Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Getting Our Food Storage Going

A few weeks ago, Jon and I decided to make a 3 month food storage. He put up some shelving in our furnace room in the basement and packed a few of the kids with me to Aldi (our main grocery store). Buying 12 things (cans or canisters?) of oatmeal is kind of a funny experience...especially when you're also buying 15 bags of flour, 9 bags of sugar, 24 cans of tomato paste, etc. Funny, yet satisfying. Stacking and organizing all of these items in neat little rows brought my heart a new kind of contentment. I have to admit that I sometimes go down to the basement, open the door, flip on the light and just stare. There's also the added joy from knowing that I'm finally following counsel that I've known about for years! A friend shared a great website that I'm finding helpful! www.simplylivingsmart.com Check it out!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Father's Day Barbecue

So, I was never much of a barbecue fan until a couple of years ago when my husband took me to Jack Stack barbecue over by Kansas City. I'm a barbecue convert and Jon already loved it so I decided to try to make it on my own for Father's Day. It's pretty much a 3 day recipe. You marinate brisket in liquid smoke and garlic salt and pepper overnight. It's wrapped up tight in foil. Then you cook it at 250 degrees for 8 hours (pouring your favorite barbecue sauce over it after 5 hours). Then you cool it completely (overnight). Slice it thin and reheat it at 200 degrees for an hour. I have to congratulate myself because it was pretty good. I need to tweak it a little and improve it but it was exciting to make it for the first time!

Potty Time!

Joseph just turned 3 in April and soon after started showing interest in going potty...so naturally, I was excited to turn that corner, and we got out the size 3 underwear and the M&M's! After 2 days I was feeling pretty excited and then on day 3 we had THREE poopy surprises and I decided I was done for a while. Last week at Walmart I bought a package of 3 seriously overpriced Thomas and Friends underwear. Of course, Joseph loves anything to do with Thomas the Tank Engine and so he wanted to wear them. We didn't do the M&M's this time as they had a tendency to disappear very quickly. My little guy has been running around in his undies for the last 5 days and he's got it!!! He tells me he's got to go and we go! Danny and Nater were closer to 3 1/2 when they got it, so he's a little early on my scale and I am CHEERING!!!