Another Project Done

After 3 months, I have finally finished staining my shelves for the kitchen. I can prove it, too!

Ta da!!!

The Schedule

After talking about it, I figured I should post a few pictures of the vertical picture schedule I made for Wonder Boy. It's similar to the one used in his preschool (lol, he laments that his home schedule is not blue like his school schedule).

There are about 12 boxes with velcro tabs on them. Each of the picture cards also has velcro so that they can be attached and arranged any way we need them. Oh - I laminated all of this for durability.

There is nothing funnier than to hear WB yell, "I doe deh ma dedoe," (I go check my schedule.) when we say it's time for the next thing. And yes, he lives for snack.

Farewell to Cable

Cable viewing is having its last hoorah this afternoon. We're pulling the plug. Well, maybe not entirely pulling the plug - we still have dvd's and tapes. The cable channels, however, are history. We've been on the fence for months and the letter we received from the cable company was enough to help us decide to pick a greener pasture for the family. We've had a deal for basic cable for two years and now they'd like to bring us up to the same payment level as everyone who didn't know how to ask for More Basic Than Basic cable service... and to that end they were going to more than double the rate we pay.

I love Shark Week on Discovery, but not that much.

In the Kitchen - Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Oh, man. This turned out really good. My mom used to make sweet and sour meatballs as an appetizer. I rarely make them because I never have time to do the meatballs and sauce from scratch... so I tweaked it a bit and came up with a great, complete meal. It's got a protein, a starch, a veggie and a fruit!

Premade meatballs (I don't measure exactly, but about 6 per person - today I used Schwan's)
1/4c vinegar
1 8oz can crushed pineapple (do NOT drain!)
1/2c brown sugar
1Tbsp ketchup
1Tbsp cornstarch & 1tsp salt mixed with 1/2c water
broccoli
rice

Get your favorite rice cooking (I like jasmine basmati). Get your broccoli ready to steam/cook. Thaw the meatballs in the microwave and get the sauce going.

Sauce: In a large skillet, put the vinegar, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and cornstarch/salt/water mixture. Bring it to a boil (stir constantly) and then simmer for 5 minutes. Once your meatballs are thawed and the sauce is thickened, put the meatballs in the sauce and stir to coat. Put a lid on and let it gently simmer while you finish the broccoli and rice.

My family doesn't like everything all mixed together, so I serve a bed of rice, a side of broccoli and a side of meatballs to everyone. For myself, I make the bed of rice and put the veggies and meatballs right on top. It was great! And for once I didn't feel guilty about forgetting fruit or veggies.