back to top html arrow button

Share a Spoon Warm the Heart Debut

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Think Tank Momma











Welcome Smackers!  I am thrilled to present and host Share a Spoon, Warm the Heart with you!  There really isn't any better way for you to show someone you care about them then sharing a meal.  It's personal, it's intimate.
First I am going to share my two must have tools in the kitchen.  I could not live without a food processor.  Seriously.  It saves so much time intensive labor.  Everyone needs to get one if they don't have one already!  It will make your experience in the kitchen a breeze.  The second must have is a good set of knives.  SHARP knives.

We had rigatoni last night so I am going to share my red sauce with you.  This is a family favorite.  I use this sauce as the base for most of my Italian dishes.  You can freeze this.  I don't ever buy jarred or canned spaghetti sauce.  Ever.  I control the salt, the preservatives, everything.

What you will need:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 medium onions chopped
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 cloves of garlic grated
2 cans of tomato paste
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
Italian flat leaf parsley
Fresh Basil
Kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Quick note about the tomato paste and the crushed tomatoes.  When shopping for these items pay attention to the labels.  I usually pay a little more for both to make sure the only thing in the can is TOMATO.  It's usually 15-20 cents more a can.  But I pay the premium to not have citric acid, "natural flavors", high fructose corn syrup, etc.  What the hell is natural flavors anyway?  That's just me though.

Directions:
In a large sauce pan over medium/high heat coat the entire bottom of the pan with olive oil.  It's a lot of olive oil.  Probably 1/2 cup, give or take.  Add the two medium chopped onions(roughly 1 1/2 cups).  Sweat the onions for 2-3 minutes.  Add the salt(to taste it's about a tablespoon for me) and 2 teaspoons of oregano.  Stir well.  Add the grated carrots. (I grate my carrots in the food processor, if you don't have a food processor grate them on the small side of the cheese grater.) Let this cook, and stir often until the carrots have softened completely.  About 5-7 minutes.  Turn the heat down to medium.  Add the red pepper(optional) and grate the garlic into the pan.  Stir well.  Add the two small cans of tomato paste.  Fill those cans with water and add to the mixture.  Add the two large cans of crushed tomatoes.  Stir well and reduce the heat.  Let cook for 15 minutes.  Add the chopped flat leaf parsley and basil.  I add a full bunch of flat leaf parsley and basil.  Turn the pot off and let the sauce rest.  Do not keep the pot on anything higher than warm, the basil will turn black if you do.
Last night I made the above a meat sauce by adding a package of fresh turkey Italian  sausage.  There were 5 links in the package about 1.3 pounds.  I added the sausage before the tomato paste and tomatoes and just cooked it until browned.  Then completed the red sauce as described above.  We used half of the sauce last night for a family of seven.  I froze the other half in a rubber maid container. 

The last picture of the sauce in the pot I took didn't turn out.  But here is what the finished plate looks like.  I served the sauce over rigatoni.  You can use any pasta you want.  I wouldn't suggest angel hair as this is a hearty red sauce.

I served a side salad.  My boys eat all those carrots, tomatoes, onions and fresh spices and they have no idea that is all in there.  AND it's good for them.  I also use whole grain pasta.  I clip coupons for the pasta and always buy it Buy One Get One Free.  (That makes the pasta literally pennies per serving!)

You can keep this sauce in the freezer for up to 2 months.  Thaw it out in a sauce pan.  Just add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of the pan and defrost over medium heat.

Please email me any questions!  I am here to help!

Thanks for sharing a meal with me Smackers!  Now it's your turn.  Link with me next week won't you!

Bon Appetito!






Sharing is Caring!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I am a self proclaimed FOODIE.  I love food.   I think I have said that before several times over.  I love The Food Network.  I love to cook.

I also love to write.  Everyone always says you should write about what you know.  I KNOW FOOD.

I think everyone knows that I also have a very close knit group of friends that I chat with on Blackberry Messenger.  They are my support group.  Sometimes they save my sanity.  Sometimes they save me from myself.

Most of us in the group have children with some sort of disorder.  ADD, ADHD, PDD-NOS, ODD and some others.  Raising children with these types of challenges presents some daily obstacles that as a mom can really wear you down.  Add those challenges to meal time and it's often a recipe for Scrambled Mom served with a side of tears.

