there was also Plumber #5. God bless Plumber #5. He came to our house multiple times and rolled with the numerous surprises revealed by our uncovered pipes. He searched for the right equipment outside of his own. He saw my husband attempting to defray costs by helping where he could—while toting around a miserable teething baby and trying to keep a 3 year old from throwing up all over the living room. Plumber #5 watched all of this silently. And when it came time to go tonight, Plumber #5 took next to nothing for two days of hard work.

There were tears from more than one adult after he left.

And then, tonight, there was a shower taken in our very own house. And there wasn’t any dripping.

<fist pump> <jumping for joy> <fall to knees weeping>

So today really, maybe, wasn’t quite such an awful day.

Today’s 1%: For most of the day I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to come up with one. But tonight, in my half-kitchen (the other half is in pieces from the Plumbing Fiasco of 2015), I made homemade barbecue sauce for our first Date Night In tomorrow night. It called for ground coriander, but I only had whole. I was ready to omit—which would have been the only ingredient missing for the entire meal—but then I remembered that I owned a Magic Bullet, long forgotten about. Included in the Magic Bullet was a never-used blade for grinding. I dug it out of the pantry, dusted it off, and it worked! Ground coriander was added and the sauce tastes great! I’m sure a ½ teaspoon of ground coriander made all of the difference… ;)

Did I mention I took a shower tonight?!?!?!?

Photo drop

States puzzle. This guy astounded me a day or so later when he piped up from the backseat, "Hey! That's the bell that's on Pennsylvania!" (He spotted the Liberty Bell on a truck passing us. We hadn't talked about the bell, but it is indeed on the PA puzzle piece.)

Birthday party souvenir.

The "I'm happy and also about to fall asleep" face.

The "chalk is delicious" face.

Wagon shelves.

Walking home from the playground. Big Roy and Little Roy.

My kitchen ceiling yesterday. My kitchen looks much, much worse today.

Mango banana coconut spinach smoothie. Half a frozen banana, half a cup of frozen mango, half a cup of milk, half a cup of coconut Greek yogurt, large handful of spinach, flax seed, ice. Blend and enjoy.

This kid spiked a 104.2 degree fever two nights ago and is still recovering. First big meal since the fever broke. He is all big baby blues.

1% for today: I made sure that I got at least one book out of the library that was not a sports/celebrity biography. This shows great progress and maturity on my part. It also probably means that my chances of finishing said book are significantly diminished, but then that would be at least a 3% improvement for today. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

A family outing

We all went to the Bills-Steelers preseason game on Saturday. Roy and James rooted for the Bills and Owen joined me for Pittsburgh. (And also to fend off any drunken, rude Bills fans. He kept the foul language around us to a minimum with his big goofy grin.) Pittsburgh got trounced, but that’s OK. We didn’t play our starters very long and it was fun to see Roy and his family enjoying offensive success. Enjoy it now boys…

I was proud of James and Owen. I don’t know of many 3 year and 10 month olds who could patiently watch and enjoy 3 quarters of football from the very top of an enormous stadium without meltdowns. They were awesome and I don’t think they kept anybody in our group from getting their money’s worth.

Incidentally, it was my first time tailgating. The sausages were good, but I didn’t want dinner afterwards. Owen and I skipped out on Red Robin and perused the nearby Home Goods store instead. Come to think of it, we might have done that even if I had been hungry.

I would go again. But I think if I went back to the Ralph I’d go when the Bills were playing another team so I could go as a quasi-fan and take part in the ruckus. Or, better yet, Heinz Field.

This is the picture I wanted to put up on Facebook, but two worship directors probably shouldn't flaunt their 10 month old wielding a beer bottle like a rifle.

Today’s 1%: When you're thankful for someone, take a moment to tell them. Last night I was internally prompted to send an email to an author I have great respect for. I have no idea if she'll ever read it, but if I had been the author I would want to know that my words were having a positive impact.

Date Night In with a preschooler

THIS! 

I stumbled upon this author via a podcast I was listening to in which she and her husband were interviewed. They seemed like amazing people and I checked out their food blog. It’s a work of art. Roy and I decided to buy the cookbook and work our way through the date nights together. We can plan them, cook together, and enjoy the gloriously articulate writing along the way. Oh, and we'll probably blog about our adventures too. Not sure if it will be here or on his, but stories to come!

I want to meet Ashley Rodriguez. She is a young mom of three who understands the value of preserving and valuing a marriage. And she does it with food, which is exactly what I've been doing. As my hours are shifting more and more to tending little boys I find that time in the kitchen is my justified creative outlet. 

So this beautiful book arrived, and I’ve been feasting on the pictures and honest words and unimaginable taste combinations. James peeked over my shoulder this morning and said, “Oh. We need to make THOSE.”

