It's beginning to look alot like . . .

My cell phone takes really crappy pictures.  Unfortunately Nathaniel has absconded the real camera as he is really into 'stop motion' recently.  Anyway, you will just have to take my word for it that it looks pretty!  I just love decorating for Christmas - wish I had more money and time to devote to it. But then again - making do sometimes forces us to be more creative :)

Hope you and yours have a warm, cheerful and peaceful Christmas season.  Many blessings!

no-knead bread

yep,  I feel like I am the last person on earth to try this - but try it I did! And it was GOOD!

here's the link - I meant to take my own pictures but it didn't last long enough :) :)

http://www.fitsugar.com/Healthy-Recipe--Knead-Whole-Wheat-Bread-2855780

Candy Chicken?

this is the BEST crockpot recipe for chicken.  ever. 


http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/08/crockpot-brown-sugar-chicken-recipe.html


my husband and kids have asked for this again and again.  try it!!

Its always something!

Poor Nathaniel!

Had a steel door go OVER his foot at school on Monday.  It went over his shoe and two pair of socks (Thaniel says his feet are always cold :) and still managed to take part of the nail and a bit of the toe.  Luckily it wasn't broken but his poor big toe is a puple and black mangled mess!

Today was the first day I sent him back to school.  He went in a pair of my slippers cause we still cant get a shoe on that foot - poor kid!

Long haired freaky people

sorry this last one is so out of focus :(

Crockpot Indian Inspired Chickpea, Potato & Lentil Ragout

This smells SO good - I cant wait for it to be done!

I haven't tried this one before but it's a variation of a recipe I saw on the Weight Watchers page.  If it tastes as good as it smells it will be a winner!  I also loved that I had all this on-hand! This would be great with Naan - but since I dont feel like running to the store I will probably serve this with Couscous.

 Crockpot Indian Inspired Chickpea, Potato & Lentil Ragout:
1 med onion chopped
2 med potatoes diced
1/2 cup lentils
2 garlic cloves finely diced
1-2 teas fresh ginger shredded or half teas dry
1 small can diced jalapeños (with the juice)
1 14oz can Chickpeas drained
1/2 teas Garam Masala
1 teas Cumin
1 14oz can diced tomates (with the juice)
Salt

Mix all in Crockpot and stir until ingredients are just mixed.  Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hrs or on low for 7-8. 
Salt to taste in the final hour.

Couscous
1 cup whole wheat couscous (I get mine at Trader Joes)
1 cup veggie broth (or coconut water would be yummy too)
2 teas olive oil
salt and pepper (optional)

Boil broth, turn off heat and stir in couscous.  Cover.  Let sit for 5 mins.  Add olive oil and fluff with a fork.

something super YUMMY

is on my stove right now.  It was EASY but TIME CONSUMING - so dont try it unless you are having a lazy day at home with lots of time to fiddle around.


red beans, rice and sausage Risotto:

2 cups (dry uncooked white rice - I used jasmine)
1 teas veg. oil
2 teas butter
11/2 cups chicken broth
1 sweet onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 can tomatoes diced in juice
1/3 cup white wine (any kind)
11/2 cups water (as needed)
1/3 cup tomato juice
salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste
1 teas Italian seasoning
chicken sausage (I used low-fat & spicy)
2 cans kidney beans drained

melt butter in oil in a large pan and add rice.  stir to coat. add onion garlic and bell pepper.  cont stiring til onion is translucent (this step is important or you will have crunchy onions :( ).  add broth, wine and water a little at a time, and stir until rice begins to swell and soften.  add tomatoes, beans, sasauge, tomato juice & spices.  redux to low and continue to stir occasionally until rice is soft and no liquid remains (about an hour).

YUM!

In the Crockpot - Mondays

Mondays are usually a crockpot day for me.  Its just after the weekend, I haven't done my shopping for the week and it tends to be a freezer and pantry kind of meal.  Today's meal is inspired by a picture of an Indian recipe I saw while on the internet this morning.

I did not follow the recipe (having only a handful of the ingredients and also as it was a stove-top kind of thing) but the three basic ingredients were the same: Chicken, Chickpeas and Cauliflower.

