A Compassionate Life: My Endeavor

      As a couple of you have already noticed, there is a new tab up at the top of this page.  A Compassionate Life:  My Endeavor is my new blog following my progress as I undertake Karen Armstrong's Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.  There being twelve steps worked out perfectly since I decided to undertake this project in December.  Hence, I will be devoting one month to each of the twelve steps.  Obviously it has not escaped my attention that January is almost over.  Not to fret, I have been following the first step all month, I just haven't written all that much about it.  I expect to get a couple posts out about the first step over the next week or so.  And if it bleeds over into February?  So what.  It's my project and I'll bleed if I want to.  Plus, since the steps build on each other, it's not like the first step suddenly stops when I move on to the second.

      Please check out the new blog.  You can either click on the first link in this post, or the tab at the top, or you can click one of the following links to be taken to the individual posts:

      Why Compassion?: The Journey Begins

     Why Compassion?:  It Fits

      And while I'm on the topic of other blogs, I've been thinking about my other tabs at the top.  Generally, when I add something to the Ethical Eating and Sustainable Living (EESL) blog, I post it here as well.  The EESL blog is more or less a place to gather the Cheap Wine and Cookies posts that relate to the topics of Ethical Eating and Sustainable Living.  The same goes for The Family That Reads.  It is a collection of Cheap Wine and Cookies posts. 

      I have not followed that trend with the Recipes site.  As often as I can, I throw up quick recipes (ok, they're not always quick to read, I'm rather wordy with my recipes), as I'm cooking or after dinner.  I do not, however, usually post those to Cheap Wine and Cookies because 1) it's a pain in the rear, and 2.) it would flood Cheap Wine and Cookies.

      So I'm putting forward this request, if you're interested, please follow the Recipes blog on it's own.

      At this point, I haven't decided whether I'm going to maintain the Compassion blog seperately, or whether I will post all the entries here on the Cheap Wine and Cookies main page.  I suppose that depend partially on whether anyone follows it.

      Any input from my loyal Cheap Winos?  Do you want to see my Compassion posts here on the main page, or would you rather follow it as a seperate blog?

Holiday Ham

      When I found out the family was coming for Christmas, I was very excited.  I immediately called Boo to talk about what they wanted to do while they were here.  I also asked him what he wanted for Christmas dinner.

      "Dangit!"  he exclaimed.  "I didn't even think of that."

      "What?"
 
      "Mom made the best honey ham for Easter, and I was really excited about having one for Christmas, but I guess that won't be happening at YOUR house."  READ MORE>>

       Today is a multi-post day.  Please see the previous post for more information on what's going on at Cheap Wine and Cookies these days.

"Sausage" Casserole

      This started out as just a fridge clean-out meal and may become a comfort food favorite.  READ MORE>>

In the Works

      I've been absentee lately, I know.  I have so much to post about, but no time at all!  I have barely touched a computer in days.  I really miss you all.  I have a couple posts in the works and about 6 billion others stewing in my head.  I promise one of these days I'll find the time to make bloggy amends.

      But for now, there is just too much else I need to devote my attention to.  I'm really digging in at work and starting a whole bunch of new initiatives and projects to enhance our office's ability to render legal support to the Marines.  I have big plans and I really need to devote my energies to that right now.

      On the home front, I'm still in massive cleansing mode.  With the Frost Moon (also known as the Beaver Moon) 4 days ago, I started a massive sweeping purge.  Cleaning out storage areas, getting rid of bad habits, and even doing some social network purging.  Because no one needs 500 Facebook friends.  Seriously.  I've been meaning to pare it down for a while now, and I've finally started.  I'm trying to trim my life down to only positive people and things.  No more wasting my limited energy on pointless matters (*much*).

      And, I suspect, once I've surmounted the initial hill in my big cut and clear, I may even be a better blogger for it.  More time for blogging if I'm wasting less time on other things.

      I miss you all, and I'm sorry I haven't been stopping by and commenting.  I still love you, and I WILL be back as soon as I possibly can.

      In the meantime, I can usually find time to throw up recipes around dinner time, so the recipe site is getting more regular updates than anything else.  If you're really missing your daily doses of me, please follow the Recipes site!

      For instance, the other night I made the most amazing Squash Soup.  Seriously.  I was completely blown away by how delicious it turned out, and it really only had a few ingredients.  Please check it out and give it a try, it is SOOOO worth it.  I haven't been this proud of a recipe in quite a while!

ALSO, I can't comment on your blog if the comment form is embeded below the post.  I don't know why, but it's pissing me off.  Last time this happened, all I had to do was delete all my cookies, however that isn't working this time.  I have actually read a bunch of your blogs then been thwarted in my efforts to comment.  If anyone knows the answer, let me know!

Quick Dinners

      Any working mom will tell you that an absolutely essential tool to always have in your belt is a good list of quick and easy dinners for "those nights," running in from work, trying to change clothes on the way to the bedroom, shouting directives, and tripping over dogs to get to this or that extracurricular activity or parent teacher conferences amidst distressed choruses of "but what about dinner?"

      Spaghetti is a great go-to quick and easy dinner.  We pretty much always have whole wheat noodles and a couple jars of organic spaghetti sauce in the cupboard.  And if we really are dealt just a SUPER busy night with nothing prepped ahead of time, there's no harm in just throwing the two together and calling it good. But I'm pretty sure we all know READ MORE>>

Pumpkin Spice Latte

      We've already thoroughly discussed the fact that I am completely in love with Fall. One of my favorite parts of Fall is Fall flavored things - like the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks!

