How to Plan an Organized Holiday Meal (With Kids to Watch!)

Because of cancelled plans and a crazy year, we stayed at home and celebrated Thanksgiving with our little family of four this year. We ended up cooking out Thanksgiving meal two days early because that's what day the turkey ended up thawing on. I bought our 13 pound turkey on Saturday morning and put it into the refrigerator to thaw because there was no room for it in any of our three freezers. Yup, you heard that right. We have THREE freezers - two refrigerator freezers and a chest freezer - and they are ALL full. Full of what? Liquid gold! No, I'm not talking about melted cheese. Breastmilk. And some food. But mostly breastmilk. 

This freezer is completely milk bags. 

I’ve repurposed bubble wrap packaging and empty tissue boxes very well. 

So Tuesday was the day.

I organized Thanksgiving as I was taught to lesson plan during my years of pedagogy and education classes or how to write a paper for everyone else who doesn't go the education route.

1. Pre-planning

I made a list of everything we wanted to eat for Thanksgiving. For us, that included turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, brussel sprouts, and rolls. You might be thinking I'm missing a classic staple of green bean casserole. I'll explain why later. Keep in mind I'm making everything from scratch here so that is why I used recipes for things I wouldn't normally use recipes for. 

2. Planning

I wrote out a brief outline of my Thanksgiving dishes. This included finding the recipes for dishes I was using recipes for and writing out which kitchen appliances I would be using for each dish. This is a key step of organization that makes everything go SO much smoother. We all know how many dishes can take up the oven for Thanksgiving. Well, an oven only has so much room and a house only has so many ovens. We have one oven. I could have made every single dish on our list in the oven, but that would be a terrible decision because it would take an entire day to cook and by the time the last dish was done, the first would be cold. This is why we nixed green bean casserole off the list because as much as we both love green bean casserole, it would have lengthened our cooking time by at least an hour. And when you have two mobile children to look after while cooking, time is of the essence. 

These were the recipes that I used for the dishes involving recipes:

Turkey: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/easy-no-fuss-thanksgiving-turkey/

Mac and Cheese: https://thestayathomechef.com/stovetop-mac-and-cheese/

Rolls: I used the recipe on the back of my yeast packet.

Stuffing: https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-stovetop-thanksgiving-stuffing-225090

Giblet Gravy: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/giblet_gravy/

3. Cooking

For my 8 items to cook, I cooked one the day before: Mashed potatoes. I chose to cook my mashed potatoes ahead because I thought they were the most reheatable dish on the list without losing out on flavor and texture. Everything else we cooked on the day of. To maximize your time, you have to cook everything in overlapping times. While the turkey was in the oven, I was starting my gravy, starting my corn, making mac and cheese, prepping brussel sprouts, and preparing dough for my rolls. If I wasn't doing any of that, I was doing the dishes so the pile in the sink wouldn't reach the ceiling. 

Somehow, in five hours, everything got done, and my two kids didn't get into anything dangerous or cause any trouble. Yes, we were taking turns glancing over to watch them play or feeding them. So no, we did not completely ignore or neglect our kids for five hours. In fact, my daughter helped me wash dishes and make the rolls. 

By 5pm, everything was cooked and we were eating around 5:15 pm.

By 6 pm, we were done eating.

By 7 pm, everything was cleaned up, the turkey bone was simmering on the stove for stock, and we began the kids' bedtime routine.

So all in, it was a very busy 7 hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, but it was absolutely worth it to make a turkey dinner once a year. If we ever do Thanksgiving again at our house in the future, I may consider pre-making a green bean casserole and then just using the oven to heat it up on the day of to save time and still be able to use the oven for the turkey. 

As for Christmas this year....we'll most likely be cooking ham instead. And you guessed it. I’ve already started planning 😉.

Household Tricks: Part 3

This is the third part in my household tricks series. If you want to catch up on part 1 or part 2, feel free to do that first!