Heres what I did:

8 chicken tenders  (four full chicken breasts would also work fine)
2 cans (drained) chickpeas
1 (1lb) bag frozen cauliflower (fresh would also be lovely)
1/2 a very large sweet onion, chopped

1 teas yellow curry powder
2 teas Red curry powder
1/2 teas ginger
1/2 teas corriander
1 teas cumin
1/2 teas garam masala
(I love Indian spices and had these all to hand - use what you like)

1 cup Fat-free half and half
1/2 teas coconut extract
(If I had had a can of lite coconut milk - I would have used that instead )

I will cook this on low all day (about 8-10hrs) and then will add salt and/or sugar to taste depending on how the spices develop.  I plan to serve it over Jasmine Rice which I will cook in my rice cooker using Coconut Water.

Smells AMAZING already :)  Happy Monday!

Catching up!

So many things have gone by since my last post.  But I am determined to pick up my blogging again! 

May:  Nathaniel turned 11!  I can hardly believe how time flies!  After his serious illness last year Nathaniel returned to school to repeat the fourth grade and made it through with flying colors! Now, no longer the smallest and youngest in his class he has made more friends and turned into a bit of a mr. cool.  (just ask the girls in his class :)

June:  Both kids finished up school and I had a successful audition for the Oregon Children's theater.  Always rewarding to get a call back for a big professional company!!!! Unfortunately, I was out of town for the call back weekend - but I will continue to put myself out there! 

July and August: somewhat on a spur of the moment the kids and I decided to take the whole summer for a Cross Canada road trip.  Hannah kept a blog up about it - you can catch up here:  tonersontheroad.blogspot.com

Sept.  The kids are back in school - Hannah is in grade Eight and Thaniel is in the Fifth Grade.  Its crazy for me to believe that they have grown so much and so quickly!

Eric is back at work and I am back to theater and Crazy busy!  More on all my current and upcoming projects soon!  For now - enjoy a picture from our summer adventure!

I am here I am here I am here!

Its been forever and there is a ton of stuff going on - cant believe I have not visited my blog in so long!

please know I do check in and read about you all and love hearing about your lives :) 

more to come .. .


p.s. bonus points if you can name the Sondheim musical that the title of this blog is from lol

happy birthday TEENAGER!

Holy cow!  I have a teenager!  Happy 13th Hannah!!

January happenings

Its been a crazy busy month.  After the whirlwind of She Loves Me (the musical that Eric, Hannah and I were all involved in), Christmas with my Mum and Dad and having a new room-mate move in - it was a really busy December!  Somehow I though January would smooth out, slow down and get back into a natural, relaxed groove.

Instead its been non-stop activity!  I've been actively pursuing my interests in the arts - even though I am not directing anything this year  I have been focusing on getting my resume updated, new head-shots taken, I've had two auditions, started working with a vocal coach and even had a private lesson with an acting coach! (More on that when there is more to report).

I'm also back on Weight Watchers, tracking what I eat and working out (sporadically) on my new  Wii Active II.  I am doing well and feeling better about myself. I kinda hope I settle into the domestics around the house a little more - get myself more on a schedule - but in truth I've never really been good at that :) 

So thats the not very exciting updates.  Not to much to share but also not wanting to neglect this blog for quite so long as I have been :)

HSP - the finale (part 6)

It took me a long time to get this all down - here is what you might have missed:

http://www.theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/hsp-overview.html


http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-are-complictions-of-hsp.html


http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-hsp-story-part-one.html

http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-hsp-story-part-two.html


http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/09/our-hsp-story-part-three.html
 
http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2010/09/our-hsp-story-part-four.html

http://theateragogirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-hsp-story-part-5.html


Once home from the hospital for the second time - Nathaniel followed a rigorous schedule of sleep, take copious amounts of meds (mostly steroids and stomach pills).  Eat soft foods, sleep some more, go see the doctor, pee in a cup, get his blood drawn and repeat.  And repeat.  And repeat. And repeat for the next 4months.


It was a drain emotionally and physically on all of us in the family.  At night Thaniels joints ached constantly so Eric and I took turns rubbing them for him.  The Prednizone caused his face to 'moon' up and he was puffy and bruised for a good 6weeks or so.  He lost his energy very quickly but was bored and frustrated lying on the couch and in bed week after week.

