New York, New York!

I want to be a part of it.. New York, New York!  Well, you get the idea.  After middle child finally managed to graduate from high school, I took him on his graduation trip.  This tradition began in our family with me.  My Dad did not want me to head out to Ocean City with the other "wise" members of my graduating class, so he took me on a 4 day trip to California.  I still vividly remember the trip.  It truly is one of the highlights of my life.  So, for our children, we take each one on a trip for 4 days after graduation to someplace they want to visit - but we added the caveat that it had to be east of the Mississippi River.  So, middle child said he wanted to go to New York.  And off to New York we went!

New York City at night.  We stayed in New Jersey, and this was our view across the river.

9-11 Memorial.  Freedom 1 is the tall building to the right.
It was a very wet, sad, and rainy day when we were there.

The lobby of the Museum of Modern Art.
Oh, the art in these museums!
Amazing!

We had a wonderful time.  We visited many museums - the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Statue of Liberty is still closed for renovations.  It will reopen on July 4.  Ellis Island, however, is closed until further notice due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy.  So, middle child and I spent a very wet and rainy day across the river in New Jersey, looking at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  We had planned to walk on the Freedom Walk, which extends along the shore line, but it, too was closed due to damage from Sandy.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  I hope that he remembers this trip when he grows up just as fondly as I do!

Freedom One on a glorious summer day.

Vegetarian Lasagna

Lasagna has always been one of my favorite food groups.  But, with the Italian Sausage, three kinds of cheese, eggs, and noodles, it's never been one of the better choices for me!

I began making vegetarian lasagna a few years ago when I found myself inundated with summer produce.  How could I use all of this produce, and keep it good for later?

Enter vegetarian lasagna.  I tweaked a few things to make it healthier, and even better, this is a recipe that freezes well.  When I make a batch, I make two pans.  One for us to enjoy now, and one for us to enjoy later.  I will wrap the second one well, and stick it in the freezer so that on one of those nights when I know I am going to be pressed for time, and need something easy to make for dinner, I can just pop this into the oven and have dinner hot and ready an hour later!

What follows is my recipe for Veggie Lasagna:

Sauce:
Saute in a pan over med-low heat-
1 onion, diced
1 mushroom (I prefer portabella, but any kind will do), diced
1 or 2 bell peppers, depending upon their size.  Color doesn't matter
2 cups of spinach, sliced into thin ribbons and then cross cut once or twice to make the pieces smaller
1 zucchini, diced

If I have any of these on hand, I will add them to my sauce:
Swiss Chard
Kale
Yellow Squash

Add the spinach last to the saute pan, wait until the onions are almost translucent.  Once the spinach has wilted, add a large (32 ounce jar) or spaghetti sauce, and keep an extra jar on standby, in case if you run out of sauce. I use our own homemade sauce, but have been known to use a store bought sauce if we are out of ours.

The Cheese Layer:
In a large bowl, mix:
2 large bags of shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
6 eggs

1 box of lasagna noodles, uncooked.
I don't cook my noodles.  Somewhere around 2000, when the kids were little, I didn't have time to cook the noodles, so I put them into the pan and hoped for the best.  Since I use so many veggies in my sauce, there is a lot of extra water.  The noodles do a great job of soaking up the water and helping the lasagna to set faster.

Begin assembly:
Spray the bottoms of two 9 x 13 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray. 

Place 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of each pan, spread it out evenly with a spoon.  If you need more sauce to give the bottom of the pan a nice "red" color, go ahead.

Layer noodles on top of the sauce.  My pans require 3 noodles lengthwise, and 1 across at the end. I try to alternate which side gets the cross wise noodle.

Spread 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cheese sauce evenly across the noodles.  It might not spread completely evenly, but that's okay.  The cheese will melt and spread.

Layer 1 to 1/2 cups of the sauce across the cheese.  I like my lasagna saucy, so I use a heavier hand with the sauce and make certain that it is evenly spread across the cheese and noodles.

Layer Noodles over sauce.

Cheese.  (This is my last cheese layer, so I try to make certain all of the cheese is used up in this layer.)

Sauce.

Noodles.

On top of this layer of noodles, I add another layer of sauce, with no cheese.  I know people who add extra cheese on this layer, or nothing at all.  Honestly, at this point, it is up to you and your preferences. I try not to add cheese to the top at this point because I've found it sticks to the foil.  If I wanted cheese on the top, I'd add it after I remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.

Once this is done, I cover both trays with foil.  The one going into the freezer is labeled and put away.
The other lasagna is either cooked immediately, or put into the fridge so that I can bake it closer to dinner time.