While chatting this week about our challenges with meals we batted around an idea of starting a blog carnival or meme.  A recipe swap or share.  I have been thinking about it ever since.  Chatting with the girls about ideas.  The more we chat the more I like the idea.

Additionally, I have committed to and signed the petition with Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution.  We watched every episode and I was very moved.  My son Kooper was also moved.  He watched Jaime show the children in West Virginia how chicken nuggets were made, and more over, WHAT they were made from and he vowed to never eat them again!  WIN!

We have struggled with weight in our home, as most of you know.  I contribute on LIB site with Dual Mom and my BB chat gals.  We will be starting a new challenge over there on Saturday and the current challenge ends FRIDAY!  I will continue to post healthy recipes there as I have been, as will the rest of the group.

However, here, on Thursday, I will be starting a new feature.  I am really excited to start sharing my recipes with you.  I have been cooking for a very long time.  It's a creative outlet for me, much like my blog.  So what would be better than meshing the two together.  I have developed my own recipes.  I seldom ever use a recipe as it is written.  I like to play with flavors, spices, and I am not afraid to omit things I don't like and add those that I do.  I have catered events, cooked for a few, cooked for A LOT, and mostly, I cook for my family and friends.

I am even more excited about you all sharing your recipes.  Sharing your tips.  Your tricks.  I will share where I hide vegetables so my kids will eat them.  You tell me how you get those whole grains in.   We will have themed weeks, holiday shares, it's wide open.

So, pull up a chair at my table on Thursday and let's Share a Spoon!

GWA: Slippery When Wet

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Think Tank Momma




Unleash the Attitude and share your Gratitude!
 
 


Dear Diaper Makers,
Thank you so much for making disposable diapers.  There is no way I could clean out cloth diapers.  It really just isn't possible for someone with a stomach that does somersaults at the gross to use cloth.  However, would it be too much to ask to make OVERNIGHT diapers for the teeny tiny?  You tease me with the promise of them yet there aren't any for newborns.  I realize that there aren't THAT many newborns sleeping long enough to require them, but mine does!  She sleeps for 10-12 hours every night.  I NEED OVERNIGHT diapers.  She was soaked completely from head to toe this morning.  I am NOT putting those plastic covers on her.  Those are not comfortable for sleeping. 
Sincerely,
Tired of washing sheets daily


Dear Pollen,
Thank you so much for feeding the bees and making it possible for me to enjoy that sweet nectar honey!  Oh how I love peanut butter and honey sandwiches!  Do you think though that you could move along now?  My blue truck looks GREEN because your yellow loveliness is coating it.  My head is pounding because of you.  I am getting hives.  Itching in places it ain't normal to itch!  And the nose bleeds?  GACK!  So, thanks for the sticky sweet goodness, but you can have the rest.
Sincerely,
Allergy med resistant Momma



Alrighty Smackers!  Link up!  Leave some LOVE!  Don't be the subject of my letter next week! 






Twinkle Twinkle Little Song

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Monday evening we all went out to dinner as a family.  Kenna and her boyfriend wanted to take us all out to eat.  So we rounded up the troops and headed out.

Dinner was uneventful (which is a good thing with two ADHD boys and a newborn). We went to a buffet style restaurant and the boys were thrilled.  They enjoy having an infinite amount of choices.  I am not really sure why they want choices, they eat the same thing ALL THE TIME.  It doesn't matter where we go.  What choices are available.  Chicken strips, french fries and pizza are always on their menus.

We have to take two cars now whenever the whole family goes anywhere.  My Jeep just doesn't hold all of us.  Hell, we need a conversion van or some other gas guzzling BUS in order to cart the BRADYBUNCH whole fam damily around these days.  On the way to dinner Kamden rode with Kenna and her beau.  On the way home Kooper swapped places with him.


When we arrived back at Casa di Romano, BDC took the car seat inside and asked Kamden to hold the bottle up for the baby while he helped me get the monstrous contraption Cadillac Stroller out of my truck.  When we walked inside we found Kamden holding the baby, feeding her and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  It was the sweetest moment, and I was stuck without my camera.


All three of the boys have become quite attached to their baby.  She apparently belongs to them.  She is in so much trouble when she get older.  Three MUCH older brothers?  She doesn't stand a chance of ever having a boyfriend.  I do understand their attachment though.  Just look....


