Creating Tradtions

Happy St Patrick's Day!
I made a decision a long time ago that I wanted to celebrate holidays with their true traditions, or start traditions of our own. I want my children to know why we celebrate or remember special days. Our last name may be German, but there is a lot of Irish blood in our ancestry. Passing traditions to my children helps me to feel connected to the past. So today I wanted to share with you some of what we're doing today.

Of course we're wearing green. You can find the hat patterns here and here.

Dinner tonight will be corned beef and cabbage and thanks to cousin Bekah we might try out some Irish Soda Bread too.

We're talking about the shamrock today, and relating it to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

And we did a little art project. (Sorry I don't have a better picture)

So how are you celebrating St Patrick's Day?

Cheers
Jessica

Just catching up

A lot of little things have been happening in our life recently. We are struggling with potty training. We all seem to get sick and then well and then sick again too soon. Little Man had a well child check and is doing great developmentally. Little Man got a new car seat. We shopped for Easter. We started sleep training Little Man. Brett started night rehearsals for the opera he's playing in. And the big one, I was diagnosed with depression and now I'm taking medication for it.
We've been actively potty training for a while now, but have been doing a sticker chart for about the last 3 weeks. I am so frustrated. She will do so well for a week or so and then it's like we have a while week of accidents. It wouldn't be so bad, but it's like a whole week of no successes, just accidents. Any tips out there?
I don't know who started the sicknesses, and they just seem to keep going around our house and our complex. Little Man was diagnosed with RSV, a respiratory virus. He is recovering just fine, and really handled it great. I think we've had flu bugs, but who really knows what all this crap is anyways?
Little Man isn't staying so little! He had a well child check this week, 9 months, he weighs 19 lbs 15 oz and is 29 inches long. I knew he was getting close to the 30 inch height limit of his infant seat which is why we got him his new big boy seat. I love the new seat. It was easy too install, and he seems comfy, it fits in the car well, and it will fit him until he won't need a seat anymore.
Last year we decided that we're going to celebrate Easter with just one basket for the whole family. In that basket we put a book about Christ, an activity we can do together, something small for each child and of course some chocolate. While we were at toys R us car seat shopping we also did a little shopping for Easter and found our activity. We got a bucket of blocks that Little Miss just can not wait to get into.
Sleep Training. Ugh. I do not like cry it out! I firmly believe that it teaches the child that you don't care about their feelings and that they are unwanted. I am not a sleep expert, it's just how I feel. Both doctors we've talked to about sleep recommend and encourage it. We did it. So far, it's working. The downside? I feel like a terrible parent. Little Man has been so clingy since we started it. Oh well, what's done is done, I guess I should just be happy for the extra sleep and get over it.
Brett is in orchestra this semester, which involves pit orchestra. This translates to two weeks of night rehearsals, followed by a week of performances. What this really means is that I'm completely on my own for the kids dinner, bath, bedtime routine. Ugh.
Well, to round it all out, I was feeling sad, I talked to my doctor and he thinks depression so we are trying out some medication. I didn't want to admit that that could be my problem because I felt like that would mean I was more like my dad, but I realized that isn't important. The important part is that I want to do something to help myself, and that isn't being like my dad at all. I don't really want to say anything more about it yet, we'll just see how it goes.
Well, there's an update, a little peak into our boring.
Cheers,
Jessica

Hiking -- Ka'ena Point State Park

I went for my second hike this weekend. I journeyed to the most western point on Oahu, Ka'ena Point State Park. There are two ways you can get to the point. The first, which I did, is by traveling the H1 until it turns into the 93, which runs along the coast. This leads you through the lovely cities of Maili, Waianae, and Makaha. You're only going between 25MPH and 45MPH along the 93. At the very end of this stretch of road, the last paved road you can travel on is the entrance to the state park. You don't need a permit for this park. There's bathrooms to your right and the beach to your left. Keep going. Drive until you literally cannot drive any further on the paved road. You've reached the trail head.

The trail started out slightly muddy. And got worse. The reason being 1) it rained that morning and the night before, and 2) some locals like to take their huge trucks through as far as they can to do fishing and other water sports. So be on the lookout for trucks! The trail winds around the coast. You've got crashing waves on your left and rocky cliffs, going up, on your right. It used to be an old railroad route. You can see some of the railroad ties throughout your hike. You'll also see why it's no longer a viable route -- there's some areas that are completely washed out. Near the end of your almost-turnaround, you'll come across a section you'll have to billy-goat up and over.

