yum...this one's for nana

Boden wasn't so into his veggies the other day, but he was into the mashed potatoes...so I MIXED THEM TOGETHER! Oh no! I took a picture just for you Nana - I knew you'd love it.

yep, those are little balls of mashed potato/carrots/peas - and he LOVED them! are you gagging yet?

My apology

While we are doing apologies, I would like to get mine in... to Caela and Molly, I am a worthless brother-in-law and I'm so sorry for not calling you both and wishing you a happy birthday. I hope you both had great birthday's and I will not let it happen again!

My sincere apologies

OK, so here's my attempt at an explanation. I had told Dad I was planning to go with my teacher friends to Varsity after school. My intention was to maybe have 1 beer (maybe not) and to relax after a difficult week. On Fridays, teachers are finished at 3:30 (after a special meeting we have each Friday from 2:30 - 3:30, called PLC). Unfortunately, OUR (the k teachers) PLC lasted until 4:00, because our principal talked to/with us the entire time. It was a frustrating meeting, and afterwards a few of us had more conversation (including some tears by a couple of teachers). Needless to say, I was ready to get out of there! I didn't get up to Varsity until almost 5:30. Yes, I had a beer, in fact I had 2, but that was all. Several of us just sat outside, enjoying the beautiful weather & visiting. (We noted that 2 of us had forgotten our cell phones.) It was getting late and people were beginning to leave. Lana Fox, Pam Osthus & I were left and of course, we kep talking, for quite a while. When we realized how late it was getting, we all decided to leave. Pam & I stood out by our cars and visited a while longer. I knew it was late, but I didn't think I should call, because I figured Dad would be sleeping & I didn't want to wake him (it seems like I usually wake him when I call), plus I thought I'd be home soon. Well... when I finally got in the car, I realized that it was REALLY late & all I thought of was, I needed to get home. I bought gas at Lucky's (which made me even later) on my way home.
So... I was thoughtless in not calling home, I am sorry. And I'm sorry that I had worried you all. It won't happen again.

Update on me

So, this is my first post! yay!! So, my bithday week was just busy busy busy. John, my roommates and I took a little time to go get some take out on my b-day, but I had to quickly get back to studying while they played with the wii. :(

I had my first couple tests this week and they turned out pretty good! Med-Surg, which is the hard one I got an 88. Which aparently was good, since it sounded like a lot of people weren't very happy with their grades! But we will review the test next tuesday. My other test was in Pharmacology and I got a 95%! I felt really good about the content of that test and it was much easier than I was thinking it was going to be!

We had our very first set of clinicals today, and I was a little nervous, although I did it last semester. :) It went great and I ALMOST got to put an IV in WITHOUT even learning it yet! my clinical instructor was just going to walk me through it since we don't get to do that very often...we learn how to put an IV in TOMORROW! haha. Anyway, the guys veins were REALLY hard to find, so the IV team ended up doing it, but I did get to take his old one out! that was cool. Also, I got to straight catheterize a patient today! thats where you insert a small catheter to drain the bladder when they are having urinary retention and can't empty it themself. It is a sterile procedure and I broke the sterile field pretty quickly! EEK!...but I just had to reglove and keep going. I didn't get nervous until I broke the sterile field, but my colleague and instructor all said I did VERY well, so it went GREAT! I did have 6 other people watching me do it. :)

The city has finally decided to fix the driveway, however, they are slightly worthless. They came to ask us on tuesday if we would like to do it in two segments so we could try to still use the driveway. Since it takes 5 days to dry and we have my b-day/housewarming party friday, we wanted to be able to use our driveway.....WELL....they were supposed to do it on wednesday and now it is thursday evening and all they have done is pull up the concrete and mess with the dirt (which they did YESTERDAY). SO, looks like if anything we will have WET concrete for our party, which will just be lovely. NOT. But it is getting fixed....so in a couple weeks...or at the rate they are going...a couple months-we will have a functioning driveway!


