So, tomorrow is our 13th anniversary. Lucky 13? I think in a last ditch effort to see if this thing would stick he planned this morning out for me. I was in a rush to leave for work. My dear husband scheduled himself a doctors appointment pretty much during the middle of my work day (keep in mind that we work around each other; no child care needed here). He told me the day before his appointment that his mom would be coming to watch little Abe while he was at the appointment. (for the record it was a consultation for an annoyance he's having with his hand and I actually asked the office if it'd be okay for him to bring the kiddo with. The lady laughed at me and said that would be totally fine and normal) I've been really stressed out at work and I'm in no way trying to sound like a jerk with this post but I get REALLY stressed out when the MIL is at my house alone. For many various reasons I don't cope well with it. Okay, sigh, get over it, get over it.
My husband is NOT good at feeding our child (one of the MANY reasons I work part time and dream of being a stay at home mom). For crying out loud my husband is not good at feeding himself. He's equally not good at communicating to his mom what the child should eat while she's here with him. There are quite a good selection of fresh fruits and veggies in the fridge, cheese sticks, and frozen kiddie tubes of yogurt but to be honest almost all the food in my home needs to be prepared. I strategically left the kitchen SPOTLESS this morning (well, as spotless as my kitchen will ever be) with the exception of a box of mac'n'cheese on the counter, two tablespoons of butter set next to it, and I even put the measuring spoons alongside the pair (as the box calls for 3 TBS of milk). Well there's one issue "resolved."
Point number two of stressful morning, we only have one car that's in good working order. The other car clumps. It scares me. We really only ever drive it around town at this point like if I want to run to the store (less than a mile away) when my husband is gone or working. Well guess who got to take the clumpy car to work (over a 30 minute drive) because I wouldn't be driving over 70mph whereas hubby would need to take the express way to the doctors appointment?
I was getting ready to walk out the front door with my creamerless coffee (haha, I just had to throw that in there) when I hear my dog barking like crazy out back. I pretty much always let the dogs out but hubby chose to do the task this morning, bless his heart. I also walk my girl on a leash because she's kind of, hm, she's a bit of a neighborhood nuisance and although she listens rather well indoors she becomes somewhat of a deaf dunce out of doors. I took a detour to see what the little darling was barking about and I see my husband standing there asking her to, "quite, quite girl, go potty." Meanwhile there is a cat in our driveway and my dog is jumping up and down inside of my tomato plants barking her head off at the cat, as if trampling my plants is going to catch the cat for her. The plants are next to our fence, next to the driveway. If you've ever stopped by this blog before you're probably aware that I'm quite fond of my garden, treat my plants as if they were my own children (okay, not quite that extreme), and am over the moon proud of all the fruits of our labor outside. Well, MANY of the fruits of my labor were trampled under doggy feet this morning while my dear sweet hubby of 12 years, 364 days just stood there and watched.
Off to work I went in the clumpy car! Yay!
When I got home my kitchen was a mess. I have no idea how it got so messy and what do you know the box of mac'n'cheese, butter, spoons and all sit there untouched surrounded by the mess. Head back up to the photo and you'll see the three just sitting there (I took the photo after I re-cleaned the kitchen) and the pot on the stove has the green tomato chutney cooking away. Guess where all the green tomatoes came from? Thank goodness for pinterest and a neat recipe I saw about a week back for making green tomato chutney. Thank goodness for Frugally Challenged who's mentioned chutney a few times on her blogs and gotten my interest up. Despite the changes that I've made to the recipe (seriously I cannot help myself at this point; I alter every recipe) so far it seems that it will be quite delicious AND I only had to purchase raisins in order to make it.
Oh, and from what I can deduce, after having cleaned the mess in the kitchen little Abe has eaten very little today. My husband said something about trying to feed him a burrito that he picked up for himself after the doctors appointment but that little Abe didn't like it. He probably ate strawberries and cheese all morning.
Spending rundown today: $4.76 on raisins, an anniversary card and several groceries (I used a $20 store reward today).
