In the first hour of my day...

*Jacob has locked not only himself in the bathroom, but the cat as well - TWICE.

*Justin emptied 2 drawers in my dresser and started to haul things from the armoire.

*The boys cleared out my cabinet with my FOOD PROCESSOR in it - apparently Jacob can undo the child lock...

*As I was freeing Nala from Jacob's death grip, Justin figured out that if you pull the kitchen drawers out just a bit, they make a great ladder.

*After removing said Justin from the drawers, sweet Jacob decided to go to the bathroom and miss the toilet ENTIRELY.

*Coming back into the kitchen to get some cleaners, I found Justin sitting in the kitchen sink. Yes - IN THE KITCHEN SINK.

*And so help me - if it takes 3 hours to get the wood stove started today, I'm gonna use lighter fluid!

I think I'm getting some new gates today...and chocolate. LOTS of chocolate...

When Deception is Divine...

Before ya'll get worked up over the fact that I haven't posted about Christmas yet - no worries! I'm working on it as we speak. Remember - gotta get used to the new equipment!

But one of the gifties I recieved from Mom and Dad was the glorious cookbook pictured on the left. Now, regardless of how you view Jerry Seinfeld (or his umpteen-years-his-junionr wife) - this cookbook is FANTASTIC! I don't want to sound like a walking advertisement for the book - - - but I think I'm going to anyway...

So ya'll know I like to cook - and I have tried to cook as healthy as possible for the family. Unfortunately, sometimes it's a pretty big challenge. Steve is never a problem - as long as he doesn't have to cook it, he'll eat it! Justin is a fairly decent eater - although I have to watch how much milk he gets, he'd take veggies over meat and potatoes any day. But then there's Jake... sweet Jake... who won't eat anything green, orange, red, yellow, white, etc - unless it's a popsicle. Who won't eat any other meat item other than chicken nuggets and fish sticks dunked in ketchup. Who fights us at every meal time...

Since Christmas, I've made 5 recipes from this cookbook. And every one has been a success! I wish I'd taken pictures of them all - not because I'll take pics of just about anything (which I will...) - but because the foods really look "normal"! The pancakes (with sweet potato puree) have a slight cinnamon flavor, which is so comforting on the winter mornings. I made the lasagne (with cauliflower and butternut squash puree) - and it was almost gone in one meal! Steve actually said it was the best he'd had, and Jake ate a big serving for dinner and one for lunch. Last night, I made the rice balls - and called them "homemade chicken nuggets". Again - Justin inhaled 2 and Jake ate 3 - not even knowing they were packed with sweet potatoes and butternut squash! Tonight was the last "experiment" night of the week - and yet another success! We had Italian meatloaf (with celery and carrots) and mashed potatoes (with cauliflower puree). I was amazed at the flavor of the potatoes - so rich! Thankfully the meatloaf was a hit, too - Justin ate a good portion, but the best part? Jake ate a whole slice without even needing to be prompted!

I was so I know it takes time... and that's something I don't have a lot of these days. But it's so simple to make these recipes - and let's face it - who doesn't need a little extra boost in their diet!