There's sort of a theory in our household that our children fit into two basic categories for appearance. Our model A's so far are Jonathan and Grace:

Jonathan

Grace

And in the Model B category we have Mae and Benjamin:

Mae

Benjamin

So my question for you is this: which category do you think Seth fits into? Look at his coloring, the shape of his eyes, the shape of his nose...and if it helps you, the birth order so far has been A, B, A, B...

Seth

So what do you think?

I mean, you can if you want to, of course...but I wouldn't recommend it.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon ground sage
• 1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

    DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper; cook until the onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sage over the vegetables, and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes more. Transfer vegetables to a large mixing bowl.
3. Stir the rice, walnuts, onion soup mix, oat bran, wheat germ, egg whites, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard into the mushroom mixture until thoroughly blended. Spoon into prepared loaf pan, pressing down mixture with a spatula to flatten top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Yes, we had this for dinner tonight and basically had to force it down. My search for a decent vegetarian "meat" loaf continues...

In fairness, I did just read some very positive reviews of this recipe, so maybe I did something wrong? It sounded good, in theory. I don't know, though. One cup of wheat germ, one cup of oat bran and one-and-a-quarter cups of brown rice does seem a little excessive in my humble opinion. Anyway, I am sure diaper changes will be fun in this house for the next couple of days.

I am hopeful that I may in fact succeed at converting some to homemade veggie burgers (over store-bought -- I mean, really) and so I thought I would provide two more recipes for you to try. These two are actually favored over the last one I posted, it is just that that one was on the menu and I am a stickler for sticking to my menu at the moment because I want to make sure that it all "works".

Anyway, on to the recipes. These are both from Jonni McCoy's book, Miserly Meals, which happens to have some great vegetarian recipes in it. There are a couple which I will not be trying again (like the "Meatless Meatloaf"), but overall the Vegetarian Main Dishes section of the book was vastly helpful in planning my own menu. Both of the following veggie burger recipes have been tried, accepted and added as favorites by my family. There are two others in the book which I have not tried and I won't include those recipes because I don't want to be blamed if they are not as good as the others.


I really can not recommend these recipes highly enough, especially the first one. If you have become accustomed to store-bought veggie burgers, these will come as a pleasant surprise both because of how easy they are to prepare, and because they are so tasty. Their flavor is enhanced and heightened by eating them with homemade hamburger buns, so I also recommend making those yourself. Yum!! Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!!!

This evening we had curried walnut grain burgers on homemade wholewheat rolls. I told you I would post next time we had veggie burgers. Now would I lie to you? I even took a photo, see?


I know it is not a good photo, but it was a good, good, good dinner. I don't think it would be very nice of me to post about it without sharing the recipe, so I will do that now. :-)

Curried Walnut Grain Burgers

Serves 6

2 eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt (or substitute 1/4 cup of water, it will come out fine)
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 1/3 cups cooked couscous or brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup minced green onions
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Combine eggs, yogurt, worcestershire sauce, curry, salt and red pepper in a large bowl; beat until blended. Stir in couscous or rice, walnuts, carrot, green onions and bread crumbs. Shape into 6 patties on a baking-paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, turning once. Serve on hamburger buns, with condiments.

These do not taste like meat, nor are they supposed to. They taste better than meat. My personal kiddos eat these much better than they do a cheeseburger.

For those who are interested, I calculated the WeightWatchers points for one patty and came up with 2 1/2 points.

And here they are...

This truly is one device that makes life easier for the frugally-minded. Before I had one, I was making bread the hard way and while I appreciated the exercise and feeling of accomplishment that gave me, it also made it more difficult to make the family's bread consistently.

My favorite thing about having a bread machine is that it makes it so much easier and more appealing to be creative with our bread. Now not only do I make all of our regular bread, I have branched out to making rolls, hamburger buns, french sticks and pita bread and I have a ton of other things yet to try.

Besides that, have you ever had a freshly homemade veggie burger on a freshly homemade hamburger bun? Oh. My. I'll have to do a blog post on that next time we have veggie burgers for supper. You'll never go back to boca burgers again!

"We love mama's bread machine!!"

I am lucky to have had the lovely and very sweet Ali, of Mission Field Designs, working on my blog. I am loving the way it's turned out! Thank you so much, Ali, for your work (which she does for free!) and for being such a nice person to work with!

Yeah, I hardly have the time to take photos, much less post some long-winded blog entry just to justify putting up a bunch of new ones. So lucky you, you get the photos without the long-winded blog entry!

These photos of baby Seth were taken at around 3 weeks of age:

A big yawn (just in case it looks like he's screaming his face off)



About to sneeze
 


6yo took this one! :-)

These three I took today. Seth is now 4 weeks and 3 days old.
Goof ball!!!

No gas here! He's smiling at his mama!!

Awww! He's oh-so-charming!

I don't make this stuff up, I just report it.