My budget for the month is $436 which leaves $203.75
Average daily spending for 2015: $18.04
^ SOOOOO close to being under $18 a day again!!!
Go outside and take a walk and breath deeply.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest an adult beverage too if this was me. ;-)
Men.....what can you do?
I think at times they are all oblivious, some more than others.
And the next time the oblivious DH strikes make some fried green tomatoes.
I did try fried green tomatoes last year. I'm not very good at frying things. But I feel like the little green Romas that fell ALL OVER the place wouldn't have done very well as fried green tomatoes??? I'm not very familiar with using up green tomatoes :)
DeleteI really do need a walk. I'm too tried to walk. Sigh. Outside and deep breathe, I can do that!
That sounds like a stressful day with the clumpy car. One thing I've noticed about kids is they are very demanding creatures! They will force you to feed them when they're hungry. Otherwise, you're not going to get any peace =) Maybe they're not eating what you want them to eat but eat they will! Baby Crackin' is very demanding and bullies me into buying skittles and gummies! Not any nutrition there! Plus my mom's house is the worst. She likes to spoil them, I don't even want to talk about it. But I console myself that he has healthy meals at daycare.
ReplyDeleteMy kid is very strange. He eats well, I mean if you give him food generally he'll eat it. But the only thing he ever asks for is beverages (he drinks all day long non-stop) but he virtually never asks for food. I don't think the kid has an appetite, oh except he'll ask for sweets if we have any in the house, that is the exception. And we don't have daycare to feed him, haha! I do know that my MIL brought cookies for him, yep, there's a good possibility that he ate cookies all morning, another sigh!
DeleteMen & MIL.....gotta love em......right?????
ReplyDeletePrecisely!
DeleteWhy do I feel like yelling "Tawanda!" right now? I bet typing the story out was very therapeutic. I am with Slugmama, take that walk, long and longer, and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.
ReplyDeleteSeems appropriate, LOL
DeleteThis blog is very therapeutic actually. I try to not vent here too often but today was a doosy for me. Work has been abnormally stressful and so littler things at home are WAY more annoying. My dog pummeling my tomato plants was not little to me though. Grrr (the chutney turned out pretty great actually)
Happy anniversary!!! That's awesome to hear you will also be homeschooling in the future! ;-)
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Blessings,
Jill
Thanks, I'm really looking forward to it too
Delete:)
You sound to have had one horrendous day but I’m glad you’re discovering the joys of chutney. It’s even better of you can leave your paws off it for a few days and leave the flavours to mature then it’s so good with cheese or cold meat.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that you can ripen those green tomatoes indoors? Just spread them out on kitchen paper on a sunny windowsill and check them daily. They won’t be as gorgeous as fruits ripened on the vine but they will still beat shop-bought ones hands down.
I can’t help with taming your husband/mending the car/ cleaning the kitchen but when it comes to dealing with green tomatoes, I’m your girl!
Look after yourself. And don’t forget that if there’s any rubbish crockery among the stuff waiting to be decluttered, smashing a few pots is great fun. (Only kidding!)
Now see, that leaving your paws off it tip is one I'll have to try out. It turned out really well. I'm really glad to have given a new recipe, well actually a new food of sorts a try. Thanks for the inspiration!
DeleteI did end up placing a handfull of the tomatoes on the sill, a few that already had a tiny tinge of red to them. All the green ones went in the chutney though. I was afraid they'd go to waste if I didn't use them up. Some of them were smaller, like VERY green, if you want to call them that; not tiny little new baby tomatoes but not ready to ripen either and I wasn't sure they'd actually ripen on the window sill.
You know you might have just sent me on hunt for some rubbish crockery... that does sound like a grand idea, haha! (Don't fret I won't be breaking dishes in the driveway. I haven't anything to spare)
I've heard of chutney, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm quite certain I've never eaten it. Having relatives and other strangers in one's house can be quite uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Oh I would go into it, the having people in ones house, but I will behave... The chutney turned out great. You know I'm going to have to google what makes it chutney. Without actually doing so it's a spread, like a jam, sort of, or a marmalade sort of. Haha, whatever it turned out good.
