Eat it or starve!

When friends of the big kids come over they never know what they are gonna get for dinner. Some, like Super J, will eat anything. Like my son, Picadilly, he enjoys almost anything I make. He is always welcome at our table. There are others, knowing that on any given night I can bust out Roasted Lamb Chops with mint jelly with a side of roasted root vegetables and blanched green beans, who choose to eat at home before coming over for a game of Dance Party 3 or Modern Warfare. I don't mind either way, but you're gonna eat what I cook or you're going to be hungry. Last night it was pork loin, roasted brussel sprouts and mashed cauliflower. Every kid loved it. Last week all the kids had friends over and it was a night I had planned something pretty special. Poached Sea Bass, Stir fried Bok Choy and White Rice. I had to pick up some more fish, because I only had 2 lbs, but it was a CRAZY HIT!!!! my kid's friends think I'm a nut a serve the weirdest food, but they like it and more importantly they eat it.

Don't get me wrong it isn't always gourmet night at the Janssen's, sometimes is Pep's pizza from down the street. I'm not superwoman for goodness sake. Just some times I get the itch to try something... sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but it's always loads of fun. Here is where I'm going to post how I feed kids good food, interesting food, yummy, delicious, "grown up" food that will help them be interesting eaters when they grow up. No body wants to be 35 and eating chicken nuggets when they go out for dinner. and trust me MEN... no woman, or none that I know, want to cook from someone who will only eat hot dogs, spaghetti, and corn. and for the love of all things good and true please eat leftovers. Man, when I was growing up we ate it until it was gone. There were only 3 of us, my dad, my mom and me, and we would eat spaghetti for 3 days in a row if we had to. I went on to marry a man who will eat cheeseburger noodle casserole for breakfast if it's in the fridge, and kids who will too. I don't think my way is the only way, but it's the only way for this family. My husband and I love food, and we were committed to raising kids who love food too. They eat Sushi and Tofu and calamari. They like bok choy and brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes. I actually think my youngest daughter Chacho could be a vegetarian. she can polish of 8oz of tofu like nobody's business and would choose that over a piece of pizza any day.

When I'm in the field (with the Marines) they hand out MRE's (meals ready to eat) and you get what you get. Sometimes it's chicken tetrazzini, and sometimes it's pork rib... NOTE: if you get pork rib it may be better to starve. pack some poggie bait. or if you're lucky and they serve hot chow, everybody eats the same thing. I am not a short order cook, and I am so blessed that my family respects me and my time enough to just be satisfied with what I choose for dinner. I try to make a meal that each individual child will like at least once a month. besides that I cook what I find on sale and I love to try interesting new recipes; my husband loves this. We are trying to serve salad with every dinner and I think Cheese will be next. The french influence in strong and I think cheese will win out soon... we all love cheese.

So until next time: enjoy dinner. and save yourself some heartache. if they don't like it, there's always cereal for breakfast tomorrow!

How a WM (Woman Marine) Attackes Laundry!

Laundry is the bane of my existence!!! uggghhhh... it is never over - never ever! and the second I think it is all washed, dried, folded and put away... "WHERE DID THAT F'ING SOCK COME FROM?" I try to do laundry every Tuesday and Thursday, the key word here is TRY. There have been times when laundry has been so overwhelming that I simply go out and buy more socks for my kids... I know - don't judge me...
Well, one of my New Year's Resolutions (NYR) is to be more "on top" of my laundry and other household chores. We're only 17 days into it and I must say it is going pretty well. or it WAS going well... I ran out of laundry detergent yesterday. What that normally would mean is I would write a sticky note and post it on the cabinet door right next to the note I put up the to get the couch cushions zippers fixed. That note when up about 3 months ago - - - ok, ok, ok... it went up 6 months ago - GOSH look at all the pointing fingers. (NOTE: there's only 1 pointing finger. My bestie Sharalyn who mentions my To Do sticky every time she visits. That's about once a week.) So back to my empty laundry soap container. It could, seriously, take me 2 weeks to actually remember I need to buy laundry soap and then I am back in the same rut as always. so I took to Pinterest to find a DIY Laundry soap that would be easy and affordable to make, store and use. I found it - Kind of. The ingredients are all available at Walmart, if you aren't the 7thousandth person to read a blog about making your own laundry soap, so in your case you may be SOL. but here is what I used, where I found it and how much it cost:

NOTE: this Laundry Recipe was found on beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com she recommends 1 Tbsp per load.

1 (4 lb 12 oz) box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle $3.49 @ Walmart

1 (4 lb) box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle $2.12 @ Walmart

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle $3.79 @ Ace Hardware

3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle $3.01 @ Walmart ($.97 each)

2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle. $3.92 @ Walmart ($1.96 each)

I opened each container of product and dumped it into a 5 gallon bucket. I ran the soap bars through my food processor with the grater attachment and added that into the bucket. I stuck my arms in and stirred, stirred, stirred. and I had myself a buck of laundry detergent for 16.33 plus tax. not bad. Now to see how long it lasts. I wrote the date and cost on the side of the bucket and can't wait to get cleaning.

Today's olive drab

The olive drab is out in full force today. I have a thousand ideas of what I can do to save the world - - -ok, not the world, just my family, but really I have got to get moving. I've started the morning with a delightfully sweet cup of joe, courtesy of my Keurig and some vanilla powder from CBTL. Some mornings I'm lucky enough to have my 4 year old, Charlotte, have my coffee made and waiting on the counter. I can't very well demand servitude from a 4 years old, so I have to enjoy it when it happens and make my own coffee when it doesn't. Yesterday was full, full, full of little accomplishments. I make 6 blackboard painted bases to use when we have guests, so everyone knows who's glass is who's. I also made caramelized onion mini quiches. I was very successful with those, though they are pretty time intensive. I made apple chips - ALSO time intensive. I cleaned out the pantry, and discovered I buy A LOT of dented cans in the 50% off bin. I did have one EPIC fail. I used a Hormel Meatloaf for dinner.... UGH! So, So, So, incredibly bad. The kids ate it, but that is a credit to our awesome parenting by making out kids eat everything, not to the quality of the food. The consistency of dog food, and the flavor wasn't much better. NOTE: even if it is in the 50% off bin - Don't buy the prefab meatloaf. My addiction to Pinterest is becoming evident to all around me. I'll try not to let it take over... just a warning.... So here's to cleaning up the side yard! maybe some ridiculous photos will folow...

What is Olive Drab and Pearls?

As a Marine I run most of my life in an olive drab kind of way. Kids confuse this a bit, but as they are growing out of TOTALLY chaoshood and into partial chaoshood I am finding it easier to return to my green ways. Some of you may think my term "green" is environmental... no, it's military. From the 2001 until I got married in 2006 I would field day every Thursday. NOTE: I'm a reservist, so no one made me do this... I'm just that green. Olive Drab and Pearls says a lot about me. I love, love, love being a Marine, going to the rifle range, and saying things like, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND" and "IT WOULD BEHOOVE YOU...", but I also LOVE - LOVE - LOVE being a wife and mom and finding a way to temper my green with a little bit of class. Olive drab and pearls is all female Marines who take their jobs seriously. Their job serving our country, and their job loving and serving their family. I'm olive drab and pearls and this is a blog about how green helps we manage the chaos and how pearls make me look good doing it!