Today's tips include some more laundry tricks that I've discovered over the years. I really thought most of this was common knowledge and I was just discovering it on my own, but after talking to some friends, it's actually not. Who knew. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not the most eco-friendly person who ever walked the earth, but I do value reusing, repurposing, and salvaging when possible  

 1. Air dry new clothes after the first wash after washing in cold water.

We all know washing in cold water prevents shrinking. But air drying after the first wash does too! I discovered this when we washed out baby clothes for our first baby. I'd buy it in one size, wash it, and then feel like she was outgrowing it already. It was also obvious when I looked at hand-me-down clothing vs new clothing we'd air dried after the first wash in the same size. The ones we'd air dried really looked an entire size larger. By air drying my kids’ clothes after the first wash, they keep their original size and we can wear them for much longer. This sounds like a lot of extra work, but the key is to remember it only applies after the first wash. Once you wear it and wash it again, you can feel free to chunk it into the dryer willy nilly without having to pick out each specific item to air dry. 

For clothes we’ve bought new and carefully air dried, I’ve been able to keep my kids in them for two sizes! (My 18 pound 8 month old baby boy can still wear size 6 month clothes, but he can also fit in size 12 month clothes hand me downs which have shrunk.)

2. Air dry clothes with stains after washing just in case the stain did not come out.

I used to just give up after one wash if a stain didn't come out and either throw the piece away or live with it stained. Then I realized if I didn't dry the clothing after, it would give me another chance to remove the stain. If I've washed it twice following careful instructions and it still doesn't come out, then I count my losses and move on. 

Pretty sure these had stains and were air drying after a wash. Some pieces are going through a second hurrah with us right now with little brother 🤗

3. Separate stained or new clothes into a laundry washing bag.

There's a lot to remember if you have to pull out specific pieces from the washing machine to keep them from being tossed in the dryer. A trick I use to make my life easier is to throw them into a laundry washing bag before going into the washer. Then, when it's time to dry, I pick out the bags and toss everything else into the dryer. This way, I'm not trying to filter through each wet, entangled piece of clothing to make sure I've found all my pieces to hang dry. 

This may seem like a lot of work to go through, but to me, if it means I get more use out of the same clothing, I’ll take it! 

Stay tuned for the final part of my household tricks series. 

Household Tricks: Part 2

Today's household tricks will be tricks I've found in the kitchen. If you didn't read part 1, you can find it here. 

1. Wash grapes in baking soda.

I've always liked grapes, but I've always hated that waxy coating on the outside that never seems to come off. I've never bought any fancy fruit and vegetable washes, but recently, I bought grapes, and I really wanted to get the waxy coating off. So I did a quick search online and found my answer: baking soda. 

Before: waxy grapes from the store straight out of the packaging

I give the grapes a quick rinse first and then I pour some baking soda on them and shake the grapes around. After that, I rinse off the grapes and they're ready to go. The waxiness on the outside is visibly gone and they actually taste different. I can't not wash my grapes in baking soda anymore before eating. It makes that big of a difference.

After: look how shiny they are. And they actually stay this shiny!
It's not reflection from water.

2. Wash strawberries in vinegar.

Strawberries are a huge hit at our house. In the summer during strawberry season, we average four pounds of strawberries a week. Next summer we're going to have four people eating strawberries at our house. 😳

I can't taste the difference in this one, but I've done this religiously since I first learned about it. I know tik-tok had a viral video about soaking them in salt so the fruit worms come out...I don't know if that's completely necessary. If someone has done that with organic strawberries and still seen the worms come out, I wouldn't worry about it so much.

3. Remove coffee and tea stains from mugs with baking soda.

Baking soda is a bulk purchase in our house. We buy the 15 pound bag from the wholesale store and it lasts us years. I'm never buying the small 1 pound boxes from the grocery store ever again. This trick I discovered on my own with some prior knowledge. After the weather turned cold, I pulled out a mug I hadn't used in a while to make some tea. Upon inspecting the inside for cleanliness, I noticed dark stains adorning the inside of the white ceramic mug. My first attempt at washing it with dish soap did not work and then I remembered baking soda. I poured in some baking soda, scrubbed it a bit, and voila! Back to its original color!