(See that blanket?  All cross stitched?  It's a DUCK, from my BFF Duckalicious)
I will be posting more about that and other things I have received from my bestest bloggy buddies this weekend!!

(Khylee often looks like a rocker baby or either she is signing ILUVYOU with her fingers in her mouth.) 

(She LOVES her swing, and so does her Mommy!  It has batteries so it never stops.  It plays music, has a mobile and possibly saved my life.  HIGHLY recommend every new mom get a cradle swing.)
There is no way to resist that face!  All the boys at Casa di Romano are smitten.  Yep!  She has them all wrapped!  That's one lucky little girl!!!


Happy Hump Day Smackers!  LOVE!


 

GWA: How Zgirlella Got Her Groove Back

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Think Tank Momma



Unleash the Attitude and share your Gratitude!


Dear Legos,
Thank you so much for making little pieces with pointy edges that fit perfectly into the arch of my foot.  They are designed perfectly to cause maximum, straight to the brain with no 15 second delay, PAIN.  I am also particularly fond of the pieces created to serve as lights on the Star Wars ships.  They hurt so good.  I am in awe of your ability to always seem to be missing pieces while we are trying to put sets together, yet the moment you touch a boy's bedroom floor, your pieces seem to reproduce like frogs after a rain storm.
Thanks for your Innovation,
Sore Footed Momma

Dear NBC,
Thank you so much for your douchebaggery and overall incompetence in supplying great Late Night programming.  Whilst I do miss Jimmy Fallon, once you pulled the plug on Coco I just had to boycott you.  Thankfully, the good folks at TBS have vision.  They have scooped up what you tossed out, you know one man's trash, is another man's treasure and all.  So come November, I get cable late night programming with Conan O'Brien!?!  HELL YEAH!
THANKS AGAIN,
Cable Lovin' Insomniac Momma

Dear Mojo,
Thanks for trying to evade me with your less than stellar ninja spook skillz.  Too bad for you I am like a SUPER SPY with SUPER FLY detective skillz!  I hunted your ass down.  Beat you over the head, and brought your bitch ass back.  BTW, trying to disguise yourself by hiding under the piles of laundry that I don't do....niiiiice.  Your spook skills might have been top notch back in the day, but they are no match, for I am the freaking Ghost Whisperer.  'Cept not nearly as annoying as Jennifer Love Hewitt and without the fake eyelashes!
Sincerely,
Will stomp you into submission if I have to hunt you down again.


Alright Smackers.  You know what to do.  Write your letters.  Then linky loo below.  I will visit, others with visit.  It'll be a great big attitude adjustment love fest.  Won't that be fun?


Before you go....leave me some SMACK!  Love!







The Many Faces of Motherhood

Monday, April 19, 2010

As you all know, I have a propensity to give out monikers.  Well, it's a family trait I suppose.  I've said before I have a couple of nicknames that the boys (including BDC) like to use to refer to me.  Today they added to the list.  My boys, they really love me.

So I thought I would share the many faces and names of my motherhood.

Rob Mom Zombie
This is a  new one.  Since the baby has made her arrival, I have been running on empty.  So, as I walk, and breathe, and sleep standing up, I have become Mom Zombie according the boys.  I am certain all moms can identify with this one.


   
Identifiers:
No Sleep
The Walking Dead
Could Eat the Face off ALL Family Members


GODMomZilla
Momzilla is a beastly Mother.  She stomps through the house screaming with angry feet  and breathing fire.  MomZilla typically rears her head at least one week a month.

Identifiers:
Rage
Screaming
Jumping Down the Throats of the Innocent
Knocking Shit Over and Demanding The Innocent Clean it Up.

Mommalicious
This siren typically graces BDC with her presence on date nights.  When I walk out of the bedroom dressed for dates the boys call me Mommalicious.




Identifiers:
Real clothes (Any form of PJs do not qualify)
Hair did!
Makeup DONE!


Last but certainly not least...
Moms-a-lot
This is the face of Motherhood seen the most.  The short order cook, the chauffeur, the butt wiper, the keeper of the schedules, the homework helper, the discipline giver, the unappreciated, the grocery getter, the catch all.

