It's Spadobo night again!

My one time creation (made thanks to a suggestion from the "boys") has become a hit. Now when ever I make spaghetti (another favorite) it has to be followed by chicken adobo the following night which makes the third night - SPADOBO NIGHT!

What is spadobo you ask?

It's exactly what you think. 

Spaghetti + Adobo = Spadobo

Here is my almost recipe (almost cause I don't measure anything):

Spaghetti: 

2 cans of tomato sauce

1 package of ground beef

1 med-large onion

1 cup of red wine

1/2 a beef bouillon cube + 1/2 or 1/4 cup water

spices: pepper, salt, oregano, basil, garlic,

Veggies (whatever I have): broccoli, zucchini, carrots, peppers, cauliflower 

Spinach chopped up and added near the end

Once it's all in there simmer and reduce until the sauce isn't watery any more. 

Serve with noodles and parmesan cheese :) 

Chicken Adobo:

skinless boneless chicken breasts and thighs (however much you want)

1 large onion

LOTS of garlic (I use the pre-chopped in fridge kind & fresh - no powder)

Equal amounts ginger (fresh or fridge kind)

Pepper

lots of soy sauce, maybe a cup? (I do like mine VERY strong)

Equal parts water

Brown chicken in pot with onions, add spice and sauce until the chicken is almost covered in liquid. Turn it down and let it simmer with the lid on until the meat is falling apart (45 min to 1 hour). This can also be done in a slow cooker.

Just before it's served I mix some corn starch and water in a cup and slowly add my desired amount to thicken the juice.

Serve over rice.

SPADOBO:

preheat oven to 350

line the bottom of a pyrex baking dish with left over rice and spaghetti

mix spagetti sauce and adobo chicken and pour over top

cover top of dish with grated cheese and bread crumbs

bake for 30ish minutes

enjoy ridiculously greasy man-food

Good Changes.. I think

I just had one of those moments when I suddenly felt over-whelmed. It's not really a surprise, just something that's been building. I have so much on the go in my mind I just feel frazzled. It's funny that summer, with it's energizing brightness, can be so motivating... and yet I've some what over-filled my plate.

I've been trying to meet more moms (always the goal I suppose) which has been pretty successful. Also, getting Kaeda into preschool and sorting all the baby stuff to go in the big Victoria consignment sale (I REALLY need to get on that). And now... we've decided that it's time for me to go back to school.... that's probably the biggest thing. I've spent hours reading post-secondary institution sites, trying to understand all their courses and rules and applications. I've been on the phone and in person and it's still confusing as hell. Every time it becomes a little clear I can't seem to find my way back there again.

All this will blow over in September. Kaeda will start preschool, the sale will be over and school will either be started or not... and if it has started? More to worry about... I'm not exactly a high energy, self-motivated person all the time... is it going to be too much stress? Full time school and the kids? and... a wedding? Jeez, I keep putting it off but we're supposed to be planning  a wedding for next summer! I just can't seem to wrap my mind around it!! I don't know how I'm going to be away from my baby so long...

I guess it will just have to be.. one day at a time for now...

Baby Naps

Today Bowynn only had one nap.

This is both good and bad.

Today she went down really easily and slept for 3 hours! She also went down easily at bed time. So that's about 630-7am to 7pm with a three hour nap... the last couple days it's been taking an hour to get her to take her morning and afternoon naps and they haven't been as long. Bed time has also been a pain.

Buuut... she's not even 9 months yet!!!! Can she really be done with two naps a day?? I wish I could remember when it changed for Kaeda. What I've read online indicates an average of 12-18 months. However, Kaeda stopped napping altogether at 18 months. Grand-mere says none of her three napped after 12 months... I can only imagine what it must be like to have a 3 year old who still takes long naps...

I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings and if this one-nap-a-day is permanent or not!

The Importance of Mom Friends

It's been 3.5 years since I had my daughter... and I officially have 2 mom friends. Three if you could the one that lives in another province that I've never met... If there's one thing I stress to new moms it's: put yourself out there and make and effort to make mom friends!!!! No one will understand you quite the same as another mom. And it does get lonely. I wish I could have gone back and told myself that before. 

Today I went and met two more moms in my area. It's such a funny feeling - like dating - trying to find moms the same age, with kids the same age, who are compatible with you. My stomach was all funny and nervous. It's so silly but I guess that's what happens when you get into the routine of being a stay-at-home-mom. 

We met at Crumsby's Cupcake Cafe. I had no idea the place existed before... but it was awesome! A whole wall dedicated to toys to amuse the kiddies, kids menu, amazing coffee and a tempting menu I'll have to try out. It was a lot of fun and kids had a great time. It was lovely chatting with moms who had babies and older kids and then walking down to willow beach. I think it would be great if we could make a mommy group out of it. 

Perhaps its because I'm more comfortable in my position as "mom" or perhaps these moms just had more in common with me - but I've definitely had more of a connection with the moms I've met in Victoria than the ones I met in Richmond. It's funny how people complain about Facebook and all the terrible invasion of privacy/addiction/alienation that goes on with it - when thanks to it and the Young & New Moms group - I've made friends :)

It was so hot out yesterday! Bo loves water and had a great time splashing in this tub. I was sitting on the blanket under the umbrella (where the heat still penetrated) eating cherries (mmm!). 

Behind Bo is where our hot tub is - in this heat we haven't been turning it on and it's still a couple degrees above body temperature - it makes a PERFECT pool! So that's where Kaeda was most of the afternoon.

While I was out with the girls B was downstairs washing the carpets and getting the house ready for our new roomie (who's already living with us). If he wasn't doing that he'd be off on some other house-improving, life-improving, mechanical or creative project. It's great that he's so motivated but can get kind of annoying that he's here without being here. Some how I manage to do all my projects (well mostly) with the kids in tow or on hip (in Bo's case while she's teething). It frustrates me that he has a hard time being up at 6am with the kids or carrying the baby while doing something (even making toast!). I see that a lot of moms complain about this sort of thing... so I guess it's pretty common and male... but it still gets to me some times. 

With all the stress of money and work right now it's easier to find frustration in the small things that come up. B commented the other day how great is was to be a kid - no worries but the afternoon. Hopefully as things get more stable for us these day-to-day struggles will be less of a weight.

Back to Blogging

Well it's been a while since my last post - and to think I started out trying to write every day! But that's the thing about summer; it's nice out so you're outside, there's vacations and events and outings! I've been keeping pretty busy - correction: the girls have been keeping ME busy! 

Kaeda is too smart for her own good. She has a stubborn streak she comes by naturally which can be so, SO, SO frustrating some times. Bowynn is 8 months old now. She is crawling every where, pulling herself up and even standing on her own for a minute. Kaeda walked at 9 months - I don't think Bo will be too far behind.

Besides summer and all it's projects (OMG Consignment sale prep!!) the other major issue I've been having has been with Gmail. For some reason they changed things and my account needed to be switched to a Gmail address instead of an address HOSTED by Gmail. BUT - they would not accept my current Gmail address and in order to create a new one they wanted my phone number to text me verification. Well, I didn't want to give them that information... so I  held out for a while but I finally gave in. It's been pretty frustrating anyway.

Kaeda at our friend's wedding. She is still into tom-boyish things but now insists in doing it all in a dress (no shorts/leggings or jacket). 

We call Bo the "bottomless pit" because she will just eat and eat and eat and eat. She is trying all kinds of food happily, is taking her sippy fine and has her bottom two teeth (they came in at 7 months).