Busy Busy Summer

Hi JennyMac Fans!

Can you believe the summer is almost over? Those of you with kids I am sure are already celebrating in the south because your kids are back to school and those of you who are teachers like me may be on the spectrum of already back to school, prepping for classes to start or like me-- savoring the last few days before you are required to report back to school (August 25).
The county I work for starts the first day of school after Labor Day. Always, ever since I was kid and grew up/was educated in the same county where I teach now.  Have I told the story why we start so late? Skip down if you already know the story because you are my coworker and know the struggle is real.  We have an amusement park 2 hours away from here in Richmond, Va. called Kings Dominion and they appealed ("made a deal") to/with the state that since many students work for the park, to please open schools AFTER the biggest travel/last vacation weekend of the year (Really, it's not. That is Thanksgiving, but whatever.) So even though none of my students can work (middle schoolers) and none of the high schoolers are close enough to drive, we have to follow the same schedule.  I have a friend who works in a county about 30 minutes away and she starts school earlier and gets out earlier and clearly their county does NOT follow the "Kings Dominion Rule." So enough of my whining about something I cannot change yet everyone razzes me and says "whoa, you start school late" like I had something to do with it.

I know you haven't heard from me for awhile but life happens, you know....So let me catch you up to speed.

June 2015:
End of the year craziness. Keeping the kids educated and entertained (overly qualified babysitting services), keep myself sane wrapping up school while working through another Graduate Class, packing/cleaning up room, entertaining my "squad" after school, dealing with staff leaving our school for many reasons other than retirement and that is stressful and very sad.

July 2015:
Vacation to Virginia Beach (YAY!) and starting another Grad class on my vacation (BOO!). Yeah, K-man was NOT happy but the good thing is last year my very first Grad class started at the same place at the same time and that was new and daunting. However, now that I have the routine of online learning under my belt, it was not daunting because I became a better time manager of how to organize my work within the deadlines and still enjoy a vacation.  Online learning can be a beautiful thing once you get with the flow of how it all works. Started reading some fascinating books, they are so rich with information, you can stop reading however, you have to stop reading because it's too much to absorb.

The Book "Real Food Fake Food" I saw mentioned in an article that it was upcoming and I immediately pre-ordered it. I have been really obsessed in the past year with food science and the reality of the products we are eating that we believe is food. I am shocked and horrified how the government has much to do with it and as I go on in my little FACS world of teaching the MyPlate model to my students and how to eat a healthy diet, I really have to bite my tongue to go on a tirade. Some of my students find it fascinating, some shrug and some run home and make it dinner conversations and I get emails from parents how hard it is to get their kids to eat period and my education is causing issues.  My health education of our kids is a rough road.  Anyway if you care about fish, olive oil, kobe beef and other meats, cheese (mainly parmesan), wines, honey and coffee then READ THIS BOOK. If you don't care, (but you should) then try reading my other page turner.

I ran into Robert Lustig's work from a six degrees of separation thing. I was doing some article research for my class, found a very long article on The Sugar Conspiracy or Controversy (I can't remember which), which led to a reference to Dr. Lustig, which lead to my finding his lecture about sugar (The Bitter Truth) on youtube.com (it's over (90 minutes but fascinating) and there is a TED talk by him (The Elephant in the room), but if you want a short 8 minute version see my embedded ABC news segment of him below. Regardless, all of Lustig's work is based on another man's controversial and groundbreaking work on sugar who was swept under the rug- John Yudkin, "Pure, white and Deadly. I have that book too but will save it for another post. If you have been reading my past posts while I was on Whole30....the struggle is real and it is amusing to me how people have finally accepted that smoking is bad and that overeating is a problem but how people go "PHHHFFFTTTT" over how sugar is the underlying base to all our problems with eating and perhaps our health. I think our new food nutrition label this year is gonna shake up some things with sugar, hopefully. Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig, proof if you need to digest this in smaller doses at your own pace. I highly recommend it. It's going on my whiteboard trough at school for kids to see and pick up and read out of curiosity, right next to the Real Food Fake Food.




