Documentaries

I have been a bit on a documentary kick lately and wanted to share a couple of recommendations.

An awesome and thought-provoking documentary of the attack on Intelligent Design in the scientific community. Ben Stein interviews many who were basically expelled from the scientific community for merely raising questions about the theory of Intelligent Design. It also takes hard looks on Darwinism by interviewing some of its devout proponents and glimpsing into history when Darwinism was taken to a frightening level (Hitler, eugenics, etc.). I was completely enthralled during the whole thing and highly recommend it.

A great documentary on birth and our medical system, scrutinizing modern practices and showing the public what midwives actually do, how they are actually trained and prepared. So often have I come across people who think midwives are unprepared and practically walk in with a leather strap and Birkenstocks. The medical society is trying hard to get midwives out of practice, as they have done for years, and that will only serve to do more harm to birth. I have a great heart for birth and have actually begun to tamper with the idea of becoming a midwife in the future. When I saw The Business of Being Born I had already been sold on natural birth and the horror that is our current medical system and view of birth in the US today. It still completely captivated me and furthered my feelings on birth and secured my desire to have a home birth. I would highly recommend this to any woman who is pregnant or planning to get pregnant. Too often do I see women taken advantage of by the medical community to make their job easier, and women need to know their options and the risks of all these routine procedures. Oh, this is such a passion of mine I could go on and on!

Both are free to stream on Netflix!

No longer my little boy....

Have you seen this little boy?

Last night Jeremy and Sebastian went into the local hair salon to get haircuts. Sebastian had been complaining that his hair in his eyes was bothering him, and Jeremy's was pretty long itself, so we decided a joint trip for them both would be good. We talked about letting Sebastian look through some books of boy hairstyles and pick out one that he liked.

He came home with this little man...

Who is he and where is my little boy? I nearly died when I saw him and keep staring at this little stranger. Oh my......

Pasta and Twilight.

Went to my mom's house last night to make her dinner and watch Twilight. The pasta ended up being quite good and I thought I would share my creation. Sorry that the directions are a bit vague, when I cook I tend to just throw things together and not notice amounts and time and such.

• 1/2 package Kirkland frozen four cheese ravioli


• 1 tbs olive oil


• 2 tbs butter


• 8 oz cream cheese


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 3/4 cup milk


• 2 red bell peppers, sliced into strips


• 2 green bell peppers, sliced into strips


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 10 oz brown mushrooms, sliced


• breast meat of 1 rotisserie chicken, chopped


• salt and lemon pepper to taste

Cook raviolis according to package directions.

Heat olive oil in large pan, add peppers and saute until they start to soften. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms and saute until softened. Season with salt and a few dashes of lemon pepper. Add chopped chicken meat and cook until heated through. Remove mixture from pan into a bowl, return pan to stove. Melt butter in pan, add cream cheese and stir until almost melted. Add Parmesan and milk little bits at a time, adjusting to your own personal taste and texture preference, I just threw them in until it tasted good and seemed the right consistency. Pour over cooked raviolis, fold in chicken mixture.

Two things that I learned about twilight that night. 1) Stephanie Meyer is in the movie. The second scene on Bella and Charlie at the lodge. The woman sitting at the computer that the waitress is serving, that's her. Didn't notice that the first time watching it. 2) Port Angeles... when my family took our big month long trip up north and to Canada, we stopped in Port Angeles and took a ferry from there to Vancouver. So yes, I have been there! LoL, I am such a geek!

Camping out on the Sofa.

Last night, in an attempt to make Elisha understand that he was indeed sleepy and needed to go to bed, we set him up on the sofa with his sleeping bag, pillow, a sippy of milk and some Pirate Booty.

I must add that, despite the look on his face, he was happily watching Barbie Nutcracker. I must also add that the ploy did not work and he stayed up way past all of our bedtime... sigh...

Silly Faces.

Sebastian said he wanted to take some pictures for Aunt Jenn. The results follow:

The silly faces of a 5 year old are a precious thing. You are loved, Jenn!

Samoas Goodness!

It is girl scout cookie time. Anyone else notice the crazy price and cookie shrinkage? I was greatly dissapointed when I went to pick up some of my favorite cookies, the Samoas/Caramel Delites. What is a girl to do with the unreasonable price of that cookie goodness? Why, do an internet search and find a recipe, of course.

I came across these Samoas Bars, they also had cookies, but it was quite a laborious recipe, so I opted for the easier bars.

I was pleasantly surprised. While they were not exactly like the cookies, they still tasted very good and satisfied the yummy coconut-caramel craving.

Homemade Samoas BarsCookie Base:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping). Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

How crunchy are you?

What is a crunchy mama, you ask? Well, urban dictionary definition as follows: Mother who supports homebirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, etc. One who questions established medical authority; tends to be vegetarian and/or prepare all-organic foods. See crunchy and hippie.
Basically, it is parenting in a natural and environmentally minded manner. I would consider myself a crunchy mama, many call me a hippie. And I found an online test to gauge ones crunchiness... whoohoo!

http://www.themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm

So how crunchy does this test say I am?
Out of a possible 225 points, I scored 172: WOW!~Crunchier than Grape Nuts!
I lost points for circumcising and not being able to sew, lol. But I would say that I still ranked decently high on the crazy meter, at least by most of modern society's standards.

So how do you rank?