Seafood Chowder

This is another family favorite.  It's my aunt Becky's recipe and she can be found at many Kurtti family functions in the kitchen stirring a big pot of it.

Seafood Chowder

1 med. onion, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
2 T. oil/butter
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 large cans evaporated milk
3 cans minced clams with juice
3-4 fillets white fish, cut into bite size pieces
1 lb. precooked shrimp
1 small pkg. smoked salmon
2 t. salt
pepper to taste
2 T. flour
1 t. dill weed or sprigs of fresh dill
water

Sauté onion and celery in oil until transparent.  Add potatoes and clams (including juice), salt and pepper.  Add water just to cover.  Bring to boil and simmer about 10 min. until potatoes are al dente.  Add evaporated milk and white fish.  Simmer 10 min.  Remove some liquid and thicken with the flour.  Return thickened liquid to chowder and simmer 5 more minutes.  Add shrimp and smoked salmon and allow to heat thoroughly.  Add more salt if needed.  Stir in dill.  Serves 10.  This recipe was adapted from Grandma Kurtti's original clam chowder recipe that she made in high school home economics, I've substituted smoked salmon for bacon.
(Kurtti Family cookbook page 32)

This would also be good with scallops and/or crab added to it too/instead of other fish.

The Power of One

Well, I spoke too soon.  Monday finished off with 3/5 kids crying at most times, a new soup for supper which ended up being too spicy for most palates (saved with globs of pantry applesauce inserted to tone it down), the rest of piano lessons gone wrong, a crabby baby who hit her mouth on the edge of the rebounder and her teeth went right through her bottom lip.  It would have been an ER visit, but I got her to sleep and put a dab of super glue on it and it looks great now.  Mouth injuries heal so fast on the inside, so I was only worried about the outside closing up nicely.  A trip to town would have been rather unpleasant, considering the time of day and mood she was in.  Any-old-who...here's the topic for today...

In reading the book Simplicity Parenting, one of the groups of toys he says to get rid of was anything with "multiples".  He claimed that often a child likes something so first he gets one, then another, then another and so on.  I know this to be true, but didn't quite think that I had to get rid of all multiples.  It's been a few weeks and here's what I've concluded.

Back when Luke and James were train lovers, we got them their first trains for Christmas one year.  Luke got Gordon and his tender, James got Henry and his tender.  Those boys played with those 2 trains happily from dawn to dusk for ages.  They had the greatest imaginations with them, making up imaginary tracks everywhere and never tired of fun with those 2 engines and tenders.  Over time we accumulated more engines, more track, a crane, the roundhouse and various other paraphernalia to add to their "set" (as it was now named).  They played with it in more controlled settings; insisting that the track had to be perfectly put together, the rules more defined (they were also getting older so this was part of it too) and their imaginations with the cars were not as fantabulous.  And everytime they played, all I heard was "more, more, more".  "We need _____ (engine)" or "I wish we had _____(piece of equipment)".  The satisfaction level went down and down, the more pieces they acquired.  I know part of this was the novelty wearing off and the interest level reducing over time, but part of it was just the attitude of never being satisfied with what we have (us adults do this too, don't we?)

Elise (on the other hand) has just one Cinderella doll, and she plays with it quite often.  She'll mention that she wants some of the other princesses to go with it, but I know that would spoil Cinderella's special-ness. She also has a few Strawberry Shortcake dolls and wants more of them also.  When I have bought her more for a gift of something, all I hear is "now I need _______(another one that she doesn't have yet).  When I was a girl, I had one Lemon Meringue doll, a Herself-the-Elf doll and one Barbie (Peaches and Cream Barbie).  I think of some of my cousins/friends who had many of each of these (or Cabbage Patch Kids or Care Bears or Smurfs or whatever) and they didn't appreciate what they had.  They just always wanted/needed more.  I probably wanted more too, but since I knew I wasn't going to get them, I just played with the few I had.  Lots of good memories with those dolls that I did have.  I recently changed my answer to Elise from "maybe someday" to "when Celeste gets big then we can get her a princess doll so you two can play together."  This has actually made her more happy than continually waiting for the day when she can have her own next princess doll.

Now to pare down those accumulating Legos (Luke and James) and Mickey stuff (Isaac) for the boys...there's a job in itself!  I know that if I just slowly do it over time, it'll be worth it in the long run.  There's just no need for 10,000 Legos and still dreaming about more.  Cars is another area to pare down.  Last time I told them they could each keep 20 (x4 kids=80 cars) but somehow you would have thought I was trying to kill them.  I think we actually only got rid of maybe 10 and kept at least 100.  Huh?  100 cars?  Ridiculous!  And I haven't bought any of these, by the way.  They either buy them with their hard earned money or they have received them as gifts. 

I'm not sure what to let them spend their money on, if they can't buy toys or other junk to clutter up our house (and I dissuade candy). Apples?  Cheese sticks?  Hmm.  Kids need to spend money every now and then, otherwise there's no incentive in earning it.  Finding out what to spend it on though, that is the question.  I did try to talk James into taking us all swimming the other day when he was bragging about his riches, but he wasn't too keen on that.  I'll have to keep brainstorming!

