Have you scrubbed your kitchen cabinets today?

Just a little update on life here. The house no longer smells of smoke. After having all the doors and windows open for two days after the fire, and sweeping, mopping, washing walls and scrubbing cabinets (wow- don't think I have ever done that. They needed it. Don't really want to do it again) the smell has faded and I really have to point out the burn mark on the cupboard. Really what I meant to update you on is the tomatoes. Of the seven that suffered through horrendous trauma, two have survived. One lost all of it's leaves- poor thing- but the little green stick is now sprouting news ones. I am hoping the rest of our garden starts to peek through by this weekend.

Luke's shirt, the white one he is wearing in his birthday post, is permanetly stained. After many spraying and washings it just isn't going to come all of the way out. My favorite stain remover I guess is not invincible. Now if he would just wear a tie again no one will know.

Those who got sunburned from the all birthday party Saturday (Allie and Jason) are now healed up but everyone came down with the annoying cold I came down with after our weekend of camping. Luke actually got a fever but now, other than their raspy voices (which that is much improved as well) they are all doing much better.

Allie and Luke still sleep in the same bed most of the time.

Now a little story. Wesley was in my room starting to fuss. Allie went in to sit with him and hold him (she is getting so good at that and he is happy to have her attention). All of the sudden I heard screaming crying so I rushed to see what the matter was. Allie was bawling! She said Wesley had pulled her hair. I looked at Wesley. He didn't say anything. And so trying to be understanding and trying not to laugh I explained that babies just do that sometimes. I told her that many mommys even cut their hair because their babies keep pulling on it. All the while I was thinking- really, it doesn't hurt that bad. Allie does have a sensitive head though. Finally Allie had started to calm down and Wes' fussing meant he was ready to eat. So as I got him into position I finally looked down at his hand and wrapped all around his fingers was this HUGE wad of hair!
Ok, so the photo doesn't do it justice. But I both felt terrible and wanted to laugh at the same time. Poor Allie. I also wanted to check her head for a bald spot. And the nerve of Wesley- still he said nothing. Yeah, that really would have hurt.

And lastly, I have a recipe to share. I love the challenge of using everything I buy. I had extra rice that needed to be eaten and also spinach that was getting wilty so we made this tonight:

SPINACH-RICE FRITTATA
2 tbsp. butter

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1 1/2 c. spinach, cooked & chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 c. rice, cooked

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Saute onion in butter. Add spinach, garlic, rice and cheese; mix well. Combine eggs, milk and seasonings, stir into rice mixture. Turn into well buttered 2 quart casserole. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I should have taken a photo because it was really pretty. It was fast, easy and so YUMMY. Of Jay and Ilene's voting scale we gave it a 5! It is nice to have meatless meals every now and then and of course there is plenty of protein with the eggs. For those of you who don't know Jay and Ilene's rating scale it is this:

5- Can't wait to make it again

4- Will put it in the normal meal rotation

3- Good, but needs to be really cheap and easy to make it often

2- Probably wouldn't choose to make it again

1- Only Jay took leftovers to work

0- Coyote bait

I think everyone would agree that fresh tastes best but I have found that for some things, the cost and time factