Not An Iceberg...A Fatberg

I haven't had the chance to download and edit all of the pictures I took over Mother's Day weekend, so I'll be posting those pics later this week. In the meantime, I've decided to totally gross you out and bring to light a disgusting, but real problem.

I was listening to NPR the other day and there was a London reporter talking about a huge problem they are having in their sewer systems. Apparently a lot of the popular foods that are cooked in London require frying (fish, french fries, etc.) and for decades, people have been pouring the used grease down their kitchen sinks when they were finished cooking.

This erroneous disposal of grease has caused what they have termed, "Fatbergs" under the streets of London. Basically large globs of fat are clogging up the city's sewer systems and they are now having to go in and dig it out.

I'm warning you... this is a really gross image...

 

Disgusting, right??? (This poor guy!)

The good news is, London has contracted with a company to turn these vile Fatbergs into an energy source by burning it. You can read the entire story here if you are so inclined.

So why am I blogging about this gross problem in London?

Because it's not just a problem across the pond. It's happening in your own city too. And in your own household sewer lines if you dump oil down your sink.

Granted, you probably don't have Fatbergs developing, but disposing of oil in your sink is not only bad for the environment, it's really bad for your sewer lines. And clogged sewer lines are very expensive to fix. Trust me. We had tree roots growing into one of our sewer lines and have had to call people out to come clear them. NOT cheap.

What's the solution?

Easy. It's a trick my mom (and maybe many of you) has been using for as long as I can remember.

When she would cook something that would produce grease (like meatballs) she would pour the excess grease into an old can and then stick it in the freezer.

Here's how I do it:

When you're finished making your meatballs/chicken Parmesan/bacon, etc. your pan looks like this:

Carefully drain the grease into an old, empty can or jar:

Stick it in the freezer to solidify:

Once the can is full, you can toss it in the garbage.

I also have a good friend who cooks like my grandma did, and she saves her bacon grease and then cooks with it. I'm sure it would add a delicious flavor to green beans!

So, there's your gross, but useful, tip of the day. Want to know some other things you should never throw in your disposal (including pasta & rice - who knew???) click here.

Why Mother's Day Is Important To Me

I've recently shared on this blog about my long road to motherhood. It was a long, painful journey. But one that ended in utter and complete joy.
My boys bring me more happiness and fulfillment than I ever thought possible.
They make celebrating Mother's Day incredibly special.

But I also have two other reasons why Mother's Day is a "V.I.H." (Very Important Holiday)...

My mother and Brian's mother.

These two women have had more influence in my life than they will ever know.

They've given me the confidence to keep going when I wanted to give up.

They've prayed for me countless times (many of which I had no idea they were doing so).

They love me unconditionally... even when I'm not being the nicest person.

They have taught me how to love my husband and my children, by watching their own examples.

They have taught me how to stand up for myself, stand up for what I believe in, and be a strong woman.

They are incredible moms and I am immeasurably blessed to have them both in my life.

I love you Moms! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Recipe: Perfect Roasted Chicken Breasts

It seems like in the past 10 years or so, the biggest food trend has been "pre-made" foods. Everything from pre-made smoothies, to pre-packaged, pre-made kids lunches, to pre-cooked, pre-grilled chicken strips. If you want convenience foods, you've got a plethora of choices.

But let me encourage you if I may, to actually buy some raw chicken and cook it yourself sometimes. It is SO much cheaper and it tastes SO much better (plus you're cutting out some of those pesky preservatives!).

If you're not in the mood to cook a whole chicken (which I know can seem overwhelming, but it's really quite easy), then let me encourage you to step out of your "boneless-skinless comfort box" and try another cut of poultry, which is much less expensive and much more flavorful.

Have you ever seen these on sale at your grocery store?

They are typically called "Split chicken breasts with ribs" and they come with the skin still on them.

I realize this may gross out a lot of you, but stick with me.

First off, did you see that price?! $3.87 - that's a steal! I sometimes see chicken breasts at our Publix running over $10 for the same amount of chicken. Big savings!

Secondly, I learned long ago from both Ina Garten and Martha Stewart that if you cook the chicken with the skin on and the bone in, the chicken stays extremely moist and you'll get so much more flavor. (That's why at Thanksgiving you typically cook a whole turkey - skin, bones & all. It's much more moist & flavorful that way.)

Now, don't be scared of the skin or bones, because you'll barely have to handle them. Promise!

Here's my favorite go-to recipe from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

3-4 Chicken breasts (skin on, bone-in)

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Rinse & pat dry the chicken breasts and lay them on a sturdy, rimmed baking sheet.

2. Liberally coat both sides of each breast with olive oil.

3. Again, liberally sprinkle both sides of each breast with salt & pepper.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40  minutes.

5. Let rest on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before cutting.

This is how your chicken will look after baking: crispy and golden on the outside and perfectly white and juicy on the inside.

The skin peels off very easily at this point and if you run a sharp knife along the rib line, you can easily pull away the entire chicken breast.

I use this recipe when I want to make a salad with chicken in it (Cesar, Cobb, etc.), and use any leftovers in black beans & rice or quesadillas. It's an extremely versatile recipe because the chicken isn't heavily flavored, so you can use it for just about anything. Of course it's also delicious just by itself with a side of veggies and some rice.

So, next time you want chicken for dinner, but don't want to pay the high prices for the de-skinned, de-boned breasts, give this recipe a try. I bet you'll become a fan just like me.

Mother's Day...Just Bein' Real

I'm about to break a lot of "Mommy etiquette" rules right now. Are you ready...

For Mother's Day, I don't need to spend the day being a Mother.

There. I said it. Cat's out of the bag.

I love being a mom. I mean, I made a conscious decision 9 years ago to quit my well-paying, exciting corporate job and stay home all day. Every day. Every year. For 9 years. And I wouldn't change a thing!

But being a stay-at-home mom, I am around my kids 24-7 (Yo!). And if Mother's Day is really for celebrating me for all that I do as a mother... then I'd really love an afternoon to wander around the mall without any children asking me to ride the carrousel/ buy a pretzel/go to the toy store/or just generally chase all over the freaking place. Ahem...moving on...

Another idea would be for me to go get a pedicure or manicure and then go to Starbucks and read or catch up on blogs or Instagram or just stare off into space and enjoy my coffee while it's actually hot.

I'm not sayin' that I don't want to spend any time with my precious offspring on Mother's Day. Because I definitely do want to be surrounded by handmade cards filled with Elmer's glue and pink glitter all of us squished together in bed first thing in the morning. That's some good stuff right there.

But an afternoon - or dare I request most of the day - to just be me and do whatever I want to do... that sounds like a real Mother's Day treat to me.

And just in case you're throwing out some judgement on the other side of the computer screen, you should know that I've polled most of my girlfriends and almost every one of them agrees with me (working moms too). Yes, there are some moms out there who never want to leave their little one's sides and for them, I'm sure Mother's Day is just as genuinely special and relaxing. I'm just throwing out another perspective here.

I think that as Moms, we are always meeting the needs of everyone else. Always. It would be nice if being recognized for all of that hard work and dedication, we were treated to a day of pampering and leisure. Just sayin'...

I'm fortunate that my hubby generally reads most of my blog posts. So I can get a little more specific here. Babe, if you're looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift for me, please skip the $30 rose bouquet from Publix and indulge me in one of these ideas...

Since we're going to be out of town all Mother's Day weekend, you kind of have it easy. :) But when we return on Sunday afternoon and there is a car FULL of luggage, garbage, dirty clothes and lots of other miscellaneous stuff... just tell me, "Honey, I'll unload this and start the laundry." That alone would be worth more than 10 bouquets of flowers!

Maybe later I could be treated to a bath. Alone. No kids allowed anywhere near the bathroom. Preferably with candles, a glass of champagne, and some Michael Buble music. (Am I getting too specific here??)

And the Piece De Resistance?  I don't cook, or bathe the kids that night. All I have to do is lay on the couch, snuggle with my clean babies and read them books while thanking God for the amazing privilege of being their Mama.

I believe Mother's Day is one of the most important days of the year (right up there with Father's Day of course). And I am so excited to spend it this year with my own Mom. It will be a fantastic weekend and whether it ends with a quiet bath for me, or me bathing the kids, I know that being a Mom is the best gift I could ever receive.

Weekending

This is how I kicked off my weekend:

Yep. Painted my nails "Peacock" green.

(My mother is mortified right now, I'm sure of it.)

But I tell ya, the bold color on my fingernails must have translated into a carefree spirit somehow because I had such an incredible laid-back weekend with a variety of friends I haven't seen or hung out with in a LONG time.

But first things first, I have to brag on Payton for a minute.

