PadawanOfHappiness

They day is not even over and this is one of the worst days ever.  I hate this remote learning situation it is not a good set up for my family.  I get that some kids like it and it works for some families but this absolutely SUCKS. I have been very happy to hear that one of Padawan's teachers is very upfront about the fact that some of the things they need to do don't make sense but they have to do them anyway.  She has also been open about this not being ideal and that we are all struggling together. One Padawan needs a lot of help and really responds differently to a teacher in person and than he does to me.  I know he knows this stuff, we are still in the review stage but it he just has a mental block and refuses to do it.  I have spoken with professionals and his behavior is not uncommon and quite frankly I am at the end of my rope and so is he.  He doesn't like it and we are really out of coping mechanisms there is only so much I can do. I just want ev...

  Over the past summer I kept saying I would get back into my exercise routine because I had been slacking.  Sure I had kept up with my 20 minute walks but that was it, however for weigh loss I need to do more:  I need to do more exercise and more watching what I eat. The thing is I wasn't ready to get there, and therefore I kept putting it off.  I had not hit my metaphorical bottom, until now. I finally stepped on the scale after putting my jeans on and noticing that the legs for my jeans were tighter than I expected them to be.  I had regressed.  That is not a huge deal it was only a few pounds but it was enough for me to say it was time to get my act together again. I went back to things that worked for me in the past to see if they would work again. It has been two days and yes so far it seems to be working.  I have gotten up and exercised before breakfast, I am starting slow only 20-ish minutes but I have to start somewhere. I have also made sure ...

I decided to not use the premade monthly menu from a few days ago but cannibalized it to create my next menu.  I was challenged by my kids to a a week of pot pies.  Ok it didn't quite come out like that, I had asked the kids if there was anything that they wanted on the menu, and one said Tuscan Pot Pie and another said Chicken Pot Pie.  That got me wondering could I do a week of pot pies? Well the answer is yes I can come up with 5 days worth of pot pies. Sausage and Veggie Breakfast Pot Pie Pork Pot Pie <-- that was the original recipe but I ended up using this one . Beef Pot Pie Tuscan Pot Pie Chicken Pot Pie   For the pork pot pie I may use puff pastry rather than making a pie crust. For the beef pot pie I will likely use store bought crust (or maybe use a tube of biscuits) because I hate making crust and my filling will pretty much be my sheppards pie filling. For the chicken pot pie, I use store bought pie crust, rotisserie chicken, a jar of gravy, and about...

I am re purposing a post that I wrote in my professional life, I had created a menu and a shopping list. This week is the last week I have a menu planned and since I make them 4 weeks at time this means at some point I need to make another plan.  And then I remembered that I already have a menu planned and I haven't even used it yet.    Woohoo!  I love being able to recycle work that I already did, it is always better to work smarter not harder.  If anyone is actually reading this here ya go....it may not be perfect but it is something.  This is the menu I created .  This is the shopping list I created . I hope this helps someone and that you find some new recipes that you enjoy.

 I used to be afraid of making mistakes when I cooked, I was not confident in my skills and wanted concrete rules to follow.  If there was ambiguity I would shudder, seeing the words 'a dash' of this or that would send me into a panic. After a lot of cooking because it is a necessity and it is cheaper and healthier than eating out all the time I am more comfortable and will take a oh what the heck attitude and just do a dash of this, or substitute that at free random.  Other times I misread the recipe and don't notice until it is too late. One of those misreadings happened last night, I made a pork loin in my InstantPot, I was following the recipe (or so I thought) from Simply Happy Foodie for a Balsamic Pork Loin .  The recipe calls for apple cider and balsamic vinegar, that is not what I used.  I used apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar, double the vinegar for FUN! :)  The funny thing is that I didn't even realize that I misread it until after we had...

I have a few recipes that use leftover chicken, generally rotisserie chicken. and my recipes are either two wordy or lack measurements.  I now do what I hated done to me when I began cooking.  Cooking is highly adaptable unlike baking which requires more precision. These are my steps and comments on making chicken and dumplings. Ingredients leftover chicken chicken broth (3-4 cups, make from bullion or buy in a can/carton) cream of chicken soup random bits of frozen veggies Bisquick milk cornstarch (optional) water (optional) My process In a deep 18 in skillet add cream of chicken soup and chicken broth and set to low heat. The question at this point is how soupy do you like your chicken and dumplings.  I used a total of 4 cups of broth (1 from a can and 3 made with bullion and water).  This was pretty soup and I like mine thicker so I added a bit of a cornstarch slurry (more on this later).  I could have done with 2, maybe 3 cups max. Cut up leftover chicken, I...

My kids finally started school again, and due to HVAC issues we are starting out fully remote until we can begin our hybrid option in October. This is a schedule of zoom meetings for my Padawans, and some work stuff for me tossed in there too.  Honestly I am going to re-think my work day schedule. With that listing because I will be proctoring (basically monitoring to make sure they are doing what they need to do and helping where they need it) it will make things extremely difficult to get stuff done. Today has been a craptastic day but I expected that, and it will be a while before we get our rhythm down just right. I am pondering taking my 'free time' right now and do the things I would do after the boys go to bed, which means watch TV, read, craft projects.  And then do the bulk of my work at night and possibly on the weekends. I will have to schedule meetings as necessary during the day but the actual work stuff, I am going to have to do when my attention is not divided t...

Earlier this summer I was cleaning out the little Padawn's room and noticed how dusty the top of the curtains were, so I took them down and washed them.  Why I didn't wash the rest of the curtains in the house is a mystery to me. Yesterday, I decided that the curtains in our kitchen, sitting and dining rooms' curtains were also dusty as were the curtain rods they sat on.  So I took them down and washed them and hung them out in the sun to dry.   Today I took down the curtains in the living room and the office and washed them and hung them out to dry.  And yes I dusted all the curtain rods and tops of the window moldings too. It is a small thing that doesn't have to be done often and one of those things I kept saying 'I'll get to it'.  It dawned on me that the process is long but can be done in short chunks, which makes it a great thing to do while working from home.   Take down the curtains and toss in the washer (35 minutes...maybe) Go to work Ta...

 Today Mr. Padawan did me a solid and I had to bite my tongue so I didn't complain (much). I tossed in a load of towels this morning and then went to my Zoom meeting figuring I would hang the towels out when I got lunch.  I got out of my meeting and went to get the towels out of the washing machine when I noticed that Mr. Padawan was on the deck, hanging the towels!   My immediate reaction was, 'awe that is so sweet', and so I went out to thank him and then I saw it.  He hung them out differently than I do!   The horror!   Now my reaction (in my head only) was, 'OMG he is doing it wrong!  Why would he do this?  Doesn't he know that isn't how you hang out the towels?  Was he raised by a heathen?" For the record he was not raised by a heathen, my Mother In Law is very nice and delightful, and we can hang out without her son or my children present.  But I don't think he grew up with hanging laundry on the line to dry either. ...