I could elaborate on baking soda for so much more, but we use it to clean everything: our stovetop, our sink, the oven, removing stains from unsealed countertops, in our laundry, and so much more!

Let me know if you've ever used these tips or if you have any of your own! Stay tuned for part 3 coming soon!

Household Tricks: Part 1

2020 has been one wacky year. At some points, it was terrible. At some points, it was ok. But mostly, it's a wash for the books. My mind is mentally stuck somewhere around May and June...so the fact that I have two mobile children eating real food still phases me at times.

Despite all of the unsettling, upsetting, and plan-ruining 2020 has ushered through, believe it or not, there has been time for personal growth and learning as well. Primarily for me, there's been a lot of household tips and tricks I've added to my mental collection. Here are a few of the ones I've specifically learned in the year 2020.

These are my top tricks I use at home for removing stains.

1. Dawn takes out grease and oil stains on clothing.

One day when I was cooking, I swirled the pot to coat the meat with the slowly thickening sauce. As I swirled, one of the pieces of meat rolled around the pot and splashed a nice circular pattern of grease onto the shirt I was wearing. Do I have aprons? Of course I do. Was I wearing it at that time? Sadly, no. Who knew spending 10 seconds swirling a pot of simmering meat in sauce was going to cause me over 10 minutes of extra work. 

It wasn't a special shirt or anything, but it wasn't one I was willing to give up or wear stained. I have three long-sleeved t-shirts that are my go-to at-home comfy shirts in the winter. They're not too formal to where I'd wear them to work, but they're also not too casual to where I couldn't leave the house in one. This was one of them. 

I rinsed the shirt under water and soaked it in a bucket before the next load of laundry. After washing, I hung it up to dry so the stain wouldn't set in case it didn't come out. It didn't come out. That's when I googled how to get grease stains out of clothing and discovered Dawn! Or maybe just dish soap. I lathered up my shirt on the stain with my Dawn and washed it again. 

And the stain came out!

And then I also realized I should have tried spraying it with my stain remover spray I use on the baby's clothing. But now I know. If you don't have stain remover, try Dawn!

2. Saline solution (or contact solution) removes blood from fabrics and stuffed animals. 

My daughter woke up with a nosebleed in the middle of the night. Of course, being two, she freaked out and rubbed it all over her face and it dripped everywhere and I was trying to get her to hold still and stop moving. And, of course, it got onto her favorite stuffed animal on the part of his fur that is white. So what did I do? I grabbed some tissues and my contact solution and started dabbing her penguin. Cause let's be honest. Nobody cares about the clothing or the bedsheets. The most important article to clean? The stuffed animal, hands down. 

And it worked great. It worked so well that the next morning when her daddy looked at the penguin, he couldn't even tell where the stain had been. High five for mommy! 🙌

So the next time blood gets on a precious stuffed animal (or precious clothing if that's your thing,) grab some contact solution and dab away! Keyword: dab.

Stay tuned for more tricks around the house next time!

Adventures with Rheem

Two and a half years ago, our hot water tank broke. The tank was here when we moved into the house and merely five years old. However, it was a lower line model and its expected life expectancy was about five years. It also happened to be Easter Sunday, and I was three days away from being 41 weeks pregnant. Sounds like fun, right?

We quickly did some research, found a new Rheem hot water tank with a 12 year warranty, and someone could come out to install it the following day (Monday). Thus, we did. And this became one of the first household fixes that we did not DIY on our own. 