Sorry if anyone has been waiting on this news ;-) but our newest little one finally made his arrival, 11 days late, on April 11, 2008. His name is Seth Walter, and he was 8lb 7oz at birth. We are both doing very well now, although I had a few rough days there. To be expected, I suppose.

Seth is so far a sweet, calm, placid little man and he loves being cuddled and held. He sleeps most of the day and night away still, but is starting to be a bit more active and aware of the world around him.

Here are a few photos. :-)

A few minutes after his birth.

Seth's first bath, one day old.

Dressed and ready to go home.

Seth at 9 days old.

Unbelievably, I managed to start and finish this strawberry tea pot cosy BEFORE baby's birth. I am now NINE days overdue and amazingly on the prowl for yet another project to keep my mind occupied while I wait for my little man to arrive.

I could understand the baby wanting to wait for his quilt but I have to wonder, what on earth could he want with a strawberry tea cosy? Perhaps he would like to wear it as a hat? And what do you think he'd like me to make next??

This tea cosy was made from a pattern that, sadly, is no longer available online as far as I can tell. I originally got it from magknits.com and it appears that they have taken down the site since I printed this pattern off just two days ago. :-( However, a google search for "strawberry tea cosy" may yield some alternative patterns.


Ah, it's so cheerful and happy-looking. :-) I am glad I happened to catch the pattern before it was gone and had the baby arrived I may never have been able to make this. Silver lining. :-)

Yup, I am a week overdue...I think baby really wanted his quilt to be finished! Hopefully, now that it is, he will decide he's ready to come out.

Incidentally, I think this is the best quilt I've ever made. I love the quilting on it -- and love even more that I actually had the patience to do it all by hand. It is an old-fashioned, traditional quilt and I am really happy with the way it turned out.


Now on to the next project -- I am either going to produce a baby, or a tea cozy.  One of the two.

• Benjamin (also answers to Ben, Benny, Bo-bo, Bo-bo-head, Puppy, Potato, Fuppy, Fuppy Potato, Fups and Hey You)
• 18 months old
• Enjoys eating, smiling, talking, running around, climbing, being cute, pulling hair, occasional nursing, drawing, making messes, tormenting siblings, laughing at mama's huge belly, and being so cute that it hurts!
• Is set to become a big brother ANY TIME NOW!!!

After much deliberation and some sadness, we decided a couple weeks ago that it would be best for our family if we put our oldest two children in public school. This was by no means an easy decision to come to, but I felt I was cheating them of many good experiences and worthwhile opportunities at home. As a pregnant mama very near to the birth of a new child, I just didn't have it in me to improve our homeschooling situation. Really, I just had to let go of it, for my sanity as well as for the good of the kids.

I don't think that public schooling is the ideal, but I don't think that poorly-done homeschooling is, either. Public schooling with full parental involvement, interest and encouragement is what we are now aiming for. I still love the idea of homeschooling, and we are still open to it in the future -- we have always said that we will do what we need to do for the sake of our children and our family. I just don't think that homeschooling is right for us right now, though, as much as it pains me to admit it.

So, our kids have been attending a local public primary school for about 2 weeks now, and they are loving it!! Jonathan is in first grade. He is really enjoying having some new buddies, and he loves the variety of experiences he has in school. Mae is in kindy, and as a social butterfly, she is thriving. They both have lovely teachers that welcome our questions and concerns and value our involvement. Both children are doing extremely well! All in all, I am very happy with our decision at this point. I miss them though, so so much! :-( They are still, as they always will be, my babies.

Oh, I am so pregnant. Not that it isn't fun, but I am ready for it to be over. Now.

On the other hand, baby's quilt isn't finished yet. Ask me if that will stop me. Answer? NO. If this baby wants out now, I am not going to try and talk him into staying so I can finish his quilt. A couple kids ago, I might have. But not this time. We do have other blankets, after all, but I only have one pelvis, and it's ready to be in significantly less pain. At least I got it this far. I seem to be suffering from motivation deficit disorder, so having done this much is quite an achievement.

Sometimes I just get sick of looking at something and I need to replace it. Probably doesn't happen to me as often as it happens to most normal people -- but it does happen. So, I finally got sick of the sight of my old pot-holders, which I have had for many years now. I mean, just all of the sudden I really needed to get those stinkin' things out of my house!!!

I also happened to be needing a quick project to keep up my creative morale, so really the timing was good. The last few weeks of pregnancy are hard for this crafty gal because, on the one hand, my nesting/creative drive is huge, while on the other hand, my energy and stamina are not. Well, a quick and easy project is a great way to feel like you've accomplished something without it becoming overly burdensome or bearing much risk of winding up in the (growing) pile of UFOs.

Thus, I give you:


My new potholders. :-) The print I used to bind them is a lovely strawberry design and, as some may guess, I have a bit of a thing for strawberries.

Now, the not-so-small thing I am working on is this:


Believe me when I say, this belly is even bigger in person. Its inhabitant is no tiny thing, either, and will not allow his presence to be ignored.

