Sunday Sides and Suppers: Herb Biscuits (Improved Blend)

Those of you who've been following the cookbook's development or the Sunday Sides and Suppers segments here probably remember the herb biscuit recipe I put up a few months back. I spoke about them as an experiment in adapting a homemade chicken pot pie recipe to have less of a crust. Beyond this, we noticed the biscuits, especially when combined with a ramped up cream of chicken soup, make for an effective cold remedy.

Seeing as Hubby works in education, and we all have allergy issues, I make a batch of cream of chicken soup and a pan of herb biscuits every month or so, just to keep our immune systems up and running at full power. I was mixing up a double batch for us to share with Hubby's parents, when I had a memory hiccup and changed the herbal blend. Thankfully, it was for the better, so I decided to share the updated recipe with you today.

Herb Biscuits

2 cups Self-Rising Flour
3/4 cup Shortening
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Ground Rosemary
1 Tbsp. Thyme
1/2 Tbsp. Basil
1/2 Tbsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, rosemary, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, and pepper until well blended. Cut in shortening until pea sized granules form. Stir in milk a little at a time until the dough just combines. It may require a bit more or less. On a floured surface, roll out dough and cut circles. Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Brush with melted butter if desired, and allow to bake another 2-4 minutes or until golden brown. Makes roughly 6-9 biscuits.

Defining Work-from-Home

"So, what do you do?" isn't a particularly difficult question for most folks to answer. Yet, one thing I've come across time and again is the trouble those who work from their homes have getting others to believe they really do have a job. Usually the fact of a paycheck coming weekly, biweekly, monthly, or at the end of a contracted job settles the matter. But what about those people who labor over lengthy projects where no sale is guaranteed?

Do we relegate artists, novelist, and craftsmen who labor from home, whether they have children or not, as mere hobbyist simply because they have yet to land agents or sell their works in progress? Is the labor any less because it has yet to garner a profit or the workers any less industrious and serious about their craft because they are working toward that first check instead of having it in hand? Not necessarily.

How then do you define working-from-home? Not everyone who sets brush to canvas is a painter, and not everyone who gardens is a landscaper. The difference is in intent and destination. For the hobbyist, it's about enjoyment and the current project. For the home laborer, it's a step along the upward climb of their career.

When I started this blog, I was editing a novel I admit I've been working on for over a decade, mostly because I was trying to squash it into a mold it didn't fit because it was the expected thing. I was doing direct sales as a way to bring in a little income for the time being with an eye toward building a career as a novelist, so I named the blog with this in mind. I almost deleted the blog altogether when the sales gig fell through because playing around with my notebooks and word files didn't classify me as a work-at-home-mom.

Then I started thinking about what else I could do. I tried a few other things, but aside from the house I clean once a week, nothing stuck either because I wasn't suited for it or demand ran out. Through it all, I've kept writing. More than just a passion, it's a need. I actually tried to give it up altogether when Sneak was very young because I couldn't find a free moment amongst managing the household and tending to both girls needs with the opposing routines of a two-year-old and an infant. The resulting depression in the months that followed came frighteningly close to ending me.

At that lowest point, I knew I had not only to pick up a pen again but to set out some sort of plan. So I drafted my business plan, or as close to one as you can come when all you know for sure is what you have waiting in line to be created. I have the next four and a half years mapped out according to planned projects. Some, like the cookbook, I plan to publish independently, and others like Right of Succession, I plan to submit to agents and publishers. If I haven't successfully launched my career by mid 2014, I will begin looking into starting my own business with alternative skills I am learning now.

The plan makes the difference. Without it, I'd just be another hobbyist with a couple insignificant publications in literary journals and that one lonely short story published just before I became a mother. It sets my goals in mind whenever exhaustion and the pull of everyday things make sitting down with my characters seem like a waste of time, reminding me that each page sets me one step closer to the career I've wanted since I was ten.

How a Coffee Break Made Me a Better WAHM

My morning coffee break started at the first of last week when both girls and I were sick. I was moving slowly at the best of times, and I kept getting the chills. So by mid morning I'd end up collapsing into the chair, usually cradling a mug of coffee or hot tea for warmth. I viewed it as a nuisance and a weakness. I had work to do! I didn't need to be lazing about in a chair.

Yet, as the week progressed, I began to notice fringe benefits to taking a half hour or hour break. Sneak would come running over and hold her arms up to me as I'd settle down in the cushioning, so I'd lift her onto my lap. We'd cuddle there, her with her juice, and me with my coffee. While Sneak and I were snuggled up, Boo Bear got a bit of quiet time to herself. And, I'd go back to work once the coffee was done, refreshed and more productive than I would have been slogging through feeling like the cat's latest find.

