Things that make you go, "Hmmm..."

I hope to kick off a mini-series of disturbing WigPosts with a flashback to my childhood. That sounds bad. I had an awesome childhood. My Dad has a sinister side to him that I find hilarious.

Willie with a thirst for gore,
nailed his sister to the door.
Mother said with humor quaint,
"Now Willie, dear, don't scratch the paint."

Into the family drinking well,
Willie pushed his sister, Nell.
She's still there because it kilt her,
now we have to buy a filter.

Willie saw some dynamite
couldn't understand it quite.
Curiosity never pays,
it rained Willie seven days.

These are some of the poems my Dad would recite to me as a child. Yes, my children will know them too. I memorized these by choice, the Westminster Catechism was not as voluntary. I found lots more Willie rhymes on the internet here. Never heard it before, but I liked this one:

Little Willie, full of glee,
Put radium in grandma's tea.
Now he thinks it quite a lark
To see her shining in the dark.


Speaking of disturbing. My best friend just sent me this article about Google, who hosts this blog and my e-mail, and secretly runs the world...I mean, a BIG shout out to Google who made this post possible and respects my freedom of speech even at the cost of their own reputation. The article suggests this as an alternative browser, which doesn't help my gmail account, but I'm feeling too lazy to care that much. I have lots more disturbing WigPosts to come, each one out-disturbing the last, bet you can't wait!!!

Just checkin' in!

She had played peek-a-boo with me so many times that I ran and got my camera and the above video is all that was left of our fun time.

I'm working on a Zerbik post that's getting too long, I'm going to try and make it more concise. I'll share once it's blog worthy. I updated all the pictures in the slide show today for those interested. More posts coming soon! Promise!

Mostly food....

My Dad visited Uganda a few weeks ago and sent a package full of goodies to share with us. You can see the "Knitter Critters" here at Kenana Knitters. Pictured are the two we got. Thanks for thinking of us, Dad!

We watched a movie on Sunday. Not a kiddie movie either! We had three friends, including our pastor, tell us to watch "Food, Inc.". It's in the new releases section. We had a pretty good idea that it would be disturbing to see where our food at the grocery store comes from, but it was more than disturbing. It was repulsive. I've been telling people all week that they need to watch this movie and most look at me confused, like "why would I question where my food came from?" But a couple (you know who you are) have said, "I don't want to know." So, choose for yourself. There are practical ideas at the end of the movie to give us direction, so I give it thumbs up, even if I was pretty grossed by the fecal matter in the beef...oops, have I shared too much? Sorry! As long as I don't tell you about the nasty filler full of ammonia that they have to mix into the beef to kill the ecoli caused by the poopoo. I definitely won't tell you about that.

Speaking about food...I wanted to share my list I made for myself of healthy meals, in case you need some ideas for meal planning. I'll be adding to it as time goes and I know that many of my recipes are weird to most people, but just in case it's helpful to somebody, here it goes:
Healthy Meal List

• Tacos
• Salad
• Chicken Korma
• Jambalaya
• Chili
• Tuna Steaks
• Beef Barley Stew
• Curried Lentil Soup*
• Orange Chicken
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Pad Thai Noodles made easy with ready made Pad Thai Sauce from the store
  

My meal plan this two week period had soups for the weekends (so I don't have to cook on Sunday), one big meal on Monday with leftovers Tuesday, an easy meal on Wednesday with leftovers on Thursday and "take-away" on Friday. I've never scheduled eating out before, but I so want to have a night to look forward to to eat out (though we'll probably order Chinese and bring it home). After watching Food, Inc. you may only want to eat out at Chipotle restaurants.

Since it's awesome and I've been holding out on you all, I'm sharing my mom's amazing
*Curried Lentil Soup Recipe:
2-3 T olive oil
1 c. onions, chopped
3 large carrots, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz. can chopped tomatoes
3/4c. whole lentils
3/4c. red split lentils
3-4 c. chicken broth

2t. cumin powder
2t. curry powder
1 t. coriander powder
1.5 t. sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, saute the onion and the carrot in the oil until very limp and slightly brown (15-20 min). [This is positively the most dreamy smell ever!] Add mixture to slow cooker with rest of ingredients or put in a big pot with rest of ingredients, cover and boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. If you like it soupier, add more broth, Ben likes it super thick and this was the first time I think he's ever not needed crackers for a soup! If you like your curry spicy hot, add cayenne or garam masala powder to taste and serve with plain yoghurt to cool it down. Thanks for this amazing recipe, mom! It's in our regular rotation of recipes now.

Have an a amazing day!!!

