I Have a Cuisinart? And, It Can Do What!?!?

Shortly after Baby Girl was born, the Husband took over most of the grocery shopping and even some of the cooking.

I am not entirely sure how it happened but I do know that the fridge and pantry have food and that is a good thing.

Sure, I have to remind him to buy fruit and veggies every so often, but, for the most part the arrangement works out great.

There are some things, however, I think no man should ever have to buy for me.  Ever.

Say what you will, but I feel very strongly about this subject and will not risk anyone, husband or not, buying the wrong thing and being disappointed.  I just can't handle it.  Some things are just that important.


So... When it comes to coffee and wine I will always buy them myself, especially if said shopper does not drink either.

I love my coffee.  I mean I really love my coffee.  It is something to look forward to when I am lying in the bed debating about showering or making lunches.  It is a treat in the middle of the day or the perfect way to end the evening.  I don't sleep anymore so it is a necessity, like breathing.

Inevitably, there came the day when he was going shopping and I was out of coffee.  So, I put it on the list.  Coffee, Starbucks, on sale.  I am not necessarily a die hard Starbucks fan but, the coffee will do, especially when on sale.  I am more of a Seattle's Best kinda a gal.  What I did not count on was a coupon in the paper for Seattle's Best and the Husband got me a bag!  Score!

Thrilled is how I felt for the ten seconds it took me to pick up the bag and realize... whole beans!

Whole freakin' beans?  I don't have a grinder!  What the flip!

As I was complaining, via tweets and selective tweets to Facebook, about the pretty red bag mocking me the wonderful and smart @MyGotFam suggested I "magic bullet" the beans.

Magic Bullet?  Who do you people think I am?  Coffee bean grinders and magic bullets are for other people and not me.

I responded that I might break out the the cheap knock off I have in a box somewhere in my cupboard and thought, "what the heck!"  And, I did.

This mini food processor had been sitting on my counter for months years collecting dust before we moved this summer and is now hanging out somewhere in my new cupboards.

This mini food processor has been pushed around, boxed up, un-boxed and almost re-gifted a half a dozen times since it was given to me about two years ago.

I never read the box.

Never gave it a second glance.

I have a pretty awesome food processor that sits proudly on my counter so why would I need that mini thing in a box that collects dust?

So, here is my chance to knock off the dust and put it to use.

I needed my coffee.

Would you believe hidden below all that dust was a freakin' Cuisinart®!

A Cuisinart!

The real deal

And, it grinds the heck out of those coffee beans which make a brilliant pot o' coffee.

The end.

The Soup That Took Three Days to Make

On Monday, I thought about making soup. In reality, I started thinking about making soup the week before because a good friend (and brilliant chef) made something similar (but better) to what I was thinking of doing but she used leeks for Christ's sake! Leaks?!?! What the heck is a leek?

I digress...

Monday, I though about the type of soup I wanted to make and what I needed to make it. I did this as my fourth grade PSR kids read from their Catechism books. I know… bad me, but I knew what I wanted in my soup and they read so softly.

Sweet potatoes, acorn squash and apples, yes, apples, not a lot just a little with some chipotle and sweet paprika.  Oh and bacon.  Must have bacon.

Tuesday, gymnastics... made a plan while my goofy boy tumbled, balanced and bounced. Got home, turned the oven on and started skinning and chopping. All the while, Jamba Mama slept and her brother played in his room. This is going to be so easy...

Then the baby woke as I was EVOOing the veggies and putting them in the oven. No problem, I can do this they just have to bake a while... Stay awake, just stay awake, I say to myself. But she only will relax if I lie down and nurse and her brother wants to watch a movie and I can stay awake… Right?

I turned off the stove an hour and half into roasting for fear that I would fall asleep the house would burn down.  This was 8:00 PM... At 2:00 AM... when I woke, from nursing... I took the veggies out and found, to my surprise, the oven was hot enough to keep roasting them!

Chalk one up to sleepy moms!

Now it is Wednesday… picked up the bébé from the sitters, stopped home to nurse but she was napping so I grabbed Goofy and off we went to the bank and the grocery store because the Husband needed to sleep. Then I figured, since the bébé is still sleeping, why not go get the supplies for the Halloween costume!

Came home, nursed a now screaming baby, put her in highchair made dinner for Goofy and started to peel the skin off the acorn squash.

Phew.

Started to puree the veggies and the blender sounded like it was in stereo.  But it wasn't, no… scared the dickens out of the baby who now needed to be comforted. Laid down in my bed, nursed, she feel asleep, closed off the house, pureed the veggies, Husband got the screaming baby. Sigh.

Three days! Three days and I have to say I have a pretty tasty soup. The Husband feels there is something missing which had me convinced until I had my friend taste it… she liked it, I am proud again.

We seem to have a missing link somewhere, sometimes. I feel like I am always running…for the kids, my mom, work; never doing anything productive (like having a really clean house lol) and he is always working, sleeping (rightly so with his schedule) or running doing things for other people. We are missing each other and I am missing taking care of my home. I want to create a nice home, welcoming and clean but at the end of the day I am lucky that the laundry is cleaned, sitting in the dining room waiting to be folded, when I get home from work and some soup… that only I will eat. Double sigh. I wish we had time. Time to spend with the kids, time to spend with each other, time to just be but at then end of the day I am grateful for what time I do have with all of them.