With as independent as she is, I guess I forget Sneak's still of an age where she needs cuddle time with Hubby and I each day. When she's learning so much the world must seem as if it's in a constant state of change, I can understand the need to be still and quiet in a place that feels stable and safe. I only noticed how much when I saw how much calmer she was for an hour or two after wriggling off my lap in the mornings instead of crying for a nap by 10.

Boo Bear always seems like she craves being around other people all the time, so I never thought she might be missing quiet time alone until Sneak and I were in the chair. Boo would go to her room and either read or play with her barn and animals without our shared shadow tagging along behind. What makes this time so different from the hour or so after dinner when Sneak is sitting either on Hubby's knee or in my lap much of the time, I don't know, but it seems to be a much needed time for Boo to "just chill."

I suppose my reluctance to take a break in the morning has to do with my dislike of stopping in the middle of something. I'd rather just see it through until the end and then have my fun after all the work is done. I've never been a late sleeper. Even on the days I have a lie in, if I'm not up by 7:10, you can pretty much bet I'm ill, so I already have a lot done by 9 a.m.

When things go according to the usual routine, I make the bed, swish and swipe the bathrooms, and settle with my first cup of coffee to check email, network, and tend to marketing if needed. The girls wake around 7:30, and they can either watch Sid the Science Kid or play in their rooms while I start some laundry, put away the clean dishes, and make breakfast. Then after breakfast, they can either watch Dinosaur Train or play while I clean up the kitchen, put away the clean laundry, and grab a ten minute workout.

After all that, I'm starting to flag, especially on my cardio days. Used to, I'd just gulp down a glass of water as quickly as I could and keep going. However, I'd start slowing down, and I wouldn't get much else done. Yet, if I take my time with a cup of coffee after the water, enjoy some time with Sneak on my lap while I watch Rachel Ray, I get back to work at 10, and get more done in the next hour than I'd finish in two without the break. Plus, I've noticed I just relax and goof off with the girls more when I don't push to go, go, go all morning with the idea of having all afternoon free. That never really happened anyway.

Then by lunchtime, the household chores are usually done, and the girls are ready for a good nap. While they sleep, I take another leisurely break for lunch, and then I can put a sizable dent in my daily writing goals if not finish them off altogether before the girls wake, leaving only preparing dinner, another load or two of laundry, and time with Hubby and my girls for the evening instead of the half a list of leftover morning jobs I used to still have on my plate.

So, do you give yourself permission to take a regular coffee break? How's it affected your routine?

Wordless Wednesday: Nutritious and Delicious are not Antonyms

* Last night's dinner: pasta tossed with baked chicken, roasted broccoli, bell pepper, onion, celery, and tomatoes served in a vegetable stock reduction with garlic, basil, oregano, and rosemary. Costs roughly $1.75 per portion to make.

Pavlov's Workout

So, what's been the most difficult thing for me when it comes to weight loss efforts beside the mental issues I discussed yesterday? Finding a way to fit an effective exercise routine into my schedule.

For me, it's not so much a factor of time or boredom. I've found all sorts of ways to squeeze in twenty to thirty minutes six days a week, be it getting up a little earlier, cutting out time on the computer, or even doing calisthenics while watching my favorite show and jumping jacks during the commercials. The wide selection of workout videos available on "play now" through Netflix cancel out the boredom excuse rather effectively. No, my problem has been trying to find a way to do an all out, hard as I can go workout with two little ones who want to join in and don't understand why they need to stay back a couple of feet.

I tried waking up before they did, but I guess I must have either shook the house or made a bunch of noise flailing about, because they always woke up a few minutes in. I tried having them go to their rooms and play for the length of the video, but apparently this was just too long to be away from mommy. I tried exercising during their nap, but I ran into the same problem as the early morning sessions, and they wouldn't finish their naps after being woken. I even tried fitting one in during their snack, but they eat quickly and got angry at being in a high chair while I was "playing."

Enter The Flylady and her idea of fifteen minutes of "loving movement" daily. I liked the idea of any little bit helps, even when it comes to exercise, but I know my body. With a metabolism I'm still trying to drag from the grave, I need at least thirty minutes of intensive exercise each day to make a dent in even a minimum of 1200 calories taken in, the lowest amount you can consume without putting your body into starvation mode according to my research. So, I've taken the ideas of letting a little add up over time and using a timer and added in a reminder for my forgetful self to create the Pavlovian workout.