To bake:
Oven 350*.
With foil on, bake lasagna in a 350* oven for 45 minutes.
Remove foil, bake an additional 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, let sit for an additional 10-15 minutes before serving.

If frozen- try to remember to take the lasagna out of the freezer the night before and thaw in your refrigerator overnight.  At the very least, try to remember to put it in your fridge before you go to work in the morning!  Then cook, following the directions listed above.

They're Reading our E-Mails!

I've been following the scandal surrounding e-mails and text messages with some amusement this week.  Amusement, because we think our e-mails are private, and we are astounded when we find out that they are not. 

I know that when I started my most recent job, I signed a statement that I understood that any e-mail that went back and forth on the company network was subject to the company reading and reviewing not only my e-mails, but also my web activity. If I were to access my private e-mail on a company network, then they would be able to access whatever I sent.  Believe me, ever since I signed that paper, I only use my work computers for work, and will not access my private e-mail account on the machines at work.  Considering that every once in a while, you will find out about someone who was fired for sending personal e-mails on company time, surfing inappropriate websites, or for sending e-mails that had nothing to do with company business on a company e-mail, I think I'm on the right track.  I know that this policy extends to smart phones accessing the company network, as well as smartphones that the company owns - even when you are at home, off of company time.  You are still using the company's machinery.

I keep my smart phone locked, and I require a password to access my accounts.  Even then, I only access facebook and e-mail from my smart phone.  I have heard that hackers are getting better at getting into smart phones and stealing sensitive account information off of the phone.

When I log onto a public network, say at Panera, I get a message from my computer telling me that "This is a public network.  Others can see what you are doing."  Read: Hackers can get into your wireless transmissions and read whatever you are writing or sending.  I only logged into public networks to turn in reports for school.  Anyone who is interested in the borrowing habits of teenagers in public libraries is more than welcome to read my thoughts on the matter.  But, send a personal e-mail from Panera?  No way.

Spy Ware and Mal Ware are everywhere.  When did you last run your virus scan on your computer?  I run a check weekly on my computer.  Did you know that some spyware will record every single keystroke you make and transmit it back to the home computer?  Some unknown entity somewhere is putting those keystrokes together and reading through everything you ever wrote.

But, who would take the time to do this?  People who are out to steal your account information.  Yes, they are real.  They plant spy ware on your computer while you are surfing the web, or opening funny messages from friends, and the transmission back to the home servers begin immediately. 

I have a friend who thinks her user name and password were lifted when she logged into her e-mail from a computer at the public library.  We all started getting e-mails from her about how she was in Italy and her money, passport, and plane ticket home had been stolen and that she needed help getting back home.  The hacker even gave a bank account number of an account that the U.S. Embassy had supposedly set up to help her get back home.

Let's say you are working on your laptop somewhere in public.  Did you know that if you don't have a privacy screen on your monitor, anybody in the same room with you can read what you've written?

And let's not forget our "friends" who decide to respond to a message that we sent them, but BCC someone else on the e-mail for whatever reason.

Wait.. what about the data mining that goes on with our permission?  Those tags we use at the grocery store to get sales?  The grocery store is tracking everything from our buying preferences, to our method of payment.  They know everything about us.  Target is infamous for data mining information about their customers.  I'm not sure how they do it, but I believe they track information using our credit card numbers.  Every single time we swipe a credit card, information is stored about us somewhere.  Our names, our buying habits, the stores we regularly shop, how often we get gas, our favorite gas stations.  It's rather frightening when you realize how much information is out there about you already.

The list goes on and on.  Electronic communications are never as secure as we think.  Privacy in an online world calls for constant vigilance on our part.  I am more worried about some random person in the neighborhood library attempting to hack into my laptop and steal information than I am about the federal government supposedly reading my text messages.  I honestly can't see someone taking time out of their day to read about my lunch plans with my friend Jessica later in the week, or our messages back and forth because the owner of our favorite bagel shop is undergoing a bone marrow transplant this week, and they are having a fundraiser to help him cover medical expenses over the weekend.

One last thought to creep you out a little:
To some other governments around the world - WE are the enemy.  They do not have the Constitution legally binding them and what information they can mine.  Most likely, they do have someone sitting around reading the text messages back and forth between teenagers:  "OMG!  No he didn't" and "LOL!  Yes he did!". 

They probably know all about my lunch plans with Jessica.  I just hope they send some money over to the fundraiser at the bagel shop this weekend.  His medical expenses are going through the roof.