Random Mondayness

It has actually been a pretty good Monday.  My good Mondays are probably very different from most peoples, but I count even the minute-est things that run smoothly a bonus.

I got up an hour early.  Because Celeste got up an hour early and none of the other kids were up, it forced me to get up too, since a 1 year old left unattended in a house by herself is just asking for a disaster.

I had rice pudding for breakfast and it was already made.  We are really low on groceries due to a Costco trip (more on that later) so I made rice pudding with almond and coconut milk (no regular milk in the house either) in the slow cooker overnight.  I made a quick blackberry sauce to put over it and voila!

We actually practiced piano lessons the day before our lesson.  That is a first as usually I'm working with the kids ON the morning of our lesson.   Yes, this should be done every day so things are practiced for the new lesson, but this is how things go in our house right now.  We're lucky to be getting TO lessons and that we have found A teacher in Kalama.  One small step at a time!

I read poetry to the children.  Me, who lacks ability to appreciate most poetry, took a big step and read some for our reading time this morning.  We started with nursery rhymes and ended with some longer ones about spring from Childcraft book #1 (Poems and Rhymes).  Whew.  Should be good for another few months.  Thankfully Luke and James told me that they have both read through that whole book on their own time, so that warmed my heart.  They were more familiar with some of them than I was.  Another plus for having good books in the house and quiet reading-on-their-own time each day.

Long division and reducing fractions are starting to make sense to the 4th grader.  Borrowing is catching on with the 2nd grader.  Elise was bored in her reading lessons (as usual, no matter how interesting the books we read are) although her penmanship is fabulous.  Isaac was busy building stuffed animal houses out of boxes and Celeste was busy pestering/distracting the big kids throughout (stealing pencils, climbing on chairs and then tipping over, needing Mom while she's trying to teach, etc.)   Things are looking up!

My throw-together salad from the pantry for lunch was actually good (I'm horrible at winging it and usually they flop)  Mini macaroni, canned chicken and a can of fruit cocktail (more pantry staples) with a bit of mayo.  The kids gobbled it up.

Celeste took her nap early (because she got up so early), so now at quiet time she's wandering the house looking for disasters to create.  I think we'll have to get outside for a walk today instead.  It was pouring rain during our normal walking time, so now later when we should be reading (and it's sunny) we should get outside.  Pent up energy from kids in the day leads to fighting and too much craziness in the evenings.

Here's the Costco story.  We tried it again on Friday.  7 items = $70.  That will just not do the budget any good.  The crowds were horrendous (every till was open, lines at all of them).  I know, now people will probably tell me that Friday isn't a good day at Costco either, so what day is?  Here's the math from one item.  Normally a brick of Tillamook cheese is 2 lbs for $6.50 (at Winco).  At Costco, you get 2.5 lbs for $7.99.  The added 1/2 lb is added to the side rather than the end, so you eat a bit more with every slice and your brick is gone in the same amount of time as a 2 lb brick.  If that extra 1/2 lb was added to the length, then at least you'd get a few more slices out of a larger brick, but this way, you do not.  I don't know of anyone who would take the time to slice their cheese thinner to make up for the added width on each slice.  They just have to go and buy more at the same rate they would with a 2 lb brick.  Make sense?  So, I don't think we'll be heading back there any time soon.  To quote my sister's neighbor, "You eat really good for a week and then starve the rest of the month because your grocery budget is gone."  Yes, indeed!  Hence the beans and macaroni and all the other canned food I'm using up because I spent way too much at Costco (buying only things like cheese, peanut butter, bacon, butter, coffee, etc).  Sigh.  Back to WinCo we go.  I am going to try Amazon Prime for my pantry stuff this month though, as we have that now... I will keep you posted how that goes.

Curried Lentil Soup with Dried Cherries and Cilantro

I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine as I was wanting more uses for lentils.  The red lentils have a much different flavor than brown ones, and I really love them.  I use dried cranberries in place of cherries since I usually have them in the house.  I've also used garam masala spice mix rather than the curry powder and that flavor is excellent too.  You can also just buzz the soup with an immersion blender rather than straining it.  It's fine without doing that too.

Curried Lentil Soup with Dried Cherries and Cilantro

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled ginger (from a 2-inch piece)
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (2 tablespoons)
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped (4 tablespoons)
• 2 carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• Coarse salt
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cherries
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems, plus 3 tablespoons cilantro leaves for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, shallot, and carrots and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add curry powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 4 cups water, and the lentils, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils and carrots are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour 2 cups soup through a fine sieve into a bowl, reserving solids. Puree strained liquid with remaining soup in a blender until smooth. Reheat after blending. Stir in reserved solids.
3. Reserving some for garnish, stir cherries and cilantro stems into soup, and ladle into bowls. Swirl in remaining 1/4 cup coconut milk, and garnish with cherries and cilantro leaves.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   http://www.marthastewart.com/1050570/curried-red-lentil-soup-dried-cherries-and-cilantro

Boys Should Be Boys - Book Review

Here is another gem from Meg Meeker, M.D.  Highly recommend if you have boys to raise.  I'll recap here a few of the highlights I took from it, but the whole book is definitely worth your time.