       Now, I have a deep love for Starbucks. Their coffee is all Fair Trade/Equal Exchange and they treat their employees very well. But I do have a problem with READ MORE>>

Can't Get Enough

      I may actually be able to get a real post up today, but in the meantime, there are new posts up on both the  Ethical Eating and Recipes pages.

Home Remedies

   Flintstone went into the Dr's office a couple days ago to get his shots, and I'm pretty sure he came back with some sort of a bug. I hate all the germs in Dr's offices. Which is another reason I chose to give birth at
home.

   Poor little monkey has been a congested and snotty and at night seems just generally uncomfortable. During the day he is, for the most part, his usual happy, active, mischievous self (though covered in snot), but at night he has trouble breathing through his nose. He tosses and turns and cries in his sleep. I've been bringing him into bed more than normal and he's on and off the breast every few minutes. He wants to nurse so bad, but his poor stuff nose makes it hard for him the breath while he does.

   I feel so bad for the little guy. I don't think I've ever seen him stay sick for more than a day.  As a family, we don't get sick very often at all. I credit avoiding meat, eating tons of veggies, staying active, and not smoking - a biggie.  And for Flintstone, I think a lot of his heartiness comes from breastfeeding.  He has never been Really sick (something I am thankful for every single day) and he's never had a fever or been what I'd call sick for more than a day.

   But now he is sick, and it's time to start breaking out all the home cold fighting remedies:

   Breastmilk - first and foremost.  Full of antibodies and perfect nutrition, breast milk has even been recommended for older kids (and even adults) if they happen to have a milk mama in the house. It also works like a charm for eye ickies - just fyi. Plus, it's been proven that sick kids recover faster with lots of loving touch, so breastfeeding doubles up on the healing goodness!

   Mama's Cold Remedy Soup - specially formulated from ingredients proven to help ease cold symptoms, plus it's yummy and there is no food more comforting for a cold than hot soup. Check out all the details be clicking the recipes tab up top!

   Steam - humidifiers, pots of boiling herbs, and hot baths and showers.  What parent hasn't spent a night in a steamy bathroom with a congested baby?  Yesterday morning (when I first tried to post this . . .) Flintstone and I spent a nice long time playing on the (clean) floor of a nice steamy shower.

      Hot Drinks - MacGyver and I differ on this.  My grandma is a nurse, and growing up whenever any of us didn't feel well, she'd make us something warm (not too hot, esp if there was a fever involved, and non caffeinated) to drink.  It was always instantly soothing to a sore throat and warming to the spirits.  To this day I swear by hot tea (or hot toddies ;-)) when I'm not feeling well.  Lemon, honey, and ginger being the old standbys remedy wises.  I haven't yet given Flintstone anything tea like even though there are plenty that are safe for him now.  I just haven't seen the need yet.  MacGyver, on the other had swears by cold when he's sick.  Frozen juice pops and sorbet.  Each to his own, I suppose.

      Ginger Ale - with actual ginger in it.   I've never understood drinking "ginger ale" that doesn't actually have ginger in it when you're sick.  Kinda missing the point, right?  Not to mention swigging down a whole lot of high fructose corn syrup.

      The list goes on and on.  A paste made of ground mustard seeds does wonders to ease congestion and stimulate circulation in kids old enough to follow the "don't touch this" directions.  So many remedies I can't possibly think of them all right now, and this post would be super long if I did.

      What remedies to you use when you or your little ones are feeling under the weather - for colds or other ailments?  I have a hiccup cure that works every single time . . .

      Tell me about your home remedies, and don't forget to check out my new Mama's Cold Remedy Soup over at the Recipes page.  It worked like a charm.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Flinstone's Take on Weekends

Check it out here!

The Family That Reads - And Other Big Events!

     So I haven't posted much lately because I've been TRYING to finish the dang post about my HS reunion - you know, before the 20 year rolls around!  But work has been super busy (and I've been a freaking rock star, let me tell you), and well, you know how it goes.

      Still, I'm not neglecting this here little blog.  Big things are afoot!  Did you see my three fancy new tabs up at the top there?  Recipes (which also includes nutritional information), Ethical Eating, and The Family That Reads?

     Hell Yes.

      These are the newest additions to Cheap Wine and Cookies, and I'm very excited about them.  I now have places to focus some of my scatteredness and an easier way for people who are looking for certain information from me to find it.

     I haven't gotten all the functionality figured out just yet, but I'm rolling the pages out now anyway because I just can't help myself.

     AND because today's Cheap Wine and Cookies post is actually located under the The Family That Reads tab.

      One day, I'll figure out a way to streamline all the posts into one feed AND keep them seperated in the tabs (or I won't, whatever), but for now I'm just going to post links here on the home page whenever I put a post under one of the tabs.  You can get to the posts that way, or you can follow each tab individually - so you have more control over which content you get!

     The Recipes and Ethical Eating tabs currently only have posts that were already posted to Cheap Wine and Cookies in the past,  but please don't hesitate to check them out and give me some input!

      Let me know what you think of the changes!

     And be sure to

Check out today's post:

What We're Reading Now