January 6: Shame, Shame, Shame...
Last night was brutal. Baby B had a really, really bad night. He woke up just shrieking at about 11 pm. It wasn't the normal cry -- more of a pain cry than an "I'm waking up and I'm cranky." Well, G and I went in and B was crank-tacular. I ended up staying up with him until about 2 am. He then woke up at 5, again sounding like he was in pain. I got him back to sleep at about 6:30, with both of us sleeping in the rocking chair.
I can't say that today was productive at all, but it was pleasant. I ended up going out to lunch with my buddy Katherine; we worked together a few years ago. It was great catching up. When I came home, I decided to clean out my craft closet. It was one of three areas that we didn't clean out during the "Great Purge of 2009".
I pulled out all the fabric bags and stashes and whatnot and found something astounding: I have SIXTEEN quilts started. HOLY COW! Some of them just need to be bound, others haven't even been cut out yet. Well, I guess I know what I'm going to focus on in the evenings for the next couple of months! Ironically, fourteen of those quilts are for baby quilts. G thought we'd never get rid of them. However, I've got eight friends that have new babies or babies that will arrive within the next three months.
After the shock of the quilts, we went and picked up A. As an aside, we've been letting A's hair grow out in hopes of a few cow-licks settling down, but without much success. Well, today we called it quits. We went ahead and went to Great Clips for a little hair cut. His hair looks so much better. The stylist did a great job. A also did a great job. At a few points it looked like we were going to see some fireworks, so I quickly offered a donut as a special incentive for good behavior. Yes, potentially crappy parenting, but highly effective. After the hair cut, we did go get the promised donut, and everyone was happy.
When we got home, I made dinner: Black Bean and Cashew Chili. Black bean and cashew chili is a recipe I developed myself, and is somewhat of a family favorite. Here it is:
Black Bean and Cashew Chili (serves 4)
1 tsp olive oil
1 med onion (cut into 0.5 inch cubes)
1 large sweet potato (peeled and cut into 0.5 inch cubes)
1 red/yellow pepper (cut into 0.5 inch slices)
2 cans black beans (rinsed thoroughly)
1 cup cashews (can be whole or broken)
24 ounce-jar prepared mango salsa (we use Chachies, but whatever you can find--and if a little more or less, it's fine, just adjust the water)
1 cup water
1 t salt and pepper to taste
In soup pot, over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add onion and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Stir periodically. Add sweet potato, black beans, salsa, and water. Cover and cook until sweet potato is cooked through. Add salt and cashews and cook for 2 minutes more.
Serving suggestion: serve over brown rice, and top with sour cream and grated cheddar cheese. We also serve with heated flour tortillas and honey butter. G really likes the honey butter.
I can't say that today was productive at all, but it was pleasant. I ended up going out to lunch with my buddy Katherine; we worked together a few years ago. It was great catching up. When I came home, I decided to clean out my craft closet. It was one of three areas that we didn't clean out during the "Great Purge of 2009".
I pulled out all the fabric bags and stashes and whatnot and found something astounding: I have SIXTEEN quilts started. HOLY COW! Some of them just need to be bound, others haven't even been cut out yet. Well, I guess I know what I'm going to focus on in the evenings for the next couple of months! Ironically, fourteen of those quilts are for baby quilts. G thought we'd never get rid of them. However, I've got eight friends that have new babies or babies that will arrive within the next three months.
After the shock of the quilts, we went and picked up A. As an aside, we've been letting A's hair grow out in hopes of a few cow-licks settling down, but without much success. Well, today we called it quits. We went ahead and went to Great Clips for a little hair cut. His hair looks so much better. The stylist did a great job. A also did a great job. At a few points it looked like we were going to see some fireworks, so I quickly offered a donut as a special incentive for good behavior. Yes, potentially crappy parenting, but highly effective. After the hair cut, we did go get the promised donut, and everyone was happy.
When we got home, I made dinner: Black Bean and Cashew Chili. Black bean and cashew chili is a recipe I developed myself, and is somewhat of a family favorite. Here it is:
Black Bean and Cashew Chili (serves 4)
1 tsp olive oil
1 med onion (cut into 0.5 inch cubes)
1 large sweet potato (peeled and cut into 0.5 inch cubes)
1 red/yellow pepper (cut into 0.5 inch slices)
2 cans black beans (rinsed thoroughly)
1 cup cashews (can be whole or broken)
24 ounce-jar prepared mango salsa (we use Chachies, but whatever you can find--and if a little more or less, it's fine, just adjust the water)
1 cup water
1 t salt and pepper to taste
In soup pot, over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add onion and pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Stir periodically. Add sweet potato, black beans, salsa, and water. Cover and cook until sweet potato is cooked through. Add salt and cashews and cook for 2 minutes more.
Serving suggestion: serve over brown rice, and top with sour cream and grated cheddar cheese. We also serve with heated flour tortillas and honey butter. G really likes the honey butter.
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