Thats it for now...take care and have a great end of the week. love you all

Margherita Pizza

Casey and I LOVE margherita pizza with fresh ingredients, so I thought I'd share the recipe for the homemade pizza I made tonight.

MARGHERITA PIZZA

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust or other prepared refrigerated crust

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 2c. pkg italian blend shredded cheese

5-6 roma or plum tomatoes, sliced 1/4 in. thick or less

1/3 c. chopped fresh basil

1) Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat to 425 degrees.

2) Roll dough out onto a greased and floured flat pan, or a pizza stone (will have to really roll it out because the dough is prepared for a rectangular pan).

3) Mix olive oil and minced garlic in a small bowl. Brush onto the pizza crust.

4) Bake crust for about 6-8 min at 425 deg. (less if you are using a thin crust).

5) Remove crust from oven.

6) Sprinkle with 1 3/4 c. of the shredded cheese. Save 1/4 c. for the top of the pizza.

7) Arrange tomato slices on top of cheese.

8) Top with the chopped fresh basil.

9) Sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 c. of shredded cheese.

10) Bake for 12-17 min at 425 deg. until crust is a golden brown. Time will be less if you are using a thinner crust.

11) Enjoy!!!

Total calories for the entire pizza is approximately 1900 cal, so 1/6 of the pizza is about 315 calories. I read on some websites that you can get different crusts at specialty food stores, like Trader Joe's (for you lucky ones - Brueseke's!!!) or maybe Whole Foods. You could also make your own crust as there are MANY recipes I've found online for whole wheat thin crust.

Love, Caela

FYI - For anyone who hasn't heard, mom & I made the trip to the Nebraska Furniture Mart Sunday and now have a bigger TV for the basement. Hopefully between it and the sound system stuff, I might have it all figured out and in place by the Holidays!!!!!
Who would have thought that while we're looking for exercise and good recipes that we would provide the incentive to be couch potatoes!!

Light Alfredo Sauce

I love Alfredo sauce but it is usually very high in fat with all the cream and cheese that goes into it...this is a much lower fat version using skim milk and chicken broth. Enjoy!

Light Alfredo Sauce

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups skim milk
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. In sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden brown.
2. In small saucepan stir together milk, chicken broth, flour, salt & pepper over low eat until smooth. Stir into onion/garlic mixture.
3. Continue cooking over med low heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick.
4. Stir in parmesan cheese.

We love this over whole wheat pasta and chicken with either brocolli or red & yellow peppers. With the brocolli we usually just put the frozen brocolli in the water with the pasta and cook them together that way (note - don't put the brocolli in until the end - maybe the last 5-6 minutes, otherwise it gets a little too soft). With the peppers we will saute them in olive oil.

bananas and potato salad

bananas with Nana...

and potato salad with Poppa...

We're Home

We made it home from KC this morning around 2am. Thankfully Boden slept the whole way, and went back to sleep when we got home. It's just Michael and I that are exhausted.

We had fun with all of you this weekend. I really enjoy the time we get to spend together. Thanks again Caela and Casey for dinner Friday night - the chicken was really, really good!

Oh - I told mom this the other day, but forgot to share with everyone else. It might be a good idea to put another label on each of your posts to show who posted it ie. "megan's posts" - so that later it's easy to find what you posted, or if you're looking for something you know Caela posted, etc.

Love you all -
Megan

Meet Bigsby

Well, we finally did it...we got a PUPPY!!! We welcomed home Bigsby, a pure bred black lab, today and he's sleeping soundly (for now). He is about 7 weeks old. Casey had called around to a few different breeders who had advertised in the paper, and he found one near Monroe, NE (west of Columbus) who had raised the grandmother and both mother and father of this litter.(we actually got to see and play with all three before we met Bigsby!!) They live on a farm, have three young kids, and so we felt very comfortable that our puppy would have been very well cared for so far. So, we took off from home around 3:30 and after meeting the three black lab puppies that were left, we decided on him!! We got back home around 8:30 tonight, and so far he's not too excited to eat or drink, has been hiding under chairs, and crying (it makes your heart break!). But we know it's just because we are new and he misses his mom and siblings, so in a couple days we are sure he'll feel right at home here. Enjoy the pictures!!