Five weeks to go!

It has been quite a while since my last post and while I would like to be able to say that was because my sewing machine was in the shop, that would not be strictly true. I have basically just been a lazy blogger. My apologies.

Having said the above, I have not however been a lazy crafter. Yes, my machine has been out of order for a while. Turns out it was just about long enough for me to whip through this little afghan for my baby-boy-on-the-way (6 weeks to go -- WOO HOO!!!!). No machine necessary!! It was a fun little project and the pattern is available by clicking on the link in my previous post.


And I did finally get my machine back in more-or-less working order about a week ago. Last night I created this diaper bag (which we desperately needed):


It has elasticated pockets on the sides as well as two larger elasticated pockets on the inside.


Of course a diaper bag would not be complete without one of these:


I pretty much winged it on this project, so unfortunately there is no pattern. It was fun, though, and not difficult to figure out. It also only took a few hours to put together (from start to finish, including designing it as I went along).

What's next? I am looking for a suitable pattern for a cot quilt. I have something fairly specific in mind so hopefully I can find what I'm looking for, and have it made...very soon. Six weeks, huh? Gee whiz.

My sister, Moey, left this afghan for me to finish when she left for the USA. I bet she didn't think I'd ever actually finish it, but I did! I don't have a lot to say about it, except that it is a gift for our Mom, and I am sure she will like it! The colors will be a good fit for her decor and I know she will love having a cuddly blanket to snuggle up in once the weather starts cooling down.


Of course, we had to test it...all blankets for Mam-mam must be grandkid approved. Apparently, they approve.

So with that out of the way, I have started a blankie for our new baby Seth, due in just ten short weeks!! I am using this pattern:



in a different colorway -- greens, blues, and white. I'll post about it when I get it done, promise!

I recently came up with a craving I couldn't quite ignore. Remember back in, oh, 1980-something, there was a Peanut Butter Twix in the USA? Oh yeah. The Twix we knew and loved, only the caramel had been replaced with PB....so good. I used to get them all the time at the summer camp snack kiosk, one of my fondest food memories from childhood.

So, I googled "peanut butter Twix" on the night of this massive, unshakable craving and much to my excitement, I found out that the PB Twix had made a comeback! Oh joy and happiness, I even found somewhere I could order a box on eBay (which was necessary, since I live in Australia now and PB Twix are only found in the States. What this country's aversion to peanut butter is, I will never understand). For no more than it would have cost me to buy 24 regular Twix bars in my local Aussie shopping center, I could import from the USA 24 of the much longed-for PB Twix! And order I did.

My friendly eBay seller did mention in his item description that PB Twix now have chocolate cookie instead of the butter cookie I had fallen in love with as a girl. I thought to myself that surely Mars, Inc. must know what they are doing changing the flavor and went ahead and bought them. After all, chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven, right? Of course!

What my eBay seller failed to tell me was that modern-day PB Twixes actually taste more like a stale, cremeless Oreo cookie, topped with a layer of I Can't Believe It's Not Peanut Butter, and a coating of smooth, chocolate-flavored Bonne Bell Lipsmacker, than the delectable delight I remembered from Bible camp days!

Oh, what bitter disappointment. But, come to think of it, this isn't the first time I've had reason to feel this way. You see, desperate people have ways of getting the things they desperately need. When I am in need of an American candy fix, I know where to get one. Over the past few years, though, I have noticed that American candy just isn't living up to my memories of it. The chocolate has become waxier, greasier, less like real chocolate. The peanut butter has become just a shadow of it's former self -- as if it is now just a clone of a clone of a clone (ala Homer Simpson, if anyone recalls that episode...or that movie, Multiplicity, with Michael Keaton) . It retains enough of its texture and flavor that perhaps those who eat this stuff frequently haven't even noticed the difference. But I do, and I feel, when eating one of these candy bars, as if I might be on an alternate universe somewhere eating an evil parallel version of the PB Twix I so fondly remember.

It's not just candy, either, that is taking a turn for the worse. Why does it seem that so much of the real food that I know you all once ate is being replaced with these [...prepackaged, washed-out salads; precooked, cut, seasoned, (chemically) marinated meats; casseroles made with two cans of (fill in the blank), a can of cream of (fill in the blank) soup, some instant (fill in the blank) and diced process American cheese product...] well, lets just call them food alternatives? What exactly is happening to the food over there, guys? Are you noticing it too?

For what it's worth, I'm not the only one who feels this way. My sister posted something on a similar topic a few months ago, and she should know. She recently moved from Australia, where food is still food (for the most part) and junk food is still just a treat (rather than, say, breakfast, as in Poptarts), back to the USA. I daresay it must have been pretty noticeable. [You can read that post here.]

Now, I don't pretend to know what y'all should do about this situation, if anything. What do you do? Does anyone think the decline in food quality has anything to do with the increase in health problems? Or am I just nuts? Open to and interested in conversation on this topic. :-)