Saving a Little Money - One Penny at a Time

I try to cook most of our meals from scratch.  Not only is it healthier if I cook the meals myself, it saves an awful lot of money over time.  One thing I find I constantly need is Chicken Bullion and Chicken Broth.  I'm not fond of the bullion cubes you find at the grocery store.  They are very high in sodium.  In fact, many bullion cubes contain some form of Monosodium Glutamate. (MSG).  Since I have problems with MSG, I find it easier to make my own home made version of bullion cubes.  I make my bullion cubes in advance, so I can pull them out and use them when I need them.

You will need a deep pot, and the left over bones (with meat still attached) of whatever you have recently eaten.  Chicken, Turkey, and Beef bones all work well for this.  I usually do this on a day when I know I'm going to be home all day.  I start the broth simmering in the morning, and then turn it off around  2 or 3.  I let it cool, skim off the fat, and then make the cubes.




Everybody into the hot tub!  One turkey carcass, three stalks of celery roughly cut into large pieces, four carrots, peeled and snapped into several large chunks, and an onion, cut into quarters.  Put everybody into the pot and add water.  I add enough water to make the bones float- usually about half full.  Bring the mix to a rolling boil, and then lower the temperature down to a "2" or "Med-Low" and let everything simmer for hours.  Let it simmer at least 4 hours, with the lid on, adding water occasionally to make certain that the water level never drops down below the halfway point in your pot.  After 3 or 4 hours, turn the heat off and let the broth cool.  Skim any visible fat off the top.  At this point, cookbooks will tell you to pour the broth through a cheesecloth in a colander over another pot to remove the bones and veggies.  I hate getting extra pots dirty, so I fish out what I can.  I guess I'm a little lazy.  I figure that any chunks of veggies or meat that I can't get out with my little hand held strainer deserves to stay in and help flavor the next meal.



Here, I've portioned out the broth into a muffin tin.  I always spray the tin with a non-stick spray before I add the broth.  It helps to make getting these guys out a little easier.  I freeze the broth overnight, and then pull the tins out.  Run a little warm water over the top and bottom of the tin.  Using a fork (or table knife) and some patience, leverage these guys out of their little spaces.  These guys have just come out of the freezer.  You can see the fat has come to the top.  I scraped off what I could before I put them in a freezer bag.

Look!  Little bullion cubes!  When a recipe calls for chicken bullion, or a small amount of broth, I will pull out one of these cubes and add it.  Each cube contains about 1/2 cup of broth.  One of these cubes will add as much flavor as a bullion cube, but with much less sodium.  A long time ago, I used to make these in ice cube trays.  Pulling the cubes out of an ice cube tray was much easier - the trays are designed to release their contents easily.  However, I had two problems with this method- I'd always end up using 2 or 3 broth cubes for every meal I made.  Even worse, the mess I made attempting to get the broth into the trays- and to get equal distribution among the trays, was very messy.  With the broth in a muffin tin, I can fill the muffin holes 2/3 full and still have a decent size cube.  It allows room for expansion in the tin.  I make less of a mess transporting muffin tins that are 2/3 of the way full across the room to the freezer than I do a mostly full ice cube tray of broth.  Don't ask me why... I guess I'm just clumsy!

So, for a days worth of work, I ended up with 24 little cubes of turkey broth. They are happily sitting in the freezer right now, waiting for me when I next need them.

I froze the rest of the broth - 3 quarts worth- in 3 plastic containers with screw-on lids.  I will use these when I need a large quantity of broth to make soup.

For the three quarts of broth alone, I saved $10. I put in maybe an hour's worth of work, total on this project.  Nice investment of my time!

Graduation, Maybe

Last week, middle child graduated high school.  Two weeks ago was the last week for Seniors.  And exactly three weeks ago, I got a call from the school asking if he was planning on graduating from high school this year?

A little background here.  Middle child has always considered homework and classwork to be more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. 

Don't get me wrong.  The child is brilliant.  If he enjoys the class and finds it challenging, he will work, and he will work hard.  He has a scholarship to attend college in the fall. 

However, if he thinks the class is worthless, or he finds the work to be "busy work", "stupid", or "a waste of my time", he won't do any of it.  NADA. 

This has been a constant battle between us for years.  I know he can do so much better than he does.  He chooses only to put himself out in "worthwhile" classes.  As a result, he's carried a high B average through all of high school.  And by high B, I mean 3.49.

