Little Man

I was cleaning up some things in the kitchen the other day, and when I walked by Tesla's room, this is what I saw.

He was pleased to have found his toy bins.  I keep forgetting that he can get into things now.

Leftover WIN!

One tip that I always encounter for making your food go farther is to find "creative" ways to use your leftovers. 

Up till now, my creativity only extended to the reheat button on the microwave.  But, on this epic Friday, I actually branched out.  (A bit.)

Since Silas is gone for a couple weeks, our fridge is filling up with Tupperware containers of leftovers.  Part of it is from before he left.  And part of it stems from the fact that when I'm bored, I don an apron.

Silas usually takes leftovers to work or at least helps me eat them.  Tesla isn't really much use, although he did eat some of the hummus today with his rice cakes. 

So today, I open the fridge.  There are two problems:

(1) there is no more room for me to store all the meals I make out of boredom

(2) all of our Tupperware is currently sitting in the fridge.  There is nothing for me to even store the food in.

One of the biggest issues is a huge bowl of quinoa tabbouleh. 

I made it a week or so ago and have been reluctant to eat it because in spite of all the herbs and extra ingredients I enthusiastically added...it tastes like nothing.  I don't want to throw it out, but it is taking up our biggest bowl.

I've been dutifully eating it, bit by bit, adding cumin and hot sauce to make it more palatable.  But I know there has to be a better way.

And then it hits me.  A quesadilla!  Or a tabbouleh-dilla.

Since I don't want to use any queso, I search the fridge for something to replace the cheese.  Something creamy and spreadable.

Perfect!  Leftover spinach hummus, which, by itself, is not too exciting.  It needs more salt, more garlic, and a few tablespoons of lemon juice.  (I was out when I made it.)

Although each food was, by itself, quite bland, they combined to make a (REALLY REALLY) tasty "quesadilla". 

I didn't expect much, but this is something I will absolutely eat again.  Of my own volition.  Leftover win.

It's Tuesday.

Robin and Leland and Abby came over yesterday.  Tesla was fascinated by Leland.  He crawled over to him and stopped and stared for a minute. 

Then he leaned in...closer...closer....

and touched his head to Leland's. 

Thankfully, Leland is good-natured and didn't mind Tesla's lack of understanding regarding personal boundaries. 

Tesla, of course, loves to eat.  He really likes things with a sour/tart taste; especially lemons, pineapple, and nectarines.  He loves to watch us chop vegetables and fruits and cracks up laughing every time the knife hits the cutting board. 

chomping down on a cantaloupe

"My...precioussssssss...."

 T's favorite things include being in the nude and "walking."  Especially combined.

Behold, the nightly ritual.  He enjoys parading his naked buns to the bath.  

 Check out those little buttcheeks and the eight rolls of skin on his back.....   :)

Words of Encouragement

About a week ago, Silas biked 100 miles in the Tour de Cure to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association.  He did marvelously.  I would not like to bike 100 miles.

After his ride, there was a barbecue at his coworker/fellow crazy-biker-friend's house.  I was feeding Tesla and someone asked me how far apart he and the baby would be.  I said 12 or 13 months.

She said something like, "Oh, my friend had her boys close like that, thinking they would be best friends.  It turns out that the kids can hardly stand each other, it's been really hard."

Wow, thanks.  I feel so much better now. 

 --------------

Here's T-bone.  :)

 eating a rice cake

and some peach slices

super excited to be grocery shopping  :)

 trying to climb up the couch.  he was laughing so hard he kept falling.  something about my face....  :)

p

playing on the floor while i cook

Today I am grateful for a husband who understands when I've reached my limit. 

I think it might take a little shock therapy to get me through the rest of the evening.  Fingers crossed for a sugar coma.

Goodbye, May. Take your cold weather with you.

If you made it through the previous long-winded and rather anticlimactic post, I congratulate you.

On Entertainment

Back in The Day ("The Day" here referring to an ambiguous time in the past, probably near or after the domestication of cats but definitely before the arrival of YouTube), if one was having a bad day, one had
very few options to induce a mood reversal.

Women could not merely look up the latest episode of Man V. Food on Netflix

or drive to the mall to wander amidst alluringly perfumed cosmetics and hair products, promising beauty and happiness for a price.  They also did not have access to underwire bras.  The Day was a dark time.

In short, ancient women had at most two options for quick entertainment: their husbands or their children.

Since their husbands were usually off exercising their testosterone-given rights to grow bushy beards and hunt down fearsome beasts,

the lot of entertainment usually fell to the wee ones.

Luckily, children are perfect for entertainment.  In fact, they usually provide their parents with ample amusement without even trying.  Ancient parents recorded these moments on the walls of caves.

Modern parents also like to document these moments, usually in the form of pictures or videos (which they then upload onto the aforementioned YouTube site).

This can sometimes backfire if the child then becomes the next "YouTube phenomenon", an occurrence in which millions of people view, share, and laugh at the video, causing the death of the child's social life and future career hopes.  A new life can be made, however, if the child's family relocates to another country.  Preferably one without internet access.

Thankfully, I have been born into the latter, more technologically advanced age, so rather than scar the human population with any more hand-drawn gems, I shall provide more colorful entertainment captured with cell phones.

Oh the magic.

I can see him hunting fearsome beasts, though.