Identifiers:
The Doer of all things MOM.
Requires copious amounts of Caffeine.



So tell me, what do yours call you?  What are the faces of your xxx-hood?


(All images were available via Google images and modified via FotoFlexer.)

GWA: Groove be Damned

Tuesday, April 13, 2010


Think Tank Momma



Unleash that Attitude and share your Gratitude!




Dear Mojo,
Thanks for leaving me high and dry.  Nothing like being left hanging.  Please return ASAP.
Pleadingly,
Unmotivated Momma

Dear Muse,
Thanks for running away with my mojo.  I hope the two of you enjoyed your torrid affair.  However, I need you to get your ass back here.  I can't blog or write a book without your ass.  Please get the lead out.  I will come hunt you down if necessary.  You would prefer the method of returning on your own.  Trust me.
Pissed,
Unamused Non-writing Momma


You know what to do...so write your attitude adjustments and get back here to linky linky!

ALSO.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MICHAEL TODAY!  HE IS 12!  





Pinky Promise

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Yesterday, I was talking on the phone to BDC.  I don't remember how the conversation was really going until we got on the subject of the sex we didn't have the night before.  He busted out with something along the lines of you promised, and you blew me off (TWHS).  Meaning I didn't have sex not that I got the job done, as it were.  There was no promise of sex that day either.

So I argued that he passed out early, which is typically the case.  Then the conversation got interesting.  I said, "I did NOT Pinky Swear."  We giggled about it.  He wanted to know how we could pinky swear over the phone.  I said I could email him and then he would know I made the promise.  He said text "pinky swears" would work too.  We laughed and ended the conversation.

About 25 minutes later he called me back.  

Me:  "Hello?"
BDC:  "Hey, just testing my phone.  I thought it was broken."
Me:  "Why?"
BDC:  "I was sure you would've sent me a pinky swear for sex by now."
Me:  "Nice."
BDC:  Laughs...A LOT.
Me: "I love you."
BDC:  "I love you."
*click* *click*

About 10 minutes go by and the following text convo goes down.

Me:  Will trade sex for back/shoulder rub!!  Pinky swear it!!  :D
BDC:  Pinky swear
BDC:  Does that include any oral sex?
Me:  Does that matter?
BDC:  Just curious
Me:  We shall see young padawan learner
BDC:  Oh ya i keep forgetting you are older
Me:  I was thinking more along the lines, Master still has much to teach you she does.
Me:  But thanks for calling me old....ass.
Me:  *rolls eye*
BDC:  I love you more.  (this is what he sends me anytime he is trying to be funny or avoid a subject.  It's sort of an inside joke.)
Me:  Uh-huh!  Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrre you do!

Just a little glimpse at the silliness that BDC and I add to our marriage to spice things up.

What do you do to keep it spicy? 


GWA: Back Away from the baby and No one gets hurt

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Think Tank Momma



Unleash your ATTITUDE and share the GRATITUDE.





Dear CREEPY Restaurant Manager,
Thank you so much for sharing the germs of every single patron that you shook hands with, with my infant!  Yes, I do realize that she is beautiful.  I know that you just can't help but ogle.  BUT SERIOUSLY, keep yo' hands to yo'self!  Even my 2nd grader knows that.  It wasn't enough that you came by and "Oooo'ed and Awww'ed."  First you touched her hair bow.   That was enough to get my hackles up.  I am certain you heard me as you walked away.  I spoke loud enough for the entire lunch patronage to hear me.  Later though, you came back, again.  And you not only dismissed the fact that I didn't appreciate your touching her clothing, but went a step further and touched her hand?  Really lady!  What part of my attitude was inviting?  Look...in the future....DON'T TOUCH MY BABY!  You and every other old lady who thinks that we are flattered that you think our baby is just oh so cute.  Mommas DO NOT appreciate the germs.  Not only that, it's just freaking creepy to touch other people's children.  Infant or not.  Do not do it.  Next time, be prepared to get your head snatched bald bitch!  I won't do it to those really old ladies.  But you were young enough that I wouldn't feel guilty!
Sincerely,
Not Visiting Your Establishment Again...EVER!

Just for you all, cause you keep asking to see the baby.