Three bits

The Wee little Wiglets

Caught these two cuddling and had to get a pic. He begged to hold her twice in one day. I got grabbed the camera both times. We have a new doc since our last one passed away. We met him today (the new one) and found that Z is in the 91st percentile for weight at 41 pounds and is off the charts for his height (42"), though this picture doesn't make him look very tall. Juju is still 25 pounds and was 32 inches last she was measured. She's losing her chubby rolls, but there's still plenty to squeeze.

Chicken Korma

This is my new favorite meal to make. Until my new Indian friend, Anita, teaches me something better, this Chicken Korma is just wonderful and it's not very difficult. I found the recipe here. My only caution after making it several times is not to use as much salt as they suggest (my apologies for learning this too late for Missy's freezer meals she got for our sibling exchange). I found mango chutney in the Indian section at Giant Eagle, but you could use orange marmalade in a pinch. I already had the other non-traditional ingredient: garam masala. I bought mine at the Indo-Asian grocer in Canton, but you can substitute ground coriander and cayenne. The chutney and the masala are the hot ingredients so use as much or as little as you wish. I made a mild version and a hot version for our New Year's guests.

I talked to my mom tonight and she was trying my Chicken Korma for dinner. She's putting green bell peppers in with the korma to bake since I haven't given her recipes for the following yet. The side dishes shown above are both Ayurvedic dishes: kidney bean bhaji and what I like to call Samosa Stuffing. I made the stuffing for the inside of samosas but didn't have time or energy to make the dough to wrap them and to deep fry, so I just served the spicy veggies all by themselves. I have made the samosas with ready made pie dough and you just bake them, but it makes it a pretty heavy dish, I recommend making the dough and deep frying or not at all. The recipes for these are so long I can't bother to type them out. Let me know if you want them and I'll scan them out of the cookbook for you. The naan is courtesy of WalMart's bakery. I can't make it that flat, so I cheated and bought it. I made Indian Rice Khir for dessert, see here for the recipe.

Deb in Uganda

Finally, please pray for my sister-in-law, Debbi. She left yesterday for Uganda. She'll be there for three months studying abroad. She had the choice to live on the campus or with a Ugandan family and she chose to stay with a family, so she will not have running water or indoor plumbing. I'm so excited that she has this opportunity and yet ask for all of your prayers that she will be safe and return safely. And that she doesn't lose her passport while she's there. She plans to keep us updated on her new blog she created just for this trip: Bless the Rains Down in Africa

Also pray for my best friend's mom that she'll be healed of her cancer,
and for the health of all the babies our friends are having right now. Two of our friends are having twins (this one and this one) and so many others are pregnant right now, I can't even count them all.
Thank you for your prayers, now do it right now before you forget! Thanks!

Robert Wesley

Once upon a time, there was a little boy......who met a little girl...

...they got married...
...two days later the boy left for Korea,
but they would write every day...
...for a year......he returned safely from war and they started a family......then his children started their families and the little boy became a Grandpa...

...then the boy blinked and suddenly he was a Great Grandpa!
That little boy who is all grown up now, is my Grandpa. All of my grandparents are extra special for their own reasons, but January 4th is my Grandpa J's 80th birthday, so he gets the attention. He's very humble and probably won't like all this attention. However, he's very witty and would probably say he's proud to be so humble.

He's a retired cabinet maker. An expert at precision and detail. He works now at Wal-Mart in the paint and hardware department, NOT as a greeter (he likes to add). He has two sons, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren to date. Up till a couple of years ago he taught math to adults at a local R.E.A.D. program. He still sings in the choir at church. He is an avid reader, a big fan of author, Martin Lloyd-Jones and the local newspaper. He can beat you at chess and happily sorted through hundreds of coins to find brand new state quarters so each of his family members could have their own set.

He and Grandma still honor their engagement date and he reserves kisses on the lips only for his "sweetie". Above all these things he has been my role model for his soft heart and patient spirit. He loves God above all else and that is evident to all who meet him. He is also the genetic root of our son's chocolate brown eyes.

He taught me to whistle, wink, blow bubbles with gum, tie my shoes, he was instrumental in my early math education and learning to drive. When he and his best friends sit around the dinner table they top each other's clever puns and discuss politics and theology. He is an expert home made ice cream maker and loves to estimate the mileage to come visit us in Ohio when they drive up from Tennessee. He taught me how to change the oil in my car and the proper way to use a chamois.
He has created a legacy of Christlike love, patience and perseverance to all of his family and we love him more than he'll ever know. I wish I could help you blow out the candles again, I'd wish with you that we didn't all live so far apart.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
With love from your Punkin'