So, the call from the high school went something like this:

counselor: Graduation is a week away.  He is failing three of his classes.  He is required to pass English in order to graduate, and right now, he is failing English.

me:  Just what do his grades look like right now?

counselor: AP Calculus, 100%.  AP Physics, 100%.  Honors Painting, 100%.  AP Macro Economics, 98%.  English, 19%.  Pop Culture, 20%.  AP Spanish, 21%.

me:  How on earth did he get grades that low in those three classes?

counselor:  He hasn't turned any homework assignments in AT ALL in those classes this grading period.  I spoke to him about it at length, and he told me that he was too smart to spend time "doing busy work just so the teachers could have something to grade.  If they want something to grade, give me a paper to write.  Ask me to analyze a piece of literature.  Don't give me 20 multiple choice questions about the plot of a story."

me: (squelching urge to scream, because I kind of agree with him)  Is there any way he can turn in the back assignments and get enough credit to graduate?

counselor: Yes.  If he turns in all of his back work, he will get half credit on each assignment.  That will raise his average up to just above a 50%.   It's still failing, but he has major assignments and papers due in each of those three classes this week.

me: (resisting urge to bang head against the wall)  Thank you so much!  I appreciate the heads up!

So, when he got home, we had a discussion about his grades that consisted of me saying "How do you let your grades slip so far down?  What are you thinking?  (and even more to the point) YOU are going to lose your scholarships!  Your admission is dependent upon your final transcript!"

His response consisted of, "Don't worry Mom, I've got this".

That weekend consisted of him spending pretty much the entire weekend in the library, or at the dining room table.  He refused to talk with us, but he would occasionally smile, and then go back to work.

Monday morning arises, and I was once again harping on him about turning in his back work, as well as the projects that were due before Friday.

He just looked at me and said "Don't worry, Mom.  I've got this."

By 10 am, I get an e-mail from his English teacher.  Not only  had he turned in every back assignment from the quarter, he had written an analysis essay comparing the book they had just finished reading to the economic principles they had just covered in economics.  His final project on Drones was considered to be the best submission she had from any of her students in any of her English 12 classes.

By noon, I had an e-mail from his pop culture teacher.  He had turned in every back assignment, and turned in his final project early.

By 1, the Spanish teacher e-mailed me to let me know that he had turned in all of his back assignments.

On Tuesday, we got a call from the counselor at the high school letting us know that he would be graduating without any issues whatsoever.

I just received his electronic report card this morning.

AP Calculus - A
AP Economics- A
AP Physics- A
AP Spanish - C
Honors Painting- A
Pop Culture- B
Honors English 12- B

What the heck?

So, last week, we watched him march across the stage.  He hugged his English teacher instead of shaking her hand....

And the first words out of his mouth after he found us in the stands?

"College?  Don't worry, Mom, I've got this."

Herding Cats

A little bit about me:  I herd cats for a living!

Seriously!  I have three teenagers.  Well, actually I have 2 teenagers and a 20 year old.  Raising kids through their teenage years has been like herding cats.  With two boys and one girl, each going in very different directions, I never know from minute to minute where things are going or why things are or when the status quo is going to change.

I also substitute teach.  Before my kids were born, I was a classroom teacher.  But, I decided to stay home with my kids, so now, I substitute during the school year.  Talk about herding cats!  Every single day I walk into a classroom, I never know what is going to happen.  New class, different kids, new adventures.  I've had both the very funny and the very interesting happen in classrooms. 

Through everything, I've learned the importance of laughter.  I try not to take myself too seriously, and I try to laugh as much as I can.  I do search for the hilarious in the situations I find myself in, for only then can I find the strength to carry on through some of the tougher situations we all face.

My oldest child is a Physics/Math double major who just finished his second year of college.
Our middle child is heading off to college to major in Math, he will be attending the same school as his brother.
Our youngest child is still in high school.  She just finished her Sophomore year, and is still trying to find her passion in life.

This blog marks my journey- through my cat herding phases, my frustrations with life, my attempts at home-making, crafting, and thoughts about the world around me.

Thanks for spending some of your time with me!

Senior Week

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all!

We never wanted to put our kids into a situation where they could find themselves pressured into decisions that they were just not ready to make.

So, middle child was given his choice of where to go for his graduation trip this year.

He settled on New York City.

He and I spent 3 wonderful days hopping around museums and visiting the 9-11 Memorial.

We hit up the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), the Guggenheim, and the American Museum of Natural History.

It was a whirlwind 3 days.  I've now been to the major museums on the East Coast.  I can honestly say that the Met was my favorite museum.  It just goes on and on and on.  Every single room leads to another discovery, and then another discovery.  It was an amazing experience, and I don't feel that I have even scratched the surface.  I need to go back at least two more times to see it all and absorb everything that is there to be seen.

We just got back home a little while ago.  Both of us are exhausted beyond words.  He's asleep in his room, and I'm ready to fall asleep at the keyboard, but I'm too wound up from driving home. 

I keep forgetting that New York - and all of those amazing museums - are only 4 hours away from my house.  I need to head up that way and explore the museums a little more often!