Between the capacity of our washing machine, linens, towels, microfiber cloths used for cleaning, and regular old clothes, I have to do at least two or three loads of laundry a day to keep from being buried in a pile of laundry we lovingly dub "Mt. Doom" when it makes its appearance. So, I've made my dryer buzzer the bell in my experiment. And instead of drooling at the thought of food, I immediately put away the laundry, set my timer for ten minutes, and do either resistance training or cardio depending on the day. I did the videos enough to memorize the exercises, so I don't even have to leave the laundry area. By day's end, I've racked up thirty minutes or more, and the girls don't care because I'm just folding boring old laundry as far as they're concerned, so they keep right on playing.

I know letting children see their parents being active is important to set a good example, but both girls are naturally active, and this is just for the "formal" workouts I'm adding to facilitate weight loss. We still do a lot of playing and running about, and I will let them know I am still exercising on a regular basis once both girls are old enough to understand that trying to get right up under someone's feet while they are concentrating on following an instructor on a video can cause accidents.

* The photo is of my aunt's dog, Sugar.

Plus Size Bloggers Contest Kickoff

As long time readers know, I've been struggling with my weight for years now. So, when I heard of the Plus Size Bloggers Contest on Twitter week after last, I had to check it out. I signed up, and so I'll be chronicling my progress on Mondays for the next three months.

Weight is a hard thing for many of us, and the causes are as individual as we are. Magazines, food companies, diet industries, and well meaning friends all spout one size fits all answers, and most of them will work, for a time. However, I really believe a person needs to find the reasons behind their struggles for there to be a lasting change.

I've certainly experienced enough regaining as soon as I get off a diet to suspect cutting calories and upping exercise isn't enough in and of itself. Even eating healthfully and exercising regularly isn't always effective in keeping weight off, I'm disappointed to say.

Thanks to some early progress made during the 52 Week Challenge, I did manage to loose 20 lbs. over the past year. I wouldn't have been able to do this if it hadn't been for my husband's help, not only as my personal cheerleader and coach, but as something of a counselor as well. We had several conversations about what was going through my head when I was both highly motivated and felt like giving up, and we came to two conclusions.

1) I have a distorted self-image.

No matter my size or how much I've lost, I keep seeing myself at my heaviest, i.e. the last days of my first pregnancy. In fact, the only way I can actually see the difference is to try wearing the one or two items I still have from back then, which now make me look a bit like a little girl playing dress up in mom's closet.

I'm trying to take off the ugly glasses, but it's not as easy as one would imagine since old wounds run deep. Even though I was an active and largely scrawny child, an uneven growth spurt just before I hit puberty opened the door for issues with weight and self-image that have followed me since. You see, my height stalled in fourth grade. I only grew about two inches in height from the end of fourth grade until the middle of my seventh grade year, yet my torso reached it's adult size at this time. Given that I was only 4'9" at my tallest, having a 28" waist made me a prime target for taunts about being a cow and "about to bust out of my dress."

When my height finally caught up, I looked normal again. Actually, given my rather broad adult frame, a 28" waist makes perfect sense proportionally speaking. Yet, the urge to hide my middle in any way possible and fantasies of being able to remove a few inches as if I was wearing a fake tummy never left.

2) I have a problem with self-loathing.

I've known I'm a perfectionist for decades, yet I'm just coming to realize how much this other side of the coin has been effecting me. In the past couple months, I've come to the conclusion self-loathing is the cause behind my perfectionism since not living up to that impossible standard gives me a reason to punish myself and bash my own character. I make myself good and miserable. Then I end up turning to carbs without thinking about it, and the whole cycle starts again.

I think perhaps I let myself get so out of control during that first pregnancy out of sheer relief. I finally had an excuse to gain a pound or two without guilt, so I relaxed the reigns on my perfectionism for the first time, literally, in years. Before I knew it, I'd gained more than I wanted, and that was before I ended up on bed rest for weeks. By the time Boo Bear was born, I was 60 lbs. overweight, and I'd killed my metabolism.

So, here I am four months shy of four years later, and only 20 lbs. lighter than I was then, albeit, I did have Sneak back in 2008, so it's not like I've been dieting for four years straight. I still need to loose 40 lbs. to reach a healthy weight again, though I'd love to loose 50 if I can. I'll post about what I'm doing and my progress over the next few weeks.

Please click on the link at the top right of the page, and give some support to the other bloggers in the contest.

* The first picture is of Boo Bear and me Christmas of 2006. The second picture is our family photo taken back in January.

Random Thoughts of a WAHM

WAHMs don't get sick days. They get both children are sick, so I'm going to get zilch done no matter what I do days.