It was nice to be able to take a shower before having a baby, only to become gross and not shower again for an extended period of time. 😝

Fast forward two and a half years with a two and a half year old and a seven month old.  A few days after my birthday this year, we discovered our hot water wasn’t working. The tank was still under warranty so we called Rheem and told them our situation.  After a failed troubleshooting over the phone (as expected) they found the part needing replacement and had it shipped to us. It arrived five days later and the plumber came out the next day and had it fixed in a jiffy.

While working, he and my husband were chatting. Apparently, the plumber was well aware of this problem in this particular model of water tank and had been driving around town replacing tanks with the exact same problem. He explained that they had installed a non-branded temperature sensor on these models and when the weather suddenly drops cold for the first time around mid/late October, they break. The new replacement they sent was a Honeywell part and more reliable. In the past, Rheem had been using Honeywell temperature sensors. At some point, they stopped, and the model we purchased happened to be one of the ones without the Honeywell part. Rheem figured this out eventually and the ones they manufacture now have Honeywell sensors on them.

The plumber had also mentioned he could retire if he wanted to, but he was making easy money off of these warranty jobs that it was too good to stop. Good for him. And I’m glad he knew what he was doing since he’s been doing so much of it lately.

These two hot water tank mishaps have been more than I bargained for when we bought the house five years ago. I’m also hoping and expecting the water tank not to break down on me for the next ten years. But, if it does, it’ll still be covered. 

***

Moral of the story: 

1. Don’t take shortcuts you can’t rely on. Rheem is unfortunately paying for their choice to use a different part. But they've at least learned their lesson and gone back to the more reputable brand of part.

2. Certain things are best left to the professionals. Had we installed our own hot water tank, it would have voided the warranty. Read your fine print. Keep your warranties! 

Tainted Grace

On February 22, 2020, I got a text from my dad: Call me.

My dad never sends me texts like this. It felt weird. I wasn't sure what was wrong. It couldn't have been that urgent since he texted and didn't try calling me numerous times to reach me right at that instant.

I was at dinner with some friends so I sat in my car in the parking lot afterwards and called him back. He told me he'd received a postcard in the mail saying there was an unpaid $300 fine for a speeding ticket from 2010. I told him I'd been stopped by an officer that day for speeding, but I didn't receive a ticket. I definitely would have dealt with it if I had received a ticket. We hung up and came to the conclusion that it was a scam for someone trying to get money.

When I got home that evening, I went online and looked up my driving record. Sure enough, that alleged unpaid speeding ticket was listed there dated 10 years prior. It was not a scam, but it was not accurate. Unfortunately, it was Saturday evening, and I had to mull in this false accusation until Monday when I could call the offices.

On Monday, I called the office first thing in the morning to try and get this straightened out. Nobody picked up their phone. I couldn't get the phone to ring. I called at least 3-4 offices trying to reach a person to speak to regarding this. Apparently the town was small enough where all of the administrative positions were located in one building. And yet nobody would pick up the phone. Finally, about two hours later, the phone line went through and I got a hold of someone. She told me if I wanted to dispute it, I'd have to write a letter to the judge and fax it over.

Did I mention I was 34 weeks pregnant at the time with a toddler to watch during the day?

My dad came over later that morning to show me the postcard he was mailed. I told him I needed to write a letter and fax it over to the court since I wasn't going to be driving an hour and 15 minutes to go to court. Thankfully, he stayed and entertained my daughter for an hour while I wrote my letter, back in the day when you could see people and not be afraid of spreading a deadly virus.

The day of the alleged ticket, I was driving two friends back to Dallas with me that afternoon for the weekend. I messaged one of them to ask if he/she remembered the incident. I was even careful in the way I asked the question so there wouldn't be any bias in the answer.

"Do you remember that time in college when I drove you back home?"

"Yea."

"Do you remember me getting stopped for speeding?"

"Yes."

"Did I get a ticket?"

"Nope! You didn't. I remember thinking you were very lucky."

I don't expect friends to remember much anymore, much less something from 10 years ago, because I've been let down so many times by people whom I thought were close to me. So the fact that this friend remembers this particular incident is quite special to me. 