August 2015:

This was not a good way to end the summer with a loss of our furry 4 year old boy Scooter.  You have seen some of my past pictures of his funny antics and goofiness which we adored. I am tearing up writing this and although all tragic ends have a story, going into all the detail will depress you and possibly electrocute me as I try to type it all out. So we are still grieving and focus on our other furry girl Bikini and keep her happy and watch her evolve in a different level of princess being the "only child" of sorts which has been interesting. Many people think that by saying "are you going to get another cat" is a good topic changer for such a devastating event in our lives but it is not. When people have a human death in the family such as a child or husband, no one should be saying right after, "are you going to have another baby?" or "are you going to get remarried?" Yeah, if you don't say that about a human, don't say it either about a cat or dog loss either. Okay?  Thanks.  I know that loss of any kind makes people awkward. Some people have finesse with saying the right thing or not saying anything at all but just hug. Others mean well and say things that only make the flood gates open for the mourner. No one knows what will trigger tears for one coping with loss. I think I am okay about Scooter and I wonder why I keep seeing a butterfly everyday around the dining room where I sit at my computer. Sometimes I think it is his spirit (since I never had so many butterfly visitations at one spot in a condensed amount of time (yeah, I am huge believer in departed souls and spirits, watch the Long Island Medium and see Teresa Caputo in action and you will be a believer too). Anyway, I have elaborated more than I intended here, sorry about that.

As I return back to school I will go back to posting my Whole30/Paleo adventures in cooking.  I warn you that since September will be a crazy month with my returning back to school routine AND finishing my Master Degree, I offer no guarantees when the next post will be but stay tuned.

Girly Observation...

I read many of your blogs everyday ladies! Most of you are married and you blog about the highs and lows of your marriage....the good, bad and the ugly of your spouse. Trust me, I hear ya.

I am not married to K-man. Yes, we live in sin...LOL. We have been together for over 2 years and it's wonderful. In my little blog musing today, I wanted to emphasize to appreciate anything or everything your man does.

First, I am not saying AT ALL, that any of my lady food bloggers are NOT doing this....this is just my input, my observations, how happy my 'thank you's' make K-man. Or possibly how happy your man would be over some extra thank you's.

Of course, I do most things around the house...the cooking, the cleaning, the gardening, the laundry BUT that is because I take the initiative to do it and just want it done quickly or MY way. But WHENEVER, I ask K-man....for help he does it.

• He hates shopping...but if I really want him to go (to pick out HIS fish) he goes without making issue. After, I thank him.
• I do all the cooking, BUT if I need him to chop, or help carry food out, set up for dinner/get our drinks....after I thank him.
• Any house improvement is usually my idea and I can fix and put lots of things together by myself...but there are some things I just don't want to mess with....A simple request...K-man does it.
  

BUT there are several things, I never have to ask him to do..

• Mow and edge the lawn. I have the summers off being a teacher....and would do this during the day....K-man thought I mowed it too short...."hunny, let me do this from now on" OK! After, he mows, I tell him how wonderful the lawn looks.
• I start doing the laundry....he puts the laundry in the dryer....hangs up my "delicates". Takes stuff out of dryer and folds. He is ADAMANT about not letting me carry the basket of laundry upstairs....I thank him for helping with laundry.
• I cook the dinner, we are sitting in the afterglow of fullness...K-man wants me to NOT miss my fave TV shows....he takes the plates and loads the dishwasher. When he comes back and joins me to watch....I thank him for doing the dishes.
• When I am vacuuming upstairs and K-man knows I am on my way down to our TV room....when I get downstairs....everything is moved out of the way. I 'vrrooomm' around and he puts everything back.
  

K-man used my car one night to go to his band practice. He uses my car mostly cuz it's the car at the end of the driveway and it's easier to take it rather move cars! The next morning when I was loading my totebag into my car for work...I went ahead and warmed up my car....He had filled it with gas, late at night after his practice in the freezing cold. So when we did our usual morning ritual of me handing him his coffee in his travel cup....I said..."thank you sweetheart for putting gas in my car last night" He said..."aww, you are welcome sweetheart....so glad you noticed."

See? Our men want the things they do to be noticed! The little smile on his face when I thanked him told me that this made him truly happy. Of course....it drives me crazy...when K-man puts out his pouty lip and says "did you notice...?" I am scanning the room wildly, then he says..."no, not here...." Grrrrr. He's testing me....LOL

Here's a sample of K-man's sense of humor. In the early days....when I was still putting things in the house together....arranging things....

K-man: "Did you see my contribution to the home decor?"
JennyMac: "Um no, sweetheart, where is it?"
K-man: Not gonna tell you, you have to find it.
JennyMac: Hmmmmm

I looked for days...this is what I found finally:

The box wasn't on the TY kitties laps but in front of them....but I put the box on them so you could see why he put the empty sardine box there....LOL

Lastly, I see K-man checking out my blog from time to time....He turns to me with a smile...
"Hunny, I like it when you mention me on your blog...makes me feel like a rockstar"

JennyMac: "Sweetheart, you ARE!"

Great-full moments

Have you ever had one of these? Yes, you can be grateful. But have you had a great-full moment? I had one today. I wanted to share it with you.