His class had their Mother's Day Poetry Cafe on Friday morning and it was so precious.

The kids all sang "You Are My Sunshine" (handmotions and everything!) in unison.

 Then we were escorted back to our child's seat and treated to some breakfast goodies along with our child reading us their poetry booklet.

They even made a Mother's Day poetry card and a flower made out of tissue paper. So sweet!!

 

 Of course he wrote a poem about his bunny...

...and how good he is at Minecraft.

(at least I know that he's "not a bad guy"). :)

Each of the students also read poems aloud to the class. Payton did a fantastic job. I was almost in tears, which isn't surprising. He's such an awesome kid!

That afternoon, we had a little "car wash" in the driveway.

Parker and I have read the book, "Scrubbly Bubbly Car Wash" about 20 times in the past few days and I said, "Why don't we make our own car wash?" and that little boy got SO excited!

Really, all it was, was a bucket and a sponge with some dish soap. But when you add a garden hose and a toy car... it's a car wash baby!

Of course it didn't take long for the big kids to want to join in the fun too.

And after all the toy cars and bikes were clean, they all decided to lay down and enjoy a popscicle.

That evening, we went to a neighbor's house for a BBQ. We haven't hung out in a long time, so it was so much fun catching up and watching all the kids swim together. I didn't snap any pictures while we were there, so you'll just have to trust me that we had a great time. :)

Saturday morning, Brian took the boys to Dunkin Donuts and then to his office so I could sleep in. {He's such a good hubby.}

Later that morning, I took Payton to Cracker Barrel to meet up with my friend Rachel and her daughter, Lilly. (Brian kept Parker so we could actually eat and talk in peace & quiet).

We had the best time. Payton and Lilly laughed so hard they both practically couldn't breathe. It's so fun for me to see them together. They've been friends since they were about 2 and it never matters how much time elapses between our visits... they just pick up right where they left off. Like no time has passed at all. Fortunately, Rachel and I are the same way. We had such a great time just drinking coffee and catching up all morning.

The rest of the weekend, I got to enjoy my sweet friend Amy who was in town for her Doctorate graduation! (Hello... SO smart!!!!)

She used to live here in Tampa, but moved to Wisconsin last year due to her husband's job. We were SO excited to spend some time with them while they were in FL.

She has 3 darling little girls and she rented a beach house for the week to celebrate her amazing accomplishment. We were invited out to the house to let the kiddos play together...

...and play, they did!!!

 

This was all the kids on Sunday swimming together. They had an absolute blast!

Parker was thrilled to get his hands in the sand.

And Mommy got to soak up the sun on the beach for a few minutes too.

Happy lady right here...

So, I sit here tonight, writing this post. Side-by-side on the couch with Brian, a glass of red wine sitting beside me and candles lit on the table in front of me. Both of us with laptops in our laps, happily clicking away... I think:

 "Man... what a great weekend...filled with great friends and awesome memories. This is the way weekends should be."

And with that, I say, "Goodnight!" so I can encourage both of us to turn off the computers and enjoy some snuggle time while we catch up on our DVR.

A Recipe: Banana Bread

First, I just want to say "thank you" to everyone who emailed, texted and left comments on the blog about my infertility post. I greatly appreciate the feedback and pray that my story continues to offer hope to others out there.

So, with that being said, here is the post I wrote several days ago about banana bread. Weird transition? Yes... But y'all know my posts aren't always streamlined. So, here we go...

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I think I finally figured out why my bananas are ripening WAY too fast.

I hang them on a banana hanger, but it's located right next to my toaster oven (which gets used a least 2 times a day if not more). I think the heat emanating off the toaster is causing the bananas to ripen faster. Does this sound plausible??

Anyhow, I've had a lot of ripe bananas lately, and I hate to throw out perfectly good food, so I made banana bread.

I've made a lot of different banana bread recipes in my days. And I think by combining a few of my favs, I've come up with the best no-fail recipe that is sure to please even the pickiest eater (even Payton loves it and he hates bananas!).

Infertility. My Story.

I wasn't planning on writing this post today.

In fact, my "planned post" - the one I wrote last night - was about my favorite banana bread recipe.

But something in my gut said to just start writing this post and see where it takes me.