But there was gradual improvement.  Eventually new Purpura stopped emerging under his skin.  Eventually his urine started to come back 'clean' in the lab.  Eventually, his blood work looked strong and healthy.

During this long recovery - Nathaniels immune system was very compromised so school was out of the question.  We had a FANTASTIC home health tutor who came over and helped him at least keep up with some of his school skills.  In the end though - he ended up missing almost a full 5mths of school.  So he is now repeating the fourth grade.

Our doctors do not know if Nathaniel's HSP will come back.  Some kids never experience full-blown symptoms again - some will have many recurrences.  For now, we try to keep him healthy, keep his immune system strong and pay very close attention if he gets a cold or flu.

Nathaniel was weaned from the steroids and to look at him today - you would not recognize the kid he was 11 mths ago.  He has grown a couple inches and has thinned out once again.  He is back to Tae kwan do, school, church, riding his bike, playing with friends and all  the rest of the things he enjoys.  I am grateful everyday for his restored health.
Finally - thank you to those of you who asked about him, came over, gave gifts, and prayed for Nathaniel over the past year - it is deeply appreciated!

Our HSP story (part 5)

Its been a while since I was on here but I wanted to get this all down while it is still 'fresh' in my mind.  Where I last left off Thaniel was being unloaded via ambulance to the emergency unit at the Dorenbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland, OR . . .

As he was wheeled in on his gurney the admissions nurse recognized him from just the week before and said "what!? not you again!  what have you done this time my boy?"  Thaniel thought that was pretty funny but only managed a smile as everything in his 'tummy' was hurting.

The doctors and nurses flooded into his room and quickly assessed  that his bleeding has stabilized and that he should be sent for an ultrasound immediately.  It was eerie to me because we had to wait on an escort (instead of just wheeling him ourselves) the doctors wanted him supervised by a medical staff at every moment in case the bleeding restarted.

The ultrasound tech was great - she keep Thaniel calm even though it hurt to have the sensor on his belly.  She left us to get a supervisor and came back with two more doctors.  They spent quite a bit of time going over all the images. Finally, we were escorted back up to the emergency room.

We were there for just a few minutes when the nurse got an urgent message to send Nathaniel back to ultrasound. When we got back the ultrasound tech and the two doctors were waiting for us. They had indeed seen what they thought was a bowel intussusception and one of the doctors even sat down and re-did some of the ultrasound for himself. After several tense moments they determined that his bowels must have been MIRACULOUSLY un-telescoping themselves (likely during the two hours he was writhing in pain, vomiting and bleeding out while we waited for the doctors office to call us back) What the doctors had seen on the scan must have been the last of the bowel un-telescoping itself not 20mins before.

Thaniel was sent back to the emergency room the immediate danger over.  However he had lost an awful lot of blood.  We were told that his hemoglobin levels were dangerously low and that he may need to be admitted to the ICU for a blood transfusion.  The ER doctor on staff though recommended waiting an hour to re-test as he was finally stable.  She reminded us that children's bodies are very strong and heal quickly.  She said that if his level was 8 or under (normal is 24) he would have to go to ICU.  An hour later - his hemoglobin came back at 8.4 - Praise God!!

Nathaniel spent the next two days and nights on the regular ward of the Children's hospital.  Many of the staff from the previous week recognized him and came in to say hello.  He was in good humor through it all and joked with his nurses and doctors often.

He was however still very, very weak.  He could not walk without assistance as his joints were still very swollen. He could only seem to keep down popcicles and jello for the first 24hrs - but eventually moved on to soup and mashed potatoes :)  His body was still covered in purple spots from the broken blood vessels and he was still bruising very easily.  He continued to pass blood in his stools for many days (though we were very quickly assured that this was because there was still so much old blood in his GI system - not any new bleeding)  Nathaniel's input and output continued to be measured to ensure that his kidneys were still functioning.

It soon became apparent though that he was out of danger and would recover better at home.  So on the third day - we wrapped him up and again brought him home - this time however with STRICT instructions to bypass our doctors office and bring him immediately to an emergency room if any vomiting or bleeding resumed.