Well, I guess I'll just hang out here until I figure out my new home.

Not quite sure I want to eat....

I already like to play with my new toy!!!

I think I will like him...they both say.

Home before 10:00!

Hi all, well I just wanted to say that I got home from working at school BEFORE 10:00, yaaay! I didn't really get there till after 5:00 tho, so I was really only there about 4 hours this time. Wow- if I can get it down to 3 hours on the week-end, I might enjoy them more.

I miss Boden (& Megan & Michael too, of course!) already. I loved hearing his little patter of feet on the kitchen floor. It was so great to have you all here on Sunday for mom's b-day. I know she enjoyed it immensely! I especially enjoyed Sunday evening when Megan taught us how to start our family blog all the while the 5 of us were "lazing" on the bed!

I hope you all have a great week!
Love to all!

Biggest Loser (really the Biggest Loser)

Well, as you will see, I already qualify!! I read Caela's posting and then just hit new post not realizing I was posting as Caela. So the posting on Biggest Loser FCSA is from me!!

Biggest Loser FCSA

Hi family - I just wanted to let you know that I am participating in the Farm Credit version of Biggest Loser starting tomorrow September 2nd. We had to state a percentage we wanted to lose in an intensive 12 weeks (ends just before Thanksgiving) I have committed to 7.5%. I welcome you support and challenges (accountability) to keep me on track.

Top Healthiest Foods in the World

My trainer gave me a list of the top healthiest foods and said I should make an effort to add many to my diet. Here's a sample of a few:

Apricots are a good source of beta-carotene. Your body turns beta-carotene into vitamin A, which protects your eyes, nails and skin. One apricot has about 17 calories and 1 gram of fiber. Eat fresh or dried apricots as a snack or use them for desserts.

Raspberry. 1 cup of raspberries has 60 calories. These berries are high in fiber and vitamin C. Raspberry protects you from flu. Add raspberry to your fruit salad and other desserts.

Onion is very good for your heart. It is a biological antibiotic. One medium raw onion contains 60 calories, 1 gram of protein, sodium, potassium, vitamin C and no fat. Lightly fry chopped onion in oil till golden and then add it to cooked beef or pork. Raw onion can be used for salads. To take the bitter taste away, put the onion into boiling water for a few seconds.

Tomatoes are cancer-fighters; besides, they contain lots of vitamin C. Do not refrigerate tomatoes: they may lose their flavor at cold temperature. You can eat tomatoes raw, baked, stewed, or broiled. Prepare tomato salads and tomato soups; add tomatoes to your sandwich or pizza.

Wheat germ contains more nutrients than any other grain product. One tablespoon of germ gives you 7 percent of your daily magnesium requirement. Wheat germ is rich in vitamin E. Add wheat germ to your breakfast cereal. Wheat germ can easily replace one-third of the flour in recipes for baked goods like muffins and breads.

Barley is good for your skin. It is rich in calcium, iron and dietary fiber. A one-ounce portion contains 88 calories. Do not forget to rinse barley before cooking. You can mix barley flour with wheat flour to make bread and muffins. (hmm...barley...does this include BEER??)

Fatty fish (salmon, tuna) is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids that help to reduce the risk of heart diseases. A 3-ounce portion of fatty fish (boiled) has 127 calories and 4 grams of fat. One of the most delicious fish dishes is grilled fish. Also, you can boil or fry fish, add it to salads and sandwiches.

My challenge: Everyone add at least 2 NEW things to their diet that they didn't normally eat on a regular basis before, and let us know what you think!!

Caela :)