Monday, January 31, 2011

Ask-Receive

Granola recipe:

5 cups of oats (I use thick cut)
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, whatever you have)
1/4 cup sesame seeds (not toasted)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (I didn't have any at home so I left this out and doubled the sesame seeds)
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
1/2 cup honey

1 cup dried fruit (whatever you like-I used 1/2 dried cranberries, 1/2 raisins)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix together the first group of ingredients in a big bowl, heat juice/honey in the microwave until the honey dissolves. Add to bowl and mix REALLY well. Pour onto a big cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes or so and watch it carefully towards the end-it will go from toasty and awesome to burt and smelling like butt in a second.

Dump back into bowl and add dried fruit. Put mixture in an airtight container and let it cool. Some of the mixture will clump together, if you don't want clusters occasionally roll the container as it cools.

Yogurt recipe:

I suggest starting this in the afternoon the day before so you will have yogurt in the morning! Pour 1/2 gallon of milk (whatever you normally drink or have at home-I used 2%) into a crockpot and heat on warm for 2 1/2 hours. Stir at this time to make sure it doesn't stick and turn off crockpot, make sure the lid is on during this time. Let it hang out for 3 hours. After 3 hours take out about 1 cup and mix in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt from the store. Add this back to the mixture and stir it REALY well to completely combine. Put the lid back on top and cover your entire crockpot with several heavy towels. Do not move the crockpot AT ALL and let it do it's thing for 8-10 hours. The longer it sits the tangier it will be, it is up to your taste buds at this point. When you uncover your container and look inside you will have yogurt! If you want it thicker then put it in the fridge to completely cool before adding scoops to a coffee filter in a sieve. Let the whey drain until you get the consistency you like (I drained mine for about 1 hour to make it between regular store yogurt and greek-style). It's a little time consuming, but honestly it's not really any work-you ignore it for 2 1/2 hours, ignore it again for 3 hours, and ignore it AGAIN for 8-10 hours.

Enjoy!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Bringing "Tree Hugger" to a new level

It's no secret that at our house we (well mostly me) are tree huggers. We clean with vinegar and baking soda, buy organic, and make most of our food from scratch. Today I brought it to a new level. I borrowed a co-worker's crockpot and made our yogurt for the week. It was SOOO easy!!! I have to be honest, the main reason was price. We were spending between $6-8 A WEEK on yogurt-that's up to $32 a month (I know you can do the math, don't be insulted). I made enough for two weeks and it only cost me $1.50 a week-or $6 a month!!!!! I also made my granola this week-gluten free granola is CRAZY expensive. Turns out, mine is tastier and about 1/4 the price. We got a gift card at Christmas that we have been sitting on, waiting to decide what to buy...today I made the decision-crockpot. Judge me all you want, now this tree hugger has some extra cash!

Monday, January 24, 2011

LONG week ahead

Today was the first day in a VERY long week. We go to school for six days (hopefully) to make up for ones we missed because of snow....and they are calling for freezing rain later this week:-( It's bad when even the kids who don't love school want to be there. Today was a day. A long day. A tiring day. A make-me-repeat-myself-1,000 times-and-you-still-not-listen day. You want some examples?

-A kid rolled across the carpet when I was teaching. Like Stop, Drop and Roll-roll. He then looked at me confused when I nearly lost my shit and made him turn his behavior card.
-A kid dumped a HUGE amount of change on the floor..twice, and then again on the bathroom floor. This was after I told him to put all of it in his backpack. I told him there was gross stuff on his money now because it touched the bathroom floor and boys miss and pee on the floor.
-One child lost his damn mind and started juggling bags of chips when I was fixing a computer. He had the audacity to give me a dirty look when I DID loose my shit.

I told Girlfriend all of these things and how I had a terrible pain in my chest all day. It hurt so bad I seriously was thinking she punched me in my sleep and broke some ribs (clarification-she sometimes flails about when she is sleeping, not that she beats or abuses me) Here is the converstion over dinner:

Me: I seriously lost my shit today. I can't do this five more days. Not with this pain, I seriously think I'm going to die.
Girlfriend: Baby, you've had this happen before?
Me: WHEN! My ribs are KILLING me!!!
Girlfriend: I don't remember when, but I remember this happening. It's just gas. You will be fine.
Me: This. Is. Not. Gas.
Girlfriend: It. Is. Gas.

Hours later....it was gas. I'm fine now :-)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Not Right

There is snow on the ground. Target has bathing suits for sale. That is not right.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Nothing Exciting Here

Monday school was closed for "inclement weather" I put those words in quotes because it was f*cking gorgeous (cold but gorgeous) and didn't start to snow until AFTER FOUR PM. Tuesday morning school was closed and there actually was some inclement weather, ice to be specific. Wednesday has already been called off because of ice. Now, we use to call a delay and see what happens as the morning goes on but noooooooo, now we must shut down right away. What does this mean in the big scheme of things? I have to go to school this Saturday and Saturday the 29th. Awesome.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Better Late Than Never

I know this is a little late, but internet access was limited at Christmas and then all that *future* baby mama drama happened, but here it is....how I spent Christmas-a.k.a My family is not right.
On Christmas Eve my mom decided we should have eggnog, but she couldn't find any suitable glasses. My grandma handed her shot glasses and thus the new tradition began. The Charlie Brown tree belongs to my aunt. Really. It was a gift from my mom and can barely stand up without extra supports. So my mom and I took shots and my aunt drank too much wine and passed out. What were we to do then? Search her online dating profile and wink at people of course! Christmas night got even stranger when my grandma joined us in shots for a game of Left, Right, Center-or as my mom renamed it Left, Right, Drink up bitches. About 3 games in my grandma was trying to tell a story when she stopped mid sentence and said, "Oh hell I'm sh*tfaced." I texted all of this to Girlfriend who replied with, "I'm glad I'm marrying into that. My family is just sitting here staring at one another with nothing to say. We could use some alcohol but that would send us to hell."

Sorry it's late but it was too fun not to share with you!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Ray of Hope

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, support and condolences. These past few days have been very difficult for me (and Girlfriend) as we struggled to figure out what to do now. After much tears and feelings and processing (we are lesbians after all) it was time to get proactive again. I was not going to be content to be told I could not have any legal standing and e-mailed half a dozen lawyers here and in other states. Unfortunately no other state (including DC) can grant us an adoption and one lawyer here in NC told me there was nothing I can do. PSHHH. What where they new and thought I would accept that??? No.
I continued searching the interwebs and found out about a little used thing called co-guardianship. I could find out TONS of information about co-guardianship for other states but NOTHING for North Carolina. It was as if they didn't want you to know about it. I called another law firm (one that has done many same sex second parent adoptions) and the woman told me, "Yes, of course! She can appoint you as a co-guardian. It only takes a week to go into effect and will at least give you some rights and legal control while this whole mess is being sorted out." So there, we now have a plan that does not include twiddling our thumbs while the state screws us over. It's not what I wanted, it's not ideal but it's sufficient for now. The lawyer also said that she has, "received a ton of e-mails and phone calls from families freaking out about what to do now" and that she is confident there will be more lawsuits and probably some changes down the road (again). At least for now we have a ray of hope that while I can't be their legal parent, I can be their legal guardian. I will continue to keep you all updated as things unfold...