The Happy Domestic

I'm posting this recipe because my mom unexpectedly mentioned how much she had loved this salad one time when she was over... I can't even remember when I served it to her, that's how long ago it was, and I'm shocked that she remembered it. Anyway, mom says she's been waiting and waiting for me to blog it, so here goes. Please note that "Asian" in the title refers to the dressing and style, not to the cabbage. Asian Cabbage Salad 1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded 1 pkg ramen noodles with Oriental or Chicken seasoning* 1 small handful of sesame seeds 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp soya sauce 2 tbsp white vinegar 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar approx. 1/4 c vegetable oil Prepare cabbage in a large salad bowl and set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan or wok, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Break up ramen noodles into small pieces and add to pan, along with sesame seeds. Heat together while stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until noodles and sesame se...

Well folks, it's Christmas Day. Actually, night. And here I am in fine Christmas spirit, exorcising my humbugs on Blogger. I should be catching up on mountains of paperwork, which, actually, I have been doing to a certain extent already, but it's just so hard to concentrate on work with a belly full of treats, a house full of opened presents, and a brain full of notes to self (tinged with a smidgen of hormones). It may not be New Year's Eve yet, but I feel like summing up the year, or at least the month, in review. December has been... interesting. Other possible adjectives include strange, perplexing, frustrating, promising, sickly, busy, predictable, difficult, exciting, and full of change. I have a hard time keeping up with my own life. At least I'm not puking every day, which is more than can be said for the first few weeks of December. At best, my girlies are the highlight of my life, particularly when they're not driving me up the wall. And Thank You God for...

I have heard several couples declare they don't celebrate Valentine's Day. These are loving, well-adjusted couples who give a lot of attention to their relationship and their partners, every day of the year. Valentines Day, in comparison, seems like such a cheap, commercial version of the real thing, that they don't see the point in celebrating it. Sometimes that's how I feel about Christmas. One day 2000-ish years ago, Jesus Christ was born. He lived a remarkable life, and then he died. Three days later he rose again, and he has profoundly impacted the world and my life ever since. We celebrate him every day. We live life with him every day. So decorating a tree and buying presents for others and stuffing ourselves with treats seems so meaningless in comparison. And so much pointless effort. Then I think about how I saw Christmas as a kid. The lights, the tree, the mysterious packages, the delectable smells and tastes, all these gave me a sense of greater magic tha...

I have six kids. Seven if you count my husband. Are they all mine? Thankfully, no. But this kind of craziness explains in part why blogging has taken a backseat to real life in the past ...weeks? month? Anyhow. My girlies are turning 1 and 2 in a week and a bit, and I am going to be 28. For some reason I feel like I've been 28 forever and I should be turning 31 by now. We just found out that we have a foster child being placed in our home full time, and she is already staying with us. This is exciting, and so far things have been going well. All (3) of our girls are getting along great and enjoying each other's company. On Tuesday some friends of ours were able to get last minute flights to Alberta to pick up some belongings that have been missed for some time, so we are also looking after their three school-aged children. Despite my initial panic, life has continued on at a manageable but very busy pace. I love to be creative in the kitchen, but cooking for eight (me and h...

I was sent an email from the agency I work with today containing a presentation of Fast Facts on H1N1 by a qualified medical doctor. I found it extremely interesting, from the charts and tables to the statistics quoted.  I particularly enjoyed doing the math. According to the presentation, nine to twelve out of every hundred people get the flu, or up to 42 in 100 if they have young children (in school or daycare). 11/1000 of these got REALLY sick, enough that they went to their local emergency clinic and sat waiting however long it took for someone to actually take them in and examine them. So now we have around a tenth of a percent of the normal population (0.132%) really sick. Got that? Now 7/10,000 of THOSE people died (in the U.S.)... putting us at an expected 0.0000924% rate of death in the population. That means that in Northumberland, Hastings, and Prince Edward Counties (a combined population of 236,933) there may be 0.2 people who die... in their worst case scenario. I'll...

I went for a walk today with our girlies, savouring the breezy autumn air and the riotous falling leaves. The colours, if you take a moment to gaze at them, are overwhelming, supersaturated hues of gold and scarlet and tangerine with hints of lime, deep-dark purples and blackish greens tinged with crimson. Colour is everywhere. Soon the azure skies and ice cream scoop clouds will flee before wild, dark and stormy skies when the setting sun gilds the world under a heavy slate horizon. I love autumn. All the blustery, chaotic, colourful changefullness of the season tells me I'm alive, so very alive! Maybe that's why I don't mind a little messiness, chaos, unpredictability and drama in my world. Life is full of both glee and heartache, pleasure and pain, and I'll take them both together for better or worse... I'll take it all.

This past spring I blogged about my intent to set healthy habits , and to fit into my pre-preg pants. Now that it's autumn, I thought it was time for an update on my progress, goals, etc. Confession time. I have not been drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Some days I have forgotten to drink at all, and other days I have struggled to get in 4 or 5 glasses of water. This is partly because I have been drinking coffee, milk, and occasionally juice. From time to time I feel incredibly fatigued and headachy, and then I know I am dehydrated and immediately get some water. Sometimes being dehydrated has made me feel hungry, and I snack unnecessarily without thinking. I don't get 30 minutes a day of straight exercise, but I do get that at least 3 times a week. Carting children around helps. The good news is... I fit into my old pants! So it would seem that part of the problem was simply my abdomenal "muscles" (I can hardly use the word without sarcasm) still contracting af...