Straight From Her: 03/01/2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

More of the Things She Says III

I've done a couple posts in the past about Bella's talking, but now I can't even keep up with the things she says and ideas she comes up with. Here's a brief list of some of my favorites:

"Did you buy it at Target or WalMart?" - I'm asked this whenever I show Bella one of my new purchases. Yes, I'm a frequent WalMart shopper, isn't everyone in CO?

"It's a Roxy shirt" - Said when she got dressed and saw the Roxy logo on her shirt and when she saw the logo on a shirt at the store. She's DEFINITELY my daughter!

"He's sick like grandpa. He'll go to the hospital, then he'll go to heaven" - Said when she saw a man in a wheelchair who appeared very ill.

"What are we doing today?" and "Where are we going today?" and "Will we see our friends today?" - Bella LOVES action and plans and getting out of the house (on most days).

"Can we go to a store today? Kohl's maybe?" - Again, she's my girl! She loves to shop!

"I can put it on my Birthday (or Christmas) list." - Said when we're at a store and she sees something she likes. She rarely ever asks me to buy something at that very moment, just asks for it to be a possible future gift.

"Is it on sale today?" - Said as she is looking at an item she really likes. She looks for a price tag. For some reason she thinks if there's a price tag on it, then it's on sale. Yes, I know, she's learned to be a bargain shopper like me:)

"Good Morning, It's a bright sunny day!!!" - Said in her most cheerful voice EVERY morning when she wakes up and comes to greet us in our room. Of course it helps me wake up with a smile on my face even when it's the crack of dawn:)

"It's OK baby, mommy's here. Oh baby, it's alright." - Said to her baby doll when she's playing dolls. There's so many cute little things she says and does with her baby, she's like a mini-mommy!

"2 ones?" - Our little negotiator, Bella, will sometimes ask for 2 when I've said, " you can have one _________." (insert: treat, snack, book, show, toy for the car, etc.)

"______ is my favorite in the whole world." Insert type of cereal, snack, fruit, book, movie, game, person, etc. - This one cracks me up because she'll say this with such meaning and cheerfulness even if it is about something that seems so simple to us.

"What's this word?" - Isabella not only loves to read books, she really wants to know the words and what they mean if it's a word she's not familiar with. I can tell her the title of a book one time, usually a library book, and she will not forget the title. The same thing goes for characters in the book. It's amazing!

"Read this part" or "You skipped some words, Mom" or "Read the part about the tooth" - If it's getting late I try to get through the bedtime reading a little quicker by skipping a sentence here and there, especially now that most of Bella's books have a lot more words and pages, but Bella notices. Even if it's a book that she's heard all the way through only one time before, like her library books....Crazy! I'm telling you, this girl notices EVERYTHING!

Italian Cookin'

When David and I met I hardly could do more than pasta and marinara (from a jar) in the kitchen. After receiving some great wedding gifts, I was excited to use the new kitchen gear and try to become a real domestic wife, after all I married an Italian man. So, I started trying recipes from our cookbooks, Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" is our favorite. I learned how to make marinara from scratch with my homegrown tomatos, crepe manicotti, polenta lasagna, calzones and more. While I mostly cook low-fat, low-sodium, less red-meat meals, quick/easy recipes, I have become more adventurous since we now have a larger kitchen, thus more work space than we had in our little cottage in CA. I really get a sense of satisfaction when I can think up what to cook, execute the plan in a fair amount of time, then get positive feedback from David. Here's tonight's dinner that was a hit in our house:

Stromboli with sauted garlic, onion, spinach, and sundried tomato chicken sausage!

The Recipe (I mostly made it up based on the ingredients I had on hand).

1 package of pizza dough (I used a tube of crescent roll b/c that's what I had and wanted to use it up) You could also use homemade pizza dough and if you're lucky to live near a Trader Joes, I highly recommend their pizza dough balls.
1cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely (or more depending on your taste buds...we love garlic!)
1 1/2 cup spinach (I use frozen spinach that I defrost in a colander under warm water, then press the water out with a paper towel)
2 chicken sausage links, sliced thinly (we love the sundried tomato flavored chicken sausage that I've only found at our SuperTarget)
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup cheese grated (I use a combo of mozzarella, cheddar, and fresh parmesan and go light on the cheese, you could always use more if you prefer)
1/4 cup milk
4 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Saute the onions in olive oil for a few minutes, then add spinach and saute until onion is transclucent or carmelized (whichever you prefer). Add garlic last and saute for just a minute (it's very easy to over cook garlic and you lose the rich flavor). Saute the sausage in with the onions and spinach or in a separate pan. Roll out the dough and place on a sheet of parchment paper on cookie sheet pan. Spread just a thin layer of marinara (you don't want to use too much sauce in the stromboli so that it doesn't get soggy) over the dough, then layer the spinach and onion mixture, the sausage, then the cheese. Fold the dough over to form a pouch over the ingredients. Brush a thin layer of milk over the outside of the dough pouch and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese.

Bake for approx. 15 minutes at 400 Degrees. Serve with a side of marinara sauce for dipping and Enjoy! It's great because the stromboli itself covers all the food groups, that's why I served it with apple slices rather than a salad or more veggies:)

CA Trip

We were able to visit my mom in CA with David 2 weeks ago. It was the first time I'd been back since my dad's funeral so I expected it to be somewhat of an emotional trip for me. Bella was really looking forward to the trip, especially Disneyland. We talked about Grandpa being in Heaven again before we left for CA because I knew Bella would ask about him once we got there and she saw his chair and other stuff. She's an amazing little girl and understands so much that sometimes I underestimate her. On about the 4th day there, my mom was walking with her walker while Bella and I were eating breakfast and Bella noticed my mom getting teary eyed when she walked by my dad's recliner chair. Bella first asked "why is Grandma sad?" I told her that Grandma misses Grandpa. Then Bella said, "Grandpa was sick, he went to the hospital, now he's in heaven."

Overall it was a tiring trip for me filled with emotional times, worrying about my mom, sinus problems for me, Bella caught a cold, but of course we still enjoyed our time with family and friends.