I recently stumbled across a blog that may just be the most open, honest, and sometimes heartbreaking story of a couple going through infertility. It's called "Don't Count Your Eggs" and can be found here: http://dontcountyoureggs.typepad.com/

For most of the readers of this blog, you know my history with infertility. But just in case you found me through Google or Instagram or another blog, I want to share just a snipet of my own story.

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After being married for a couple of years, my husband and I decided we had enjoyed our "DINKs" (Dual Income No Kids) lifestyle long enough and we were ready to start a family.

I went off the pill and expected to get pregnant within the next couple of months.

When that didn't happen, I was concerned, but not enough to seek out a specialist.

It just so happened that I was due for my annual pap smear and when I went in for my exam I explained to my OB/GYN that we had been trying to get pregnant for several months with no success. He was concerned and asked me a slew of questions. His initial diagnosis (without any testing, etc.) was that I probably had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS. He referred me to a local fertility specialist and we started the tests.

He was right. My ovaries "looked like chocolate chip cookies" (I'll never forget the doctor telling me that!) and were covered in tiny cysts. She said that although it would be tougher than the average woman to get pregnant, she still thought my odds were good.

So we started on a drug similar to Clomid to try to boost my egg count, hoping that one of those little eggs would make it's way through the sea of cysts and become available for fertilization.

After just a couple of months, we were successful. Our story was one of minor set-backs, quick results and a very, very happy ending 9 months later when we I gave birth to our son, Payton.

About a year after Payton was born, we started talking about trying for another child. We knew we wanted them to be about 2 years apart, but thought it may take us longer to conceive the second time since I was getting older and there was a possibility that the cysts had multiplied in the past year.

Little did we know that it would take us 4 years of hardcore fertility treatments, emptying our bank account, borrowing money from our parents, risking the happiness of our marriage and family, and cause more heartache than I ever thought possible.

Finally 4 years later, after a multitude of fertility drug "cocktails", 6 failed Intrauterine Inseminations, and 1 failed round of In Vitro Fertilization, we just stopped. We decided we needed a break. And ya know what... I got pregnant.

Just like the stories you hear. I got pregnant all on my own! I was shocked! The doctor was shocked. The nurses at the fertility clinic were so happy and amazed. I think I took at least 5 at-home pregnancy tests. It almost didn't seem real.

The day that we went to the doctor's office to hear the heartbeat is a day I will never forget.

I've never in my life doubted God's love for me. But that day, I felt like He abandoned me.

I laid there on that exam table, holding Brian's hand so tightly as the nurse inserted the ultrasound wand into my uterus to hear the heartbeat. She searched and searched. I felt my heart start racing. I kept looking at the nurse's face just waiting for her to say, "OH... there it is, sorry about that."

But that never came.

She just looked at me and said, "I'm so sorry. There's no heartbeat."

I cried out  "GOD, WHY?!?! WHY?!?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS???!!!!!" in the most primal scream of my life.
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I went into a pretty bad depression. I cried for months. I didn't even want to think about trying again.

Then after a period of time, Brian gave me a book by Beth Moore called "Get out of that Pit."

It changed my life.

It gave me the courage to say, "Ya know what God... I'm mad. I'm mad that this happened to me. I feel betrayed and hurt."

And it showed me that God never left my side for one single minute.

He cried every tear with me. He held me in my deepest moments of despair. He carried me through those days when I didn't think I could get out of bed.

And the healing began.

It took me a while, but Brian and I decided that I needed to get my body back to "normal" without all the artificial hormones and drugs that I had been using for so many years.

I did some research and found a highly recommended acupuncturist named Carolyn Huffman.

She told me that she wanted to get my body back to a healthy baseline and then if we wanted, we could start trying to conceive again.

I wasn't sure I was ready, but after a few months of treatment, I felt so good. So healthy. So alive again.

Three months later, we conceived. And 9 months after that, we welcomed into the world our miracle baby, Parker.

It was 4 years of unimaginable pain and darkness. Mixed with the most amazing amount of love and support I've ever felt from family, friends and my husband.

Infertility is so common these days and affects so many women of all ages. I am so glad that there are so many more resources out there today to help women through the journey - both medically and emotionally.

I pray that if you - or someone you know - is going through infertility right now that you would just love on them. Pray for them. Let them know that you care and you're there to listen, even if you don't understand what they're going through.

Although I am done having children, I do not believe my journey of infertility is over. I hope that my experiences and my "story" continue to give hope to others and continue to prove that God's love is stronger than you can ever imagine. And even in your darkest hour...He is there.