Since I did this hike in winter I received an extra special spectacle -- whales. I hadn't really thought I would see anything. But I did. And I got a really poor shot of them with my video recording on my phone. This was the one hike where I woke up and went, "Nah. I haven't used my camera so far, what's the point in carrying it?" Which was the dumbest move I could have made. Next time (there will definitely be a next time!), I'll bring my camera along instead of just my phone.

When I got to the Point, I was able to have a snack. I ate 1 can of tuna fish mixed with a 1/2 tbsp of dill relish and about three tbsp of Greek yogurt and lots of pepper. I forgot any utensils, though, so I had to eat my tuna salad with my fingers. Not as bad as you would think, since I brought wet-wipes along (I always have some in my commuter backpack, which is what I use for hiking on the weekends, too. I've got to invest in a pack that straps across my chest and hips, though, since that'll make for a much easier and less back-pain-filled hike). I also had two Cuties. Delicious little mandarin oranges!! I could eat them everyday. While eating my lunch, I was able to watch a slumbering Monk Seal. This is also where I caught my video of the whale doing a nose-bob-thingy out of the water. There were also sea birds, which nest on the ground. A lot of the Point was roped off because they're endangered species, like the Monk Seal, and you could easily destroy their nests and not even realize it.

The hike back was much quicker than the hike in. I guess that's what happens when you're not taking pictures every few feet. I was soaked through with sweat when I got back to the car. My brand new boots were properly broken in. I had dried mud running up my calfs. It felt awesome!

When I got home, I took a long bath, just soaking in the heat. I was able to listen to some classical music with the lights out and a candle lit. It was glorious. Its so much easier to shave your legs when you're laying down, I think. I also got to use a sand-scrub so my legs were extra soft, especially when I got out and put some lotion on everything. You'd think you wouldn't need lotion in Hawaii. You do. Lots of it. Usually several times a day.

I spent the rest of the day just relaxing, listening to books on tape and some more classical music. Now... Onto the pictures! I know that's why you all read my blog posts, anyway. ;-)

They're looking at the whales breaching. I saw a few and it took my breath away!

Monk Seal!

My Snack Spot; I took my whale video here, too.

After I was laying in bed for the night, I realized I wasn't completely unscathed from the sun. I had a slight sunburn just below my shirt line on my front and around my neck on the back. There were also a few red spots on the backs of my arms. That'll teach me to rub my sunblock in better! I applied it before the start of the hike and also when I was sitting for my snack. SPF 50. And I also had some SPF 15 chapstick along with clip-on sunglasses, a hat, and two containers of water, which I used both of. There was practically no shade on this hike. But the breeze was constant.

Aloha from Oahu!
LC

Recipe -- Morning Egg Bites

I need something quick in the mornings and I'm getting pretty sick and tired of oatmeal. 

I'm usually rush, rush, rushing out the door, late to catch my bus. I've seen these egg-thingys about on the internet and thought I'd try them out. They turned out better and easier than I thought they would. Next time I'm going to use thawed frozen spinach and maybe throw some green onions in them, too (everything has green onions in it here on Oahu). The turkey bacon is perfect! It helps me pull them out of the tin and also gives me the bacon flavor everyone wants in the morning. I only had some red onions, at the time, so went ahead and just added them to the ones I could.

I figure I'll eat two bites and some cantaloupe with Greek yogurt before I get on the bus. Then I'll eat a half serving of oatmeal for my first break with some fruit. For lunch, it's a free for all -- whatever I've prepped for the week. I actually have a pretty late lunch at work so my next meal won't be until I get home and have dinner. Which isn't very heavy because I'm in bed within 2 hours of getting home. 

(yum-o!)