Those being these:

So, we did. My first Date Night In consisted of melted chocolate and parchment paper and an eager 3 year old. He did a great job decorating if I do say so myself!

Here you have it—Ritz Cracker Mendiants via Ashley from notwithoutsalt.com.

Today's 1%: Put the lid on top of your big pot when you're trying to get water to boil faster. It's ridiculous that it takes 8 years of marriage for me to start remembering that, but it sure does help. Especially during corn season when you cannot wait a second longer to dive into a buttery, salted ear!

It's kind of still one of those days

Yesterday’s blog post was brought to you by somebody who obviously hadn’t taken her vitamins and had zero coffee in her veins. Today’s blog post is brought to you by the same somebody, now vitamined and caffeinated. Which is a good thing, because there is still water dripping through my kitchen light fixture from the toilet upstairs. This happened shortly after I posted my complaints yesterday. (Clearly I was smited for my miserable attitude.) Roy is slaving over that dumb toilet, drilling into our new tile floor, running to Lowes (or Blue Home Depot, as James calls it) way more times than one should in 24 hours, and determined to lick the leak. (Not literally, of course. Gross.) Wax ring #1 didn’t seal. Super jumbo wax ring on its way. It’s either that or pay somebody to come and do it, and initial quotes were rather unfriendly.

Super jumbo wax ring has arrived. Fingers crossed folks.

Today’s 1%: When your son’s little red wagon is falling apart and dangerous for little boys to sit in anymore, take the sides off, give them a little cleaning, a few braces, and turn them into bookshelves for his room. So cute!

One of those days

It’s one of those days…

When your 9 month old refuses to do anything except be carried by you, and you alone.

When your 9 month old is clearly hungry but won’t eat purees (So. Much.Wasted.Oatmeal. And yogurt.) and isn’t allowed to have bananas or toast in the morning because he’s chronically constipated. And you don’t want to feed him only sugary fruits. And all of the breakfast baby bars online are basically BANANAS with a few oats mixed in.

When your husband gives up on the three day project of installing a baby gate which has led to more banged shins and hips than anything else in the house ever. And all it does is make the grownups not want to go up and down the stairs. The kids keep trying anyway.

When your 3 year old inexplicably dumps all of his toys in the entryway between the living room and dining room, effectively blocking the front and back of the downstairs. Hundreds of blocks.

When all you want to do is unload the dishwasher, but all you are actually doing is creating mountains of dirty dishes (mostly in vain attempts to feed previously mentioned 9 month old).

When you know you need to work out more for your sanity than any other day this week but you absolutely positively do NOT want to pull on your shorts and shoes to go for a run. Besides, it’s cold. And the 9 month old is still clinging to you.

When you’re depressed because it’s cold. And you’re depressed because you think that 65 outside equals cold.

When you pull out a frozen Rubbermaid of old cookie dough. You think you’ll throw it out, but then it tastes OK when you sample it. So you decide to just throw the whole blob in the oven. And it’s all dry and gross after you already grease your pan and preheat your oven.

When you are mulling six different date/time/location options to be able to see your best friend in October. But flights seem to go up in price every time you’re ready to purchase. Also you’re not sure if your currently-nursing infant will still need you six times a day in two months. And you don’t want to fly out of the airport that’s an hour and twenty minutes away when there’s one fifteen minutes away. But you could save $50 on a ticket. And is it cheaper to use one of the all-inclusive price sites or go through the direct airline? And then your 9 month old starts pounding on the keyboard.

When you try to scramble an egg on the stove for your infant and all you can see is his big head blocking your way. #blindchef #donotburnthebaby #oryourself

When your husband and 3 year old, working hard to get baby gate fixed and shelving finished, leave the two doors to the garage and basement wide open every 2.3 minutes. You must close them every 2.3 minutes lest your 9 month old fall down the basement steps. We had a close call the other day and it was terrifying.

When your second baby gate doesn’t fit in the doorway to block the entryway to the basement steps.

When baby gates are just STUPID.

When your mind is willing to work and think and problem-solve, but your physical being is stuck in a cycle of cleaning up and closing doors.

Ever have one of those days?

Today’s 1%: This homemade Pad Thai sauce is delicious and not nearly as sugary/salty/fatty/preserved/pricey as the $3.99 baby jar of it at Wegmans. Win at ALL levels.

Pad Thai sauce: put all together and give a quickie shake in a jar. Credit, once again, goes to pinchofyum.com.

·         3 tablespoons fish sauce or vegan fish sauce substitute

·         3 tablespoons brown sugar (or sub another sweetener)

·         3 tablespoons chicken or vegetable broth

·         2 tablespoons white vinegar

·         1 tablespoon soy sauce

·         1 teaspoon chili paste (sambal oelek)