If you have read my profile or even the subtitle to my blog page, you know I am a teacher, a Family and Consumer Science teacher AKA Home Ec. teacher. I'd love to go into the depths of my struggles to be taken as a serious discipline but that is not today's subject. Today was a day that in receiving a note, it made me smile and think to myself THIS is why I teach.

At the workplace, we all sometimes question ‘what the hell made us choose this line of work?’ When things weigh heavily on our shoulders questions like these arise. But when you get a note from one of your 'groupies' like I did, it all makes sense; you make peace again with your career choice.

Sometimes teachers get groupies. Don't confuse teacher groupies with teacher's pet. I am not talking about the kids who have all the right answers for teacher. Teacher groupies can be quiet in class for they know their time to shine is when you are having one on one time. TG's are kids who want to eat lunch with you. They want to hang out in their room after school. They want to talk about nothing important, really. They are eager to help you when you need them to just because they WANT to be a help to you, no matter what the task…even cleaning out a closet and organizing it. (She even came back the next day and asked if I had another closet that needed organizing. LOL)

NOW, if you are a parent look at my ‘groupie’ for a minute from my perspective. What astounds me is that this is not one of those at-risk students who have no one at home. Her parents get home between 4-6. She gets great grades. She does swim team and track. She designed the phone directory cover for our school. She tells me of the many wonderful social and recreational things her family does. She also has a great relationship with her 6th grade sister who hangs with us at times. She plays with the young children in her neighborhood and makes money babysitting. She was showered with wonderful gifts at Christmas; they have a farmhouse in the country where the family grows grapes to sell for wine. She still listens to Radio Disney, they have only basic cable, has dial-up for Internet, yet has a cell phone (as does her sister). They are in the process of renovating their home as they explain why they still have basic cable/dial up. Yeah a real problem child, right?

When I see and hear about all the things she makes (foods, her clothes/dolls clothes, baby blankets, sock monkeys, ipod covers, phone holder….) I immediately am impressed and say “wow, what did you mom or dad think of what you made?” She shrugs and says “they aren’t impressed with my skills anymore, I guess nothing surprises them anymore as to what I can do” I thought to myself how sad. She does such extraordinary things for a kid her age and she isn't getting the recognition she deserves. She has this wonderful life and the family is so busy doing “things” that perhaps my groupie is not getting the affirmation she needs and seeks it from me. We had a conversation about her future career choices she had in mind for herself. She said she wanted to be a PE, math or FACS teacher. My only advice at the time to her was to be DOUBLE certified in two areas for job security. I’d work on converting her to be a FACS teacher later. LOL When I asked her if she has conversation with her parents about her career ideas she told me that her dad said that being a FACS teacher was fine….BUT she would probably change her mind after college. She said, she could tell her dad wasn't supportive. Sigh.

So my groupie wrote this thank you note to me (BTW, a thank you note is something WE had to do when we were kids…. Today’s generation isn’t note writers. They’re texting these days, not emailing like the adults do and certainly NOT writing handwritten notes.) listing all the things we’ve worked on after school and she wanted to express her gratitude for it. She included a P.S. how her dad was speechless over the apron we made after school and that she was becoming quite a woman. I told her 'maybe your dad is seeing that your FACS teacher plans are serious now.'

Bottom line…. Any of you parents out there, keep in mind…. that whatever you give and provide for your child…it doesn’t matter…what they want is YOU, your time, your conversations, your attention …your positive reinforcement. It’s not the fancy cell phones or trips to amusement parks. It’s the relationship WITH you they want. Who’s to know what would become of my groupie, if I thought ‘oh she’s going to be fine' and didn’t give her the time she wants from me after school.

What I DO think is what I have here is a Future FACS teacher. I can only hope. But more importantly, she is the biggest sweetheart and I can't possibly look her in the face and not do things with her after school. Just telling her I have a meeting and can't meet with her breaks my heart. We have a mentor/mentee program at our school and I always have an 8th grader for a mentee. My groupie asks me if I would be HER mentor early this year and I said without hesitation, “For next year, ABSOLUTELY. But this year you are going to be my ‘mentee-in-training.’ What she doesn’t realize yet, that I am already her mentor- have been since her first year.

Relationships like this are GREAT…. Doing whatever you can to make a child’s transitional pubescence years become FULL of experiences and precious memories!!!

Find YOUR ‘great-full’ moment today!!!

The introduction of the K-man.

