I’ve been wondering if we would just be going without oatmeal during the kitchen remodel, while we don’t have a stove. What? They make packets of instant oatmeal that you can just add water to and nuke in the microwave? Yes, I know, and they don’t taste very good. I think it’s because they have salt in them. And way too much sugar. But, just in time, Money Saving Mom ran a post about making homemade instant oatmeal packets. I tweaked the recipe a bit to our taste, and here’s what I came up with.

Here’s what you need:

• canister of quick-cooking oats
• canister of rolled oats
• dry milk
• brown sugar
• cinnamon
• zip-top baggies

In food processor, grind 1 cup quick oats and 1 cup rolled oats to a powder. Set up an assembly line with all your ingredients.

In each baggie (makes 16):

• 2 Tbsp. ground oat mixture
• 1/4 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup dry milk
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

To make oatmeal, mix packet with 1/2 to 3/4 cup boiling water and let stand 2-3 minutes.

If you want, you could add other things like dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Comments(0)

This morning I decided Anna’s hair is long enough to try some pigtails. She likes it… she says “I have both hairs!” She looks so grown up. She’s also been chattering away pretty much nonstop this morning. Coincidence? Or maybe the pigtails give her some attitude!

(more…)

Comments(2)

We are anticipating being without a kitchen for about a month. I know, these things usually take longer than expected, but that’s our best guess based on the people we’ve talked to. So how do we eat, without spending as much on dining out as the kitchen costs, or resorting to Bagel Bites and Easy Mac?

I’m going to cook—a LOT—now. This week I am cooking up some casseroles, soups, baked goods, and some other things that can be frozen and reheated in the microwave or toaster oven. I may have to buy some storage containers, but we should still come out ahead as opposed to eating out all the time.

Here are some of the things I’m planning to make:

• Chicken Rice Casserole
• Skillet Tamale Pie
• Spinach Manicotti
• Baked Ziti
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Chili
• Freezer Twice Baked Potatoes
• Baked Goods:
  • Banana Bread
  • Oatmeal Raisin Bread
  • Cranberry Orange Muffins
  • Apple Muffins
  • Oatmeal Raisin and Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough (rolled into balls and frozen)

For veggies to go with the meals, I guess I’ll steam them in the microwave—not my preferred method, but better than nothing. We’ll use store-bought bread and rolls. Then there are things like cereal, yogurt, fresh salads, baked potatoes, grilled cheese (we have a griddle), fresh fruits and veggies, etc.

When I looked online for ideas about how to eat during a kitchen remodel, there was a lot of advice about using a hot plate, slow cooker, outdoor grill, and so forth. Yes, it’s possible to cook using those things, but it still seems like prep and clean-up would be a major pain, trying to prep in the family room and wash dishes in the little bathroom sink. I want to have as much ready to eat as possible. We’ll supplement with eating out some, and if we run out of food, maybe I can have another cooking day at someone else’s house and fill up those containers again.

Comments(1)

We are about to embark on a big adventure, the likes of which we have never experienced before and probably won’t ever wish to again once it’s all said and done: the total kitchen remodel! We are still in the planning stages and are gathering quotes from various folks, but we hope to get started in the next couple of weeks so we can finish before the baby comes in October.

The kitchen is small with minimal counter and cabinet space, but there is an adjoining formal dining room that we plan to take in and make part of the kitchen. (We really don’t want nor need a formal dining room.) The dining room is conveniently the same width as the kitchen, so it will be a long galley-style kitchen when it is done, with plenty of cabinets for storage and counters for prep. This will also enable us to shift the work area down a little bit to make the eat-in area of the kitchen larger. It is currently pretty tight (our table has to be pushed up against a wall), and we’d like to be able to seat more than four people. Also, the laundry room doorway is right in the eat-in area, and we plan to wall it off and move the doorway to go directly to the adjoining family room. (You’ll see what I’m talking about when you get to the photos.) This will also allow the family room to be used for overflow dining space when necessary, plus it just makes a lot more sense for traffic flow.

Our goal is something functional here. We don’t want fancy fixtures, ornate moldings, and elaborate decór. We want something basic, surfaces that are easy to clean and maintain, design that lends itself to cooking efficiently, and materials/appliances that are not top-of-the-line but still good enough quality to last a while. Also, we’re going to try to be eco-friendly when possible, and I’ll be pointing that out in the choices we make.