Dear Stock Boy @ The Grocery,
Thank you so much for supporting my husband in his attempts to warp my son's mind.  Severed body parts, squeezed dry of all their bloody contents over regular cabbage, is definitely a suitable explanation for how red cabbage came to fruition.   NICE.  Dude, guy code or not, NOT COOL.  While I appreciate the hub's creativity on occasion, there are things that simply do not fly with me.  Even for a second, planting a seed of doubt with my 10yo, who already hates vegetables is soooo not o.k.  Now I will never get him to eat cabbage.  And not because you had hub's back, and perpetuated his untruth, but because it gave Kooper an excuse that I refuse to argue.  It would only give BDC more pleasure.  So THANKS for that.
Sincerely,
Disapproving Science Loving Momma


Dear Spring,
Thanks for stopping by.  I appreciate the whole five seconds of your visit.  It is quite generous of you to move on so quickly making room for Summer to take your three months and adding it to hers.  That Summer, she is a greedy bitch ain't she?  Please come again, when you can't stay so long!
Sweaty Already,
Dreading the Scorcher Season

Alrighty Smackers.  Write your letters and linky link below!  I will visit you all!

LOVE!








Another Sixty Seconds

Monday, April 5, 2010

Monday Minute

Once again, Ian...the original Pimp Daddy is hosting the Monday Minute.  And I am going to answer his questions.  You know, the Smack Talk way!

What's wrong with fake breasts?
There is nothing wrong with fake breasts done tastefully.  However, I think natural breasts are much more appealing to the female physique.  I am all for doing what makes you feel better about yourself from a self body image perspective.  So if it makes a woman feel more like a woman, or comfortable in her own skin, than more power to the silicone or saline.  I do think having size DD, DDD, or larger boobies on a size 0 frame is ridiculous though.  That is just objectifying yourself for the sake of ogling.  Then those women typically bitch about men staring.  REALLY?  You made your boobs the size of summer melons and your body is the size of the skeleton from high school biology class and you can't fathom why people are staring?  It ain't that you look hot honey!  It's that you look ridiculous.  Just sayin'

List your latest run-in with the Carnival of Idiocy.
You will have to tune in tomorrow for Gratitude with Attitude for my run ins.  I have a couple of them this week.  People never cease to amaze.  I will thank them properly tomorrow for sharing the STOOPID.

Name one thing you would like to tell your 10 year ago self.
You will find yourself unemployed in ten years with five children.  SAVE MONEY NOW.  And don't run up the debt!  Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd tell myself.

What's your favorite word that's not in the dictionary? 
I have several.  I make up words....a lot.  Which is strange because I love words so much, but nevertheless, I make up words.  I think it has something to do with having children.  They make up words all the time.  And once your children change words that's the way you hear them, and often speak them from thence forward.  For example:  Kooper couldn't say underwear.  He called them nunderwearsEveryone who lives in my house calls all under garments nunderwears.
Many of my favorites though didn't come from children.  Not by a long shot.  The "f" word is probably one of the best.  Fucktard.  Fackwad.  Stupify.  

Why do fools fall in love?
I don't think you have to be a fool to fall in love.  Though, love often makes us crazy out of our heads.  Love can make you lose all sense of the real world because you can think of nothing else.  And we often don't get to choose who we love, we just can't explain it.  If that makes us fools...I don't want to be a thinker.

Now go join the fun over at Ian's.

AND DON'T FORGET...tomorrow is Gratitude with Attitude!

 



Think Tank Momma

Big Daddy Blogs-a-lot

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Life as we know it will never be the same.  BDC has his own blog!  *gasp* I know!  He kept wanting to blog on mine so.....I made him his own blog!

Should be some random.  Should be some funny.  Lord help us, I am not sure.  He amuses me on a regular basis, so you all will probably enjoy his temerity as well.  You can expect some effrontery, some irreverence no doubt, but it's all about his skewed view of reality.  I take no responsibility for what you might read there.

He will be a big growler to live with if he doesn't get some followers, and quick, so be good little Lip Smackers and go love on my hubby!  Love him....just don't LOVE him.  Ya hear me?

Liquid Truth is BDC's space.  He is pecking away at the keyboard even as we speak.  He ordered some 3D animation software...for the boys.  So I expect that you will be subjected to many a goofball YouTube video in short order.

So go on over and say hello. 
HAPPY EASTER SMACKERS!