I am blessed to have love in my life. Anyone who knows me, has met who I am talking about. To keep the TMZ paparazzi from following him around from my new found celebrity...(bwahahahaha, yeah right....LOL) I will lovingly refer to him as the K-man. (if his name changes after this he must have had a problem with his studly moniker)

S00000, my foodie friends, have you had a similar conversation like this (minus the corn syrup perhaps)?*....

K-man- "Honey, do you have a whole bunch of new friends from your new food blog?" (he's thinking it's some chat site?)
JennyMac- (*giggling* writing my second post as we talk, mind you) "No honey, it's too early after only one post"

K-man- "What if you get all these new friends to talk to and you don't have time to talk to me anymore?"
JM- (in head saying..awwwww) "Well, I look at it this way, when you are playing Xbox or playing your guitar, I have something to do by keeping busy on my blog"

K-man- *Smirk* "I won't ever play that MUCH guitar." (hmm... me noticing the lack of mention of the days he plays Xbox for hours--heh)
JM- (WHACK! instant underlying message shot into brain) "Well sweetheart, anything new is sometimes time consuming... I have a whole new format of this blog page to get used to (compared to my school's web page which I've worked on for hours at home as well). I constantly change things or change back cuz I am still learning the ropes. As time goes on and the novelty wears down I will spending less time on my food blog.

K-man- "Ok honey, at least you know how to spell meat. (Adding humor to the situation by referring to this email picture he sent me.

*Please keep in mind, this was a silly conversation between the two of us. Very syrupy sweet, very typical for us....Many people would get a pain in their tooth if they were a fly on the wall listening to us. Each couple has their 'thing'...this is ours....sigh....love....

BUT the message was received....Significant Other has noticed the time spent on this new hobby.... Alot.... Concerned.....Must convey concern in our silly yet loving way.

Reality Check: I always say K-man was a cat in other life....this proves it. At times, Tricksy demands attention when I am transfixed on the computer and she is meowing non-stop...."mommy, pick me up...mommy rub me....mommy feed me"
Like Tricksy...K-man wants my attention at moments when I am in high concentration mode on the computer. Or I get short with him when the computer has 'pokey' moments and regrettably has asked me a question. Poor K-man (pouty lip sticks out) THAT is my cue to take a break!!!

So to assuage my sweetie and let's face it....Full tummy = Happy Man....

Here's my submission for today. I found this on my new foodie friends site The Homesteading Housewife. K-man LOVES hot dogs. He'd eat them everyday if that is all I cooked...with no complaint. He often throws one on the grill on days when we are already cooking steak or pork loin (go figure).
Mom keeps giving us hotdogs from the Amish grocery (they are piling up in the freezer) and this recipe fills the bill. Thanks HH!!!

Tonight's Menu: Sauteed Green Beans and

Corn Dog Dressing Bake

Ingredients

* 1 cup celery, chopped finely
* 1 large onion, chopped finely OR 1 heaping cup of sliced green onion
* 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
* 2 pounds (2 packages) Hot Dogs.
* two 8.5 oz. packages Corn Bread Mix
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons rubbed sage
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a skillet, combine celery, onions & butter. Saute for 5 minutes. Pour into a large bowl.
3. Cut the hot dogs into fourths lengthwise. Then cut each hot dog strip into 4 pieces.
4. Pour hot dog pieces into the same skillet you used for the celery/onion mixture, saute hot dog pieces for 5 min or until lightly browned.
5. Add the browned hot dog pieces into the celery/onion mixture bowl.
6. In another large bowl, combine; eggs, milk, sugar, sage, & pepper.
7. Add 1/2 of the hot dog /celery mixture & 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar cheese, into the milk mixture. Stir in the corn bread mix.
8. Spread the mixture into a 13x9 backing dish.
9. Top with the remaining half of the hot dog/celery mix. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the top.
10. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for approx 35 min, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Enjoy!

POST SCRIPT:
Now I prepared the above and it did not turn out as I would have liked it. I made half the recipe for I didn't need a 13x9 amount and used a 9 inch square pan. HH said 400 degrees and perhaps my oven runs hotter but my bake turned out very dry. I also didn't use the box of Jiffy for I already had some corn meal mix at home. These things happen when you don't follow a recipe EXACTLY. So since I have leftover ham, I did it again. This time I used two more eggs and only one cup corn meal mix instead of 1-1/2 cups. (I wanted a more custardy bake). I baked it in 350 degree oven and checked it @ 30 minutes.
Mmmm, definitely better @ a lower temperature. I didn't make it EXACTLY like HH, but giving what I had on hand....it worked.

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Speaking of Ham/Hotdogs....err well, um Cat on the Hot Sidewalk...

"Hey did someone throw a treat over there?"