I drove to the library that afternoon to fax the letter over and made it home in time to teach my first lesson. There was no way they could possibly accuse me of this ticket, because I had some of the strongest things going for me:

- I had a friend with me in the car 
- I wasn't told I was getting a ticket
- I didn't sign a ticket or any piece of paper

But I still ended up waiting three agonizing days to hear back. 

On Thursday afternoon, I finally got a call. They "looked through my file and the judge dismissed the ticket." I don't know what was in my file or how they somehow came up with this ticket 10 years after the fact, but I can guarantee you there was no signed ticket in my file. So how in the world they came up with this case, I have no idea. I. Have. No. Idea.

10 years ago today, when the officer handed me my license and registration back without a ticket, I felt a sense of relief but also sadness. As I started up my car again to resume driving, I began crying, and the car was silent for a long while. I cried because I knew I'd been shown grace by an officer. For nearly 10 years, I always remembered this fondly with a special respect. Now, I just remember the trouble I went through to dismiss a case that never existed in the first place.

What a shame.

Blue Swings

Sidenote: It's been a long month of not being able to blog and post any stories. I'm working on some, but seeing as I only pull out my computer about once a month to pay bills, typing out a blog unfortunately gets put aside more often than not. I originally meant to post this over a month ago. Oops.

***

With the weather cooling down as the infamous Texas summer has ended, I've been taking the two kids out on walks in our neighborhood. It's become a daily ritual for us to talk a walk and look for "blue swings," the quintessential Little-Tikes baby/toddler swing. We have a pink one in our front yard, but my daughter loves to walk around the block and look at our neighbor's blue one.

The quintessential baby swing 

After we found the blue swing, we kept walking down that street and came across a pink tire swing in front of another neighbor's house. This led to a little game where we'd walk around the neighborhood and look for swings.

In addition to looking for swings, we've met some more of our neighbors. One morning, one of our neighbors down the street was out working in her yard and we stopped and said hello. I complimented her beautiful landscaping and started a brief conversation. She was very friendly and we both enjoyed some in-person socially-distanced chit-chat. 

A few days later, we were walking down the street behind us, and a neighbor actually came out of her house and asked if she could see my kids because she hasn't gotten to see her nieces and nephews given the current circumstances. 

Since then I've run into these same two neighbors multiple times. Once, we got candy since Halloween is around the corner. Another time, our neighbor shared her home-grown peppers with us and even cut a blue iris from her garden for us to take home and admire.

Blue irises from our neighbor.

Our neighbors are very friendly and it’s lovely to be able to meet them and say hi. I love being able to walk by someone outside of their house and feel excited to be able to exchange a greeting. But there’s something else that makes running into them almost bittersweet: we could have been neighbors with one of them. I know, we are already neighbors in the sense that we live around each other, but I mean literal next door neighbors. 

You see, one of these neighbors lives in the house next to one we made an offer on five years ago when we were looking to buy. The house next to the neighbor with the beautiful landscaping was one we were particularly upset about losing. It had one owner, clean bathrooms, and a great price. There was some updating needed to bring it up to current aesthetics, but overall, it was a wonderful house. The actual price it sold at was the exact same offer as we’d put in. So why didn’t we get it? We’ll never know. 

The other neighbor actually lives in a house two doors down from one we put in an offer on. It had a sunroom, needed some work, but the price was right. The lady selling it at the time got tired of showings and stopped accepting offers merely 24 to 48 hours after hitting the market. Ours never made it in. 

I’m thankful to live in the neighborhood we do. I enjoy walking to the nearby park and playground, biking on the trails, and saying hi to our neighbors. It’s bittersweet thinking about the houses we didn’t get to call home, especially when they’re right down the street or around the corner from us, but our house is one I’ve enjoyed spending an extra amount of time in this year. 

And we still get to walk around the same neighborhood and look for the blue swings.