The reason why you don't see many novelist, with families, start their career in their twenties or early thirties is becoming clear. You try writing, editing, or proofing the next great novel when you're interrupted every two minutes to pour juice, change a diaper, or stop a toddler from trying to climb the china cabinet.

I should have named the girls Over and Under and been done with it. One loves confined spaces and being under things, anything, and the other isn't happy unless she's climbing everything in sight.

Apparently a switch is flipped in the mind when a child hits 3 1/2, making them see all their formerly favorite foods as disgusting.

Forget flash drives. Email makes for a more effective backup system.

Ceramic piggy banks are cute, but a plastic tub with a slit cut in the top won't shatter into a thousand shards if dropped.

Why are online circulars impossible to see, even on highest magnification? Isn't letting people know how low your prices are compared to other stores the whole point? It's not going to happen if they can't read the ads.

I have a whole staff. Meet crock pot, dishwasher, microwave, word processor, printer, scanner, fax, calculator, washer, dryer, vacuum, and magic eraser.

Moms don't get workers comp if they get carpel tunnel from years of changing diapers, opening sippy cup lids their husbands tried to weld shut with sheer torque, and scrubbing random sticky gunk off every surface of their homes. They get hugs, kisses, and ibuprofen.

Toddlers are nudist, even if it is 20 degrees below zero outside.

Older children make decent babysitters for younger ones as long as there is an adult in the house. They don't mind playing thirty games of peek-a-boo in a row, and they can guess what the younger one is about to do from their expression.

When are they coming out with the caffeine IV drip?

YouTube Fun

I had a little time to kick back and mess about on the computer yesterday. I found some fun fan videos I'd like to share with you.

I was in something of a Buffy mood, and I came across this little gem set to "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. I'm not the biggest Black Eyed Peas fan, but the clips of Angel dancing at the beginning made me giggle. Warning: The author used the uncensored version of the song.

Boom Boom Pow [B]tvs

Then you have Buffy vs. Edward Cullen. I found myself giggling maniacally at this one. Actually, I think the Buffy/Angel drama should have ended the same way.

Buffy vs. Edward

Let's move on to Battlestar Galactica. The first series was before my time, though I have caught a few of the old episodes on a retro television network. Personally I like the character driven bent of the new series better. Then again, I'm a dark story junkie, so the tone fits my personality better anyway.

Here's a set of clips beautifully set to Requiem for a Dream from Lord of the Rings.

Battlestar Galactica Requiem

This next one has kind of horrible video quality, so I wouldn't suggest enlarging the video any. However, I love the song, having fallen in love with it thanks to the Highlander series. It fits the tone of the series very well.

Battlestar Galactica Who Wants to Live Forever

Of course, that got me to thinking about an old favorite Highlander video. It covers the Horsemen story and is set to "It's Been a While" by Sting. Warning: the author used the uncensored version of the song. Not work safe.

Methos: It's Been a While

Oh hey, it is still here!

I know I kind of dropped off the map after Thanksgiving. Things got busy enough for me to forget I had a blogger account there for a while.

First I was busy trying to finish the e-book in time to give some family members a copy for Christmas. Unfortunately my hard drive died without warning while I was typing up the last chapter. Nothing could be salvaged, even what was on my flash drive since it will no longer open for some unknown reason. The only work I have remaining is what I had saved in my email archives.

So, for the past month I've been working on recreating the e-book and dealing with massive leaps in cognitive development both girls have made. Boo's advances generally make things easier with her. She's communicating more effectively and becoming more independent. It's Sneak's new found skills causing me trouble. Not that she means to cause trouble, but the ability to climb, an intense desire to figure out how everything works, and a Houdini like skill to get into, out of, and disassemble pretty much anything just naturally leads to issues.

Things are finally beginning to calm back down, and I will resume posting here now that I've remembered I still have a blog.

* Picture is Sneak playing over at her Nana's last month.

Woops....

You know, I just now realized I've been neglecting this blog.

I knew it'd been a while, because I haven't blogged at all in the past three or four months, bogged down with an e-book I'd intended to release at the turn of the year as I've been. Scatterbrained, thy name is Amanda.

Sadly, even after all that work, I have nothing to show. I was typing away on the last chapter when my hard drive died without warning. It was a quick death, and I lost everything not saved in email archives. Not that I didn't back up my work on a flash drive, but my flash drive refuses to open.

So, I've been going back to the drawing board since my computer was repaired last month. Work on RoS is on hold until I have the first draft rewritten. I'll get back to the WIP-that-wouldn't-die when I take a two month break between first draft and revision.