DeleteChutney is fruit and/or vegetables cooked in sugar and vinegar until it is the consistency of jam. There are usually a few spices in there as well. In pre-freezer days it was one way of using part of the autumn fruit/veg glut and making winter meals much more tasty.
DeleteI usually leave mine for at least three months before I eat it but I always have a taster as soon as I have made it! In the next few weeks I shall make chutney ready for Christmas.
I'm not not sure of American terminology but chutney differs from pickles in that everything is cooked until all the flavours and textures meld together and it is hard to distinguish between the ingredients.
It is not usually eaten alone (or even spread on bread) but with cold meat or cheese. However, like Rivulet I have been known to almost spoon it into my mouth!
Thanks for that comment Frugally Challenged. That made me smile! I think it's safe to say American chutney is the same as yours, cooked so that all the flavors and textures meld together and it is hard to distinguish between ingredients. Although, I think it's also safe to say that chutney is not a normally made nor eaten food over here in the states. I know I've heard the word used on food network but I honestly don't think I've ever eaten a chutney before.
DeleteI wonder, how do you eat it with cold meat or cheese? Spread on them or just like a side? So far I really liked what I've done with mine. I imagine the three months you let yours sit means that you can your batches? I've yet to can anything... I know, shame shame. But I've been meaning to can something soon.
The cooking with vinegar and sugar is in itself a preserving method. I'm not sure what you mean by canning - it's not a phrase we use but I think it's the what we would call bottling i.e. cooking food to a high temperature and putting it into glass jars and (air tight) sealing whilst it is still hot. Chutney does not need sealing, just covering, so it is cooked and out into hot jars but just covered with a wax disc and then a cellophane cover held in place by a rubber band.
DeleteChutney is put on the side of the plate and a little but consumed with each mouthful or it is spread on the meat/cheese on a sandwich. but there are no rules - JUST ENJOY!
We absolutely call "bottling" canning. I've never before heard it called bottling. Which now that I think of it, I guess it should be called jarring, haha. We're not really using cans or bottles for the procedure. Do you guys call bottling jars, "bottles" or "jars?" The only thing we would refer to as bottling (which most of us don't do at home) is when companies like pop or beer companies put beverages into bottles that are then sealed.
DeleteI read that chutney doesn't need to be sealed, except with the wax ring because of the vinegar and sugar preservation. Ahah, that should make it the first thing I officially can (or, bottle) since I could skip the boiling and lids popping part of the procedure :)
Okay, when you said it went with meat and or cheese I had thought maybe you put it on the side of the plate like that but it was only just a guess. It was wonderful on the hot cheese toast though.
I feel you. My family calls me a control freak, but now I'm starting to understand that moms really know what their kids need. Even though my husband can watch our baby (our first), I know he's more prone to just stick the baby in the crib and let her cry while he goes and does what he wants to do. My own parents spoil her too much (which is the polar opposite of my husband) so that leaves me cleaning up the trail of crumbs (or bigger messes) they eave behind, so to speak. And I AM a stay at home mom now...and it's still hard! Harder than any job I've ever had, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great. Love your blog :)
You said it exactly! Moms really know what their kids need, what's best for them and quite frankly other people aren't on that same wave length. I know what you mean about your husband slightly ignoring the baby while he's doing something on his own. I've come home from work after an 8 to 9 hour day and my husband has admitted that all he's fed our toddler is graham crackers. Gah!
DeleteThe job of being a mom is really hard and you don't get paid for it. I think it's the best job anyone could ever have even without pay (that's just my personal opinion); shaping a life, giving your entire heart to this person you brought into the world, watching them grow and change, become who they are, who they will be, its incredible but HARD that's for sure. Keep up the good work mom! Congratulations on your little one too. Last time I stopped by your blog you were still pregnant. How neat that your little one is here now and you're getting to be a stay at home mom!