I've moved- Check out my new site

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been a little MIA. We've had a lot going on here. We had 2 funerals, my husband quit his job and got a new one, for awhile we were talking about moving and of course there's all the business that is involved with mothering three small children. The good news is that I'm back in the game and I have a new website. So if you want to follow my cooking and mothering adventures, follow me at secretsofmom.com. Tell me what you think. Thanks for reading.

Update 2

Another death in the family...when it rains it pours.

Update

Last weekend I ran a half marathon. This weekend we have a family funeral. But, next week I will have many worthwhile things to say.

A Few Tricks for Healthy & Delicious Waffles

We love waffles. It's one of the few things that everyone here eats and doesn't bother my breast-feeding infant with reflux, plus it's a quick, easy and low-cost meal. Here are a few tips that I have found to make them healthier and tastier.

• Add a heaping tablespoon of ground flax seed to the batter. It help you get your Omega-3's, some extra fiber and protein and you can't taste it. I also throw a tablespoon of wheat germ into the batter for extra Vitamin E and fiber and no one can taste that either.
• Substituting almond milk for regular milk adds a slightly nutty flavor and decreases calories.
• If you use a professional waffle iron it will improve your waffles regardless of your batter recipe. The flipping motion introduces more air into the waffle. I was surprised that they only cost about $10 more than a good quality standard waffle iron.
• Putting a couple tablespoons of applesauce on your waffle moistens them without a ton of syrup, reducing sugar without sacrificing taste. (I got this idea from a friend. When she was growing up her grandparents didn't keep sugar or syrup in the house, so they put applesauce on their waffles so they weren't dry and tasteless.)
• Recently I tried some of my homemade applesauce (it's brown from the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) with just a little bit of real maple syrup drizzled on top. It was so yummy.

Food Storage Friday: Potato Pearl Soup

Ok,  if you have potato pearls you have to try this. To quote my husband "It tastes like Thanksgiving in a bowl." And it's EASY! If you don't have potato pearls, go get some.  I found this winner in Food Storage for the Clueless by Clark and Kathryn Kidd, which a friend recommended to me. Unfortunately it is out of print and it was awhile before a copy was available for less than $40. I eventually found one and I haven't really started reading it, just trying a few recipes. This soup is fast, easy, yummy and uses mostly food storage ingredients. I can't say that it's healthy, but it tastes like comfort food and sometimes you need that...like when everyone in the house has had a cold sometime in the past two weeks. Just saying.

Potato Pearl Soup
Food Storage Ingredients:
4 & 1/2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons dried chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
dash of garlic salt
dash of pepper
2 cups potato pearls
2 & 1/2 cups broth/stock

Fresh Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup water

1. Heat butter, onion, salt, milk and pepper until scalding. 2. Gradually stir in potato pearls. Keep cooking and stirring until smooth. 3. Gradually add the broth & water. 4. Garnish with paprika and parsley if desired.

The original recipe called for more salt and butter. I cut them down and still added the water to get it to a place where I liked the taste. I also used turkey stock that I made and froze after Thanksgiving last year. Hence the strong Thanksgiving flavor and the small bits of carrot. So yummy. The original recipe calls for chicken broth, so I'm sure that that is good too. You *could* use fresh milk for this, but when I make recipes that call for cooking more than 2 cups of milk, I mix it up from my food storage. It's cheaper, no one can taste a difference and I need to rotate the stuff anyway.

Pinterest

 Last weekend I was talking to my husband about something I found on Pinterest that I wanted him to make. (He's pretty handy when it comes to building things.)
 "Wait, you're using Pinterest?"
 "Yeah, I've found lots of great ideas there."
 "What exactly is Pinterest?"
 "It's a social networking site for sharing webpages and ideas. Why, what did you think it was?"
 "Well, a co-worker said it was soft porn for women."
 "Wat? No. Why do you think that?"
 "It's just women looking at a bunch of stuff they can't have."
I laughed. "Ok, I can see that. But I use it to get recipes and other ideas. Well, ok I do have a thing for pretty cakes too."
 So, yes I finally jumped on the bandwagon that is Pinterest. If you are so inclined, you can follow me here. Oh, and Happy Leap Year!

Wedding Apparel for $10- No Sewing Skills Required

Last August I found myself in a predicament. My husband's little sister was getting married.  I needed to find something for myself and my newborn to wear to her wedding reception. When looking for dresses for my baby, I couldn't find the right colors. Everything that was white was  a) too big, b) covered in sequins c) cost a lot more money than I was willing to pay for something she would wear once or d) all of the above. I couldn't see myself spending $60 on something that she was going to pee, poop and/or throw up on and had to be dry-cleaned. Fortunately, my best friend came up with a brilliant idea. Make her a tutu. She can wear it with a white onesie, it's comfortable and if she poops on it (which she did), I can easily change it out.  I got the materials for the skirt for $2, watched an internet video and had a tutu in less than 2 hours. Tada!

 Originally my sister-in-law had planned on having her wedding a couple weeks before my due date, but when I said that we would not be able to travel she changed her wedding to a week and a half after my due date. I appreciated her consideration so that we could be there, but either way it left me having a hard time finding something to wear. (My MIL insisted it didn't matter what I wore, but I didn't want my SIL forever looking at her wedding pictures and thinking, 'Remember that time I got married and Heather wore a hospital gown to my wedding reception? Yeah, that was something.')  How do you find formal wear when you are nine months pregnant with your third child or for that unknown size you are going to be immediately after having said child. I was pretty sure that after having the baby I would be smaller than pregnant, but how much smaller? Not down to pre-pregnancy size. One size? 3 sizes? How do you plan for that? (Also in one department, smaller is not the size direction that you go.)  I spent dozens of hours in stores and online trying to find a dress that would work. I found one dress with an empire waist that almost fit at Dillard's when I was four months along and called their website looking for a size or two up. No luck, they had sold out of those sizes in every store across the country. Awesome.
 After I had Miss Cindy Lou Who I called every clothing store in town. "Do you have something formal or semi-formal in green apple or royal blue in my size?" One girl responded "Are you fifteen?"
 "Nope."
"Then you probably wouldn't wear the only thing I found in royal blue. It has spaghetti straps and a mini skirt."
 "Um, no. I can't say that that would work."
 There is another store on St George Boulevard that always has lovely dresses in the display window. I called them and they had one dress in each color. And because they close before my husband gets home from work I went down there with my infant and my three-year old. (Yes, crazy. I know.) Each dress was around $165 and both of them were several sizes too big and would need to be tailored, drastically. I looked at them on the hangers while Thing 2 ran in circles around me and the racks of dresses, and said "This isn't going to work."
 The shop lady responded with a very patronizing tone "Well, we could have helped you if you had given us a few weeks more notice."
 "Well, a week ago I was pregnant and couldn't tell you what dress size I needed anyway." Not to mention I can't see myself spending that much money on a dress that I am not absolutely in love with.

 Then I tried a second-hand store that I had called earlier. Second-hand stores have changing inventory, so it was worth a shot. I found a blouse in royal blue for $8.50. Cha-ching!!! And I had a 20% off coupon. I paired it with my favorite black skirt and we were in business.

  So there we go. My husband had the rented tux provided by the groom's family, Thing 1 had her green apple Easter dress, Thing 2 had the tux that I bought him for the last family wedding (this time he had grown into the smallest size available), baby and I were covered and I did it for under $10.