I hope to document the process along the way. First, maybe this will help someone else who plans to go through the same thing, and second, I need to be better about blogging and this seems like a good thing to blog about.

Now, for some “before” pictures!

The eat-in area:

View looking from the formal dining room:

(more…)

Comments(6)

This post is a couple of weeks late, but thus is life right now. :) On July 4, we finally got to meet our new niece, Kendall! She doesn’t live very far away, but for one reason or another it just hasn’t worked out for us to go see her. But my brother and his family were able to make it to Conway for a couple of days.

Anna was so sweet around the baby! She was very interested in her and always wanted to know where she was. She kissed her and patted her gently. She brought her toys. And she didn’t have any problem at all with David or me holding her. This is a good sign!

(more…)

Comments(3)

No, that wasn’t a self-commentary on my nearly-6-month-pregnant shape (this time!). Today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A, where if you dress like a cow, you get a free meal! Apparently it’s an annual event, and we just found out about it last year and participated for the first time this year. I think it will be a yearly family tradition.

Anna really got into the spirit of things and ate all SIX—that’s right, SIX—of her chicken nuggets! Gracious!

Comments(5)

In just a little over a year, we’ve had to say goodbye to three dogs. First, we lost our precious Sasha to cancer. Then, we were fostering Russ through his heartworm treatment, and we lost him to distemper.

This past Thursday, we said goodbye to the third, but under a much different set of circumstances. Our foster dog Bailey found a new home up in New Jersey, so we went down to Little Rock to see him off on the P.E.T.S. transport that will deliver him and about a hundred other dogs from the South to their new homes in the Northeast, which they do every week. (They currently have an 8-week show on Animal Planet, airing on Saturday nights.)

It was hard to say goodbye and we will miss him greatly, but fostering all the way through to the send-off is rewarding as well. He arrived today, and his new mom wrote how much they adore him and how much sweeter he is than they ever could have imagined. She thanked us for loving him and taking care of him until he could be theirs. They have been counting down the days until he would arrive! Fostering definitely fills a need in the animal rescue world. We are honored to have been a part of Bailey’s story, and we hope to do it again in the future (after we have our own dog(s), according to David—he says he can’t do this again unless he has a dog to come home to!)

Here are few pics from send-off day:

Comments(4)

We are planning to move in on Saturday! It took a little longer than we first thought to get all the work done, but there was a lot that needed to be done. The house was formerly owned by a smoker, so it needed new carpet and new paint, floor to ceiling. In fact, we had the ceilings scraped and retextured, and they look great. The paint is finished except for a few touch-ups, and the carpet should be installed today and tomorrow. I used to wonder why anyone would pay people to paint the inside of their house, but since the entire thing needed to be done before we moved in, and David has to work, and I’m pregnant and have a toddler to take care of, it would have been impossible for us to do it ourselves in a timely manner. I really like the drywall guys who did the ceiling texturing, as well as the painters, who painted all the walls, ceilings, and trim, so if you need a recommendation for either of those, let me know.

David took some “before” pictures a couple of weeks ago, so I’ll try to get some “after” pictures and get them posted. Honestly, though, moving in has priority over picture-taking, so don’t hold your breath!

Comments(2)

Bailey has been adopted! After 6+ months with us as our foster dog through All About Labs, he is going to join a couple in Hoboken, NJ who want to make him part of their family. He’ll head off on the doggie bus on June 24 and arrive two days later. The woman owns her own business and will take Bailey to work with her. They also live close to a dog park, so he should get the chance to play with some other dogs.

We have mixed feelings about this, of course, but I suppose all foster parents do. We’ve loved him, taken care of him, and integrated him into our family, all the while knowing that we would be sending him off when the time is right. Anna loves him, and I know she’ll be asking about him for a while, but I think she’s young enough that she’ll transition fine to another dog when we foster or adopt again.

So we’ve got another week and a half to love on him, play with him, and get ourselves ready for the big day.

Comments(2)

Anna graduated! I’m so proud!

Ok, so it was from “Mother Goose on the Loose” story time at the library. Since she’s 2 now, she’s supposed to move up to “Toddler Time” for the next year. So after story time today, they held a little graduation ceremony complete with certificate and refreshments. (No graduation speaker, thankfully.) I’m sure the kids didn’t have a clue what it was all about, but there were lots of proud parents there!

Comments(3)