a hippie with a minivan

Feeling Fat…

I know that I am overweight, there is no denying that I need to shed a few pounds.

Here is the thing though, as you know, I am 8 weeks pregnant with my fourth child.

Usually, I am OK with my “fluffiness” but right now, it just makes me feel really self conscious.

If you have had more than one child, you know that you start showing earlier.

But when you are overweight and pregnant you don’t get that cute little pouch or the slightly bloated look as other women seem to get… your fat seems to be pushed up into a permanent muffin top that is there whatever you wear, even if you are wearing nothing. I can’t get away from it and whatever I wear can’t hide it…

I just can’t wait to start looking pregnant instead of just fat… the worst of it is that I have even lost about 7 lbs since I found out…

Petty complaint but it feels good to voice it….

sleep talking…

Colin talks all the time, I really mean all the time… he doesn’t stop, he even talks in his sleep.

During the night I was awoken by his voice…

“Mama… mama?”

I was able to get a sound of recognition out…. “hmmm?”

“Mama… why did you tackle that bear?”

now I was awake… “um.. what?”

“Why did you tackle that bear?”

“Because it was annoying me”

“Oh… OK… thanks mama, it was annoying me too…”

He went right back to snoring… I had to stop myself from waking anyone else by laughing.

Jalapeño Tequila Lime Hot Sauce…

I love spicy foods but Colin doesn’t appreciate the spice like we do, so we have been spicing things up in our plates more lately.

I bought a bottle of hot sauce for Simon around his birthday and I have to admit that I am the one that finished it off. It was so good on everything that I tried it on, but so expensive. It made me realize how much I love the taste of Jalapeños and I just had to try making my own version. I never really thought about making my own hot sauce before but I am so glad I did. I really can’t get enough!

The first time I made it I took all of the seeds out of the peppers and mashed it but didn’t blend it so it made a chunkier and milder sauce, more like the original. This time I left some seeds in and blended it making a hot and smooth sauce. I think both ways turned out great! The Tequila flavour really stands out and if you don’t know it is there it leaves you wondering…

This is not an exact recipe, but more of a guide… I tried my best to give amounts though…

You will need:

20 Jalapeño peppers

2 Cubanelle Peppers

Seed the peppers (or not depending on how hot you want the sauce) and chop roughly: and don’t forget to use gloves!!! Hot pepper burns are not fun! (don’t ask me how I know)

1 medium onion, or half or a large onion, 6-7 Shallots and about 6 cloves of garlic.

mince finely and start sautéing in a few tsp of oil until translucent.

Chop up a tomato and add to the onion mixture. Add a few tsp of salt and some if you love garlic like me add a bit of garlic powder.

Cook down for a few minutes and add the chopped peppers.

Add about 2 cups of water.

Cover and Simmer…

Keep on simmering until everything is fully cooked and soft.

Juice two limes

Add the Lime juice to the sauce, add 2 tsp of sugar and adjust the salt if needed.

Turn off the heat and add about 1 ounce of Tequila… or maybe a bit more 😉

Wait until Cooled and then Blend, mush or use a wand.

While blending, start adding the vinegar, start with 1 cup, taste and add more if needed. The first time 1 cup was enough but this time I used about 1 1/3 cups.

and there you have it!

Jalapeño Tequila Lime hot sauce.

Here’s the Recipe again.

20 Jalapeño peppers
2 Cubanelle Peppers
1 medium Onion (or half Large)- minced
1 cup of minced shallots
6 cloves of garlic – minced
1 tomato (chopped)
2 cups of Water
salt
garlic powder
2 tsp sugar
Juice of 2 limes
1 ounce Tequila (or a bit more)
1 – 1 1/3 cup vinegar

This makes a large batch! But it stores beautifully.

What a day….

Last night Simon was called into work… he wasn’t even on call but on Saturday morning there was an electrical problem and an electrician died and there was a small fire in his building…They had to transfer the system and the people that were on call were called in and needed to sleep so Simon had to go….

This morning he arrived at 9:20 and we left soon after for a friends birthday party at an indoor play area… we got there at about 11:15 and the boys disappeared in the tunnels and slides… Khéna didn’t want to go so Simon watched over him as he went around the arcade games… I was talking to another mom and I turned around to see Simon with Khéna in his arms and full of blood… I tool him and headed to the reception desk and asked for help… his face and shirt and hands were really covered in blood and looked for what was bleeding and found a long and deep gash on his forehead… Simon explained that he was just running along and feel and hit his head on one of the arcade games…

The girls at the reception desk called 911 for an ambulance… we applied pressure and cleaned up most of the blood and the gash stopped bleeding… the police arrived before the ambulance with a small emergency kit and stayed until the ambulance arrived, and as we thought, a trip to the emergency room was needed…

Khéna cried and screamed not wanting to go on the gurney… but the minute we got in the ambulance he was OK… looking out the back window and naming the things that he saw… trucks, cars, trees… it felt good to see him a bit more calmed…

We got to the emergency room and went right into Triage… the nurse asked a few questions and then came to the dreaded question… “are his vaccines up to date?” To which I responded that we don’t vaccinate… she said “OK” and then whispered… “I don’t vaccinate either”… and then she warned me that they might push the tetanus vaccine but that it was my choice…She said that the wait would be a few hours and they put a wet compress on his forehead so that the wound would stay soft and clean…

I got Khéna into a Wheelchair because he was heavy and a bit groggy… and went downstairs to get something to drink and get him a stuffed animal at the gift shop… he was happy and choose a stuffed cat that he has almost not let go of since…

I was able to keep him in the wheelchair for about 2 hours until he decided he had energy again and was wanting to walk… and then we walked and walked all over the small portion of the emergency room while we waited… about 2 1/2 hours later he finally sat down and nursed a bit…a few minutes later he was asleep… and they called… we went and waited in the suture room until the doctor came… when he got the he again asked the same questions.. what happened? how old is he? are his Vaccines up to date? I answered that we don’t vaccinate and he just said Ok… and left it at that… he looked at the gash and decided that glue was the best thing for it.. a nurse came in to help hold him while the doctor glues his wound and within a minute it was done and though he cried a bit because he was scared, he let them do what they had to do and the minute it was done he was OK…

I got him ready and headed outside with my little Khéna back to normal besides the wound on his forehead… I called Simon who had since gone to the house of the friends who were having the birthday with the boys. and they came and picked us up… we were at the hospital for more that 5 hours…

We just got home and he is asleep on me…and now we all are heading to bed… What a long day…

aversions…

One of my main pregnancy symptoms has hit… Aversions…

I have a slight hint of nausea lingering at all times and I am having so many aversions… food that I usually like just don’t appeal to me…

If I make a meal that needs to cook for a while, by the time that it is done cooking I can’t stand to eat it and there are very few things that I really “feel” like eating…

So a few times this week I have made a supper and have not been able to eat it…

Last night I had take out and it felt really good to actually eat a full meal and then was able to eat the rest for lunch…

Why does our body do this to us… we are growing a baby but can’t look at food to even nourish ourselves…