Friday random

I just realized I haven't written Chloe's 6 month post. Or edited any pictures. Or thought about it pretty much at all. And guess what? OH WELL. I'm sorry Future Chloe. I really do love you as much as your oft-written about brother but adding you to the mix has made life busier. And me more tired. So so tired.

Let's see, what else is going on? Oh! We hired a new nanny/sitter/magician who is FANTASTIC. I kind of want her to move in with us and we can all raise the kids together. She's fabulous with the kids and knows how to handle me and does the laundry and the dishes and I HAVE NOT UNLOADED THE DISHWASHER IN TWO WEEKS. That right there is the best thing ever. She's taking the dog to the groomer next week and going to start experimenting with making Chloe baby purees. I KNOW. Are you totally dying of jealously right now? Too bad, you can't have her. She's miiiiinnneeee. Granted we pay for these services but when I walk in the door every day after work and don't have a pile of dishes staring me in the face or a million Legos all over the floor I send up mucho thanks to the powers that be (and a side eye to the Indian Hawk Guide). She makes being a working out of the home mother (to be PC about it) so much easier for me and it's worth every expensive penny. And she takes such good care of my babies. Obviously that is most important. But followed closely by the clean dishes.

Random segue but I read somewhere that the half ages are the terrible ones. It's like a wave where the trough is the full year age and the peak is the half year age and they're certifiably NUTS at the peak. Like little tiny maniacs. I believe this to be true with Noah. We just came out of a half year peak at 3.5 in Jan/Feb when he was a devil. He was defiant, mean, nasty, sassy, and an all around unpleasant little person. Not all the time but enough of the time to make me consider gypsies and front yard for sale signs. And then POOF! Almost overnight he became the sweet, kind, loving boy he used to be at 3. He's polite again, tells me I look pretty in my dress and is eager to please. I am going to ride this all the way until January when the evil half age version comes out again and I have to stop myself from posting him on Craigslist.

Another random segue...we signed up with Mint.com last week. I've heard mixed reviews but I was having a hard time sticking to our budget and couldn't figure out why. Well, now I know. It's FOOD. Holy hell do we spend a lot of money on food. With both Tim and I working downtown aka Land of Ridiculously Expensive Lunch Options we have been spending far too much on lunch. I also found out that Tim has a penchant for breakfast sandwiches/muffin thingies with large Diet Cokes in the morning and he has been put on notice. AND as much as I claim to hate grocery shopping I sure do spend a lot of time and money at Trader Joe's/Marianos/Whole Foods. Oh, and eating out on the weekends is a big chunk of that money. In summary, I am overhauling our food budget and attempting to get back into basic couponing and meal planning. Want to see our meal plan for this coming week? (It's just thrilling for you to come here, isn't it?)

Monday: Stuffed Shells
Tuesday: Coconut Curry Shrimp over Rice
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Chinese Chicken and Broccoli over Rice
Friday: Pepperoni Pizza made at home
Saturday: eat out...maybe.

Now that I have sufficiently bored you to death, I am going to go eat this muffin that WORK paid for. Go team!

Simple Arugula Salad...quick, go make it!

I'm posting this quickly before I forget and because I love it so much I want to share:

Simple Arugula Salad

1 bunch arugula, washed and dried
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
pecorino romano cheese, grated
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
pepper
(No measurements...just add or subtract as needed)

In a small bowl, mix together a few tablespoons olive oil, a few squeezes of lemon juice (fresh or bottled), and salt and pepper to taste.

In a larger bowl, toss the arugula with the olive oil dressing. Add the oranges and then generously sprinkle on the pecorino romano cheese. Toss the whole thing together, making sure to evenly coat the arugula. Then add more cheese because cheese is one of my reasons for living and is yours too, I know it.

Serve immediately or hoover up the whole damn bowl by yourself if you please.

This salad is SO easy and SO divine. I love how a few simple ingredients turns into something so wonderful. I've been making this salad as a pre-dinner "snack" for a few weeks and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. I bet it would be lovely with a little chicken or nut of your choice to beef it up a bit. I think it would be a great starter salad at a dinner party and especially great during the summer because it's such a light beginner. ENJOY!

(I found this recipe a while back in some magazine and I cannot for the life of me remember where or when...probably when I was in the OB waiting room and hungry as a hippo. It obviously would have  appealed to me at the time.)