-God is necessary and matters to all boys.  It provides them with an anchor, an ultimate authority, a sense of purpose and a way to place themselves in the world/cosmos.  Having a moral framework is essential, and a belief in God is the start of that.  Capitalize on your child's receptivity when they're small.  Teach them your beliefs and give them that moral foundation whether you think they're old enough to understand or not.  When they're hormonal teens, you'll be glad you did. Boys love God because he always cares.  They love him because he's strong and powerful, and he's a hero.  They love right and wrong, good guys and bad guys.   Boys often refer to God as a good combination of loving like their mom, but stern like their dad.  They also like His invisible, omnipotent powers (the best kind of super-hero).  

-Teaching healthy views of sex is crucial, age appropriately from a young age.  To have a well rounded sexuality, one must have a solid framework.  This means not avoiding the subject, but instead teaching them about the boundaries, feelings, spiritual aspects of all matters involved (avoiding sin, not yielding to temptation, worldly influences, etc.)  Our boys know what is right/wrong, and we must encourage them do act/think/live in those ways.  Sexual energy is no different from intellectual, physical or mental energy- it must be acknowledged, addressed, harnessed and mastered.

-Boys need real people for emotional connections with parents and friends.  Virtual and electronic ones do not count as the boy is in control (he can log off or turn it off if things don't go his way).  With real friends, he learns sympathy, empathy, problem/resolution, give & take.  All of these things will help him mature into a healthy man someday.

-Handwrite notes to your son.  There is nothing like the personal words of someone you love writing especially for you in their individual handwriting.  Your son can reread these notes over and over in times of self-doubt and worry.  Have both parents do this for each child.  Typed ones just don't have the same impact (another great reason to teach kids cursive!)

-Boys act on their feelings, real men don't.  They do the right thing.  Help transition boys into men but recognize that this is a process and should be age appropriate.  You can't expect an 8 year old to act like a man, because he's an 8 year old.  Another difference between boyhood and manhood is perseverance.  Boys cop out, men persevere.  Teaching boys tenacity will serve them well their whole life through.  Realize age appropriately what your son is capable of, and stretch his limits just a little bit further.

-The best thing you can give your boys is your time.  They want nothing more than to spend time with their "hero" and dads fill this role perfectly.  Moms time is just as necessary, in different ways.  Give your son time to ask questions (and ask them questions, even if they don't answer, it gives them substance to think on).  Kids learn most by just watching their parents, so let them come along and watch and learn.  Teach your child to reach out to others and always be willing to go the extra mile to help their fellow man.  Teach them to speak well of others and reinforce the Golden Rule again and again.

Very encouraging book!

Questions of life

Lately I feel like I have a lot more questions than answers.  Have you ever felt that way? Typically I just vent about them to someone, and then often venting can lead to brainstorming and fervent prayer, which leads to answers.  So, here we go...most are parenting ones, since that's where we're at these days.

How much free time should a child get each day, balanced with work and school?  I realize this is different for different ages, but what kind of guidelines do you use when determining the right amount?

How much alone/cuddle/one-on-one time per kid is needed in a day?  It seems that no matter what I give or don't give, it is wrong for some reason or another.  

How to you encourage thoroughness in doing a job without nagging/hounding/cajoling?  I get so tired of being the "Are you done with that yet?" police.  I understand it's necessary for toddlers, but for older kids who know what is required?  And how to keep them motivated to work without getting distracted every 5 seconds?  Are my expectations too low?  I only have 1 kid who is motivated by money/rewards, and the rest don't care.  Legos (their favorite toys) have been taken away for almost a month and no one wants to do anything worth getting them back (and I'm talking simple jobs here). 

How do you teach ownership in a household?  Or pride in ownership?  I have no idea on that one.

How do you get back on track when derailed every weekend (or day off)?  It seems like even if we only take Sunday off from our routine, Monday is a nightmare of getting everyone focused again.  Then we may have one decent day and we get off track again.  I'm just so tired of the being behind and never catching a breath.  As if they have no idea what routine we follow (and have followed for the past 10 years!). Right back to square one!  Ugh!

And then the whole prayer thing.  I'm really working on that.  I pray really good for everyone except my own family.  Probably because I don't see the direct results which makes it easier.  I feel like my prayers for our family are really generic, and would like to make them more specific.  For myself, for my husband and for each child.  This is for thankfulness, direction, guidance, how to use our individual gifts, how to strengthen our weaknesses and more.  I think a prayer journal would likely help, but haven't seemed to make it happen.  Any ideas?

And the whole fertility/children thing.  I won't go into detail, just that I really feel this is a big area of spiritual warfare.  I pray for peace over the whole topic, but can't say I'm there yet.  I don't know if I'll ever be.  Maybe at menopause (whenever that is)!

Whew!  I'd love some feedback, either through private email or message me somehow.

Here's a great article on parenting as a Christian.  Nothing is going to be easy (I don't expect that) nor is it going to be what we even want.  But it is what we need and what will bless our lives in the long run.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/parenting-means-wrestling-demons