I've got a new blog!

I have moved my blog! Please come visit me at Rachel's Window
See you there!

Local news

Have you Georgia bloggers seen this? I believe I am a little behind on this story, I do not watch much local news (I should obviously!). I plan to be listening to what happens with this poor family. Let's lift them up in prayer! Save Jackson Boortz!

Moving

Just moving the blog. Not time to move the family to a new house yet! However, I have spotted two I really really like! The blog will be back up soon under a new name, working out the buggies! Check back soon for the new address.

My favorite Black Beans & Rice

One thing I really like about me, is that I really like good food. I mean food that is good for me. I do admit to liking food that is not good for me as well, but I really love a bowl full of brown rice all by itself. Things like that. I love this recipe for Black Beans & Rice. Black beans are excellent and this combo of spices makes them really great! I make this almost every week and eat on it for lunch all week. I feed it to my kids several times for lunch and usually once for dinner. Hubby isn't quite as fond of this type of food as I, but he will eat it without complaints for one dinner. Now I do add a few not so good items to the finished product, but you do not have to. It's just the way I really enjoy this. Anyway, if you like black beans & rice, try this out! I have adapted this recipe to my liking and substituted brown rice for white because it is so healthy. Mix the whole thing together and most people will not even be able to tell that the rice is not white. White rice is devoid of much nutritional value, so sneak in the brown! The original recipe came out of the September 05 Southern Living and called for canned beans. I use dry because the aren't hard and they haven't been processed through canning. If you use canned, you will need 5 cans and save the juice from 2 cans.

Brown rice- I cook ahead of time because it takes so long to cook.
1 pound cooked black beans plus about 2 cups of juice from cooked beans. ( I cook them the day before in the crock pot- soak the night before and then drain and add to crock pot, cover with water and cook on high for about 4 hours. Make sure the beans are done! taste them and they will be very tender, almost falling apart. Save 2 cups of bean juice.)
1 onion chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced (don't leave this out!)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 (14 0z) can chicken broth
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 shakes red pepper
several grinds of black pepper
salt to taste
Toppings: Must have for me: Sour cream and grated cheese. I have added chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce and salsa. I also like to crush up tortilla chips if I have them! Basically whatever you like will most likely work.

The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. seeded jalapenos- this sounds yummy, but my kids love this stuff and I am scared to add anymore heat.

Saute onion, green pepper and garlic in hot oil in pot (about 3-4 quart size) over medium- high heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occassionally. This will be fairly thick with a little soupy stuff. Add more stock if needed. Serve over rice, add toppings and mix it all together to distribute evenly. I like to taste it all in every bite! Boy, I hope this is as good as I have made it out to be! I love it, My 5, 4, & 2 year old love it too! Very healthy too!

Dates

I have actually had 2 dates with my husband in the past 6 days. It is very hard for a family like ours with so many littles to get real dates (no baby). Saturday we went out for dinner. My sis-in-law has semi- long term guests at her house (their house burned down) and she looks for opportunities to get out of the house, so she and her family came over and stayed with my kids. Who would blame her, their are 10 kids 17 and under living at her house right now! So, we had a nice baby free dinner together. It is so nice to be able to really relax and know the kids are in great hands. We really enjoyed ourselves. Then Monday evening my parents came over and we quickly rushed out to dinner after they arrived. We got a quick bite and then returned a few items and did a little shopping for work clothes for Jim.
Do you remember after that first baby and reality set in? You can't just get up and go wherever you want to go, you can't stay out late anymore. I remember after our first when I realized this, but it was ok, because I did not want to be away from that little baby anyway.
Now we choose not to go out to eat with our kids. It's just too crazy right now, too expensive too!

What was I Thinking????

Most of my friends know we will be moving hopefully in the near future. Well, I have been wanting to ride up to where we will be moving and try to get more of a feel for the area and narrow down the specific areas I will be home searching. I convinced Jim to take us yesterday. I think by the time we got home he was really about to loose it. I mean like he was on the brink of insanity! 4 hours total in the car was too much. Boo couldn't sleep because of his loud siblings, and the older two quickly got tired of sitting. Goo did take a short nap, praise God. Anyway, we were able to put a few houses to neighborhoods. I have been looking on realtor.com, but you can't see what a neighborhood or street looks like until you go and see. We decided when it is actually time to get serious about looking, Jim will go check them out and if it is a real possibility then I will go see. No more unnecessary trips with the whole family!

Jim is home again today for the holiday, but he is really ready to go back to work tomorrow. We spend a lot of time together as a family, but that extra day in a long weekend is almost too much for him! Poor guy. He in return is very complimentary to me about the job I have on a daily basis. He knows God did not make him to be a stay at home daddy.

Goo's Two!

Here is the birthday boy holding up his fingers when you ask him how old he is! We have been dancing to my rendition of McCartney's "Birthday". The kids looked at me really strange when I belted that one out! Anyway, "Today it's your birthday (nu nu nu nu nu nu nu nu), it's my birthday too yea!"

The older kids have been giving me a hard time for not having a real party for Goo. They have asked why no one is coming over. We have plenty of time for that later. He doesn't quite get what is going on anyway! Yea, yea we did have real parties for the first two I know, but mommy doesn't have time to plan a party and they didn't know what was going on either! Those first kids just get that kind of stuff! Poor little Boo, by the time he turns two, he'll be lucky to get a candle to blow! Just joking, I always make a cake for my kiddos! And that is what I have to go do right now!

Work At Home

I am a big fan of giving my children age appropriate jobs to help around the house. I am always reevaluating their current jobs to adjust if needed for their skill level. I hope my children are learning how to work and that work is part of being in our family. This was part of my motivation for putting them to work, but I honestly needed their assistance when I put our plans into action. I have 4 kids and my oldest is not 6 yet. My oldest two are 18 months apart and then their is a 28 month gap between numbers 2 & 3. Number 3 & 4 are again 18 months apart. So, I need all the help I can get. I thought about things they could do around the house that would really help me. Anybody want to share jobs your young children do? My older two make beds, empty hampers in laundry room, fold some laundry, put up all of their clothing, wipe down bathroom sinks, clean out the van, empty bathroom trash cans and empty dishes from dishwasher onto counter. They are of course responsible for their toys and picking up their rooms. It may sound like my kids are overworked, I don't think so though. It's amazing but they really don't complain much. When I introduce a new job they are actually excited. I think it makes them feel big and special to help mommy. I would love to hear about successful ideas you practice in your homes.

I'm almost back to me!

I have finally found a little time for indulging in "Rachel things". It takes me at least 5 months to start feeling like me, emotionally & hormonally. I feel me coming back! So, I cleared off my scrapbook table which was covered with things from August to the present. I should say that I actually watched and looked away as Jim cleared off my table and surrounding floor space. He filled 3 trash bags with stuff that I "don't need". I am glad I let him do it. I don't miss any of it, so I did not need it! He is so awesome. How many husbands do this stuff? He wants me to be organized and have a place to enjoy my pictures. And, I completed a few pages, organized my pictures in iphoto and ordered some to work on. Feels good!

I have spent some time working on a plan to do some freezer cooking too. It sure would be nice to have some things ready in the freezer for tough days. Still got some planning before I cook.

We have had almost 2 straight weeks of great school time. It's tough to school with so many little people here. But, we are going to be ok.

Little Boo had a check up today. He is 5 months old and 18 pounds. I guess he really isn't that little. I know my body is feeling every one of those 18 pounds! I have an aching back, and side from toting him around.

Hopefully soon I will be doing some reading! I will let you know when that happens!
Until next time!