Morning Egg Bites
Yield: 21 Day Fix, 6 Servings (1 1/8 red, 1/2 green), 2 Bites each serving
Pan Used: Cupcake Tin, 12 cups

Ingredients

• 1 container Eggwhites 
• 12 pieces of Turkey Bacon
• Vegetables of your choice
• Pepper or Other Spices of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Spray pan with short bursts of PAM or EVOO.
3. Cut your bacon in half. Layer 1 strip around the edge of each cup.
4. Fill each cup with your choice of vegetables. (Good choices could include chopped spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, red onions, green onions, shallots, garlic, or chopped asparagus)
5. Fill each cup with 1/4 cup of eggwhites mixture (equals about 1 egg). 
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, until eggs are cooked all the way through (stick a knife down the middle of one. If it comes out clean, it's done, just like a cake).
7. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Run a knife along the edges and remove from pan. Let cool on counter completely before storing in Ziplock bags in the fridge for the week.

Recipe -- Eggplant Lasanga

It was delicious.

'Nuff said.

There's a few things I learned while putting this together, baking it, and cooling it.

1. Make sure you've got all the things you want to put in the lasagna in plain sight and laid out in the correct order. Otherwise you might forget your spinach and then there wouldn't be any pretty green colors in your lasagna. Not to mention you could have had even more vegetables and didn't.
2. When your lasagna finishes baking, it will shrink. When you put it in the fridge and it's cooled thoroughly it will shrink to half it's pre-cooked size. I kid you not. I'm thinking in order to get over this I'm going to try using a bread pan instead of a 9x9 square pan. This way, I can stack it super high and it'll seem like a "normal" lasagna when I'm done with it.
3. Try and use a sauce that is low in sodium. For some reason when I was reheating my lasagna at work, it was tasting somewhat salty. I don't know if that's just my taste-buds being weird or what but the next time I make it I'd like to make my own marinara.

Here's some pictures from my second attempt...

(2 eggplants, 1 box of frozen spinach [thawed and drained of excess water {you'll thank me when you have lasagna and not soup}], an 8th of a jar of spaghetti sauce, half a container of cottage cheese, and 3/4 cup mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese)

(Slice the eggplant nice and evenly with a mandolin for each layer. It becomes brown, like a banana, once it hits the air so slice as you need it to keep it from going brown-ish. I didn't bother putting sauce in the bottom this time -- it still turned out fine and was easy to get out of the pan. It all bubbles in the oven anyway so it's fine.)

(From the bottom... eggplant, sauce, eggplant, spinach and cottage cheese, eggplant, cottage cheese, eggplant, sauce, cheese. At this point, if you were preparing it in a throw-away foil container, you could cover it with wrap and freeze it. Otherwise, proceed further!)

(Cover with foil; bake at 375F for about 50 minutes. Remove foil; bake for another 10-15 minutes, until cheese is to your liking.)

(You can either let it cool in the fridge, if you're meal prepping for the week, or let it sit for 5-10 minutes before digging in)

(lovely.)

When cooled, it sliced up nice and easy into portioned sizes. I imagine it would freeze well. I'm experimenting now and will let you know my findings in the future. I've had frozen eggplant parmesan before so... Yeah... 

Eggplant Lasagna

Yield - 21 Day Fix: 3 Servings (1 1/2 green, 1 red, 1 blue)

Pan Used: Loaf Pan

Ingredients

• 2 Eggplants (size may vary -- you could use just one if they're longer then mine, which were more circular)
• 1 package Frozen Spinach, thawed, drained
• 1/2 a container Cottage Cheese (or Ricotta Cheese, depending on your preference)
• 1/8th of a jar of Spaghetti/Marinara Sauce (you only need a little bit to go a long way, since both the eggplant and spinach have a lot of moisture)
• 3/4 c Shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. With a mandolin, slice the first layer of eggplant. Lay in the bottom of the pan. Add a small amount of sauce right across the top. It doesn't need to be spread out with a spoon or spatula -- it'll move on it's own. add a second layer of eggplant. Top with spinach and cottage cheese (you can mix the two together like a dip or just layer one on top of the other). Add the third layer of eggplant. Top with more cottage cheese. Here's your fourth layer of eggplant. Top this with the remaining sauce you'd like to use (spread this one, though, since it's your final layer) and your cheese mixture.
1. At this point, you could cover with cling wrap and foil and freeze for another day. Or you can proceed to the next step...
3. Cover your pan with foil; bake for 50 minutes. 
4. Remove from oven. Remove foil. Return to oven and bake until cheese is to your satisfaction.
5. Remove from oven -- let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
1. If you're meal prepping, go ahead and stick it in the fridge, covered, for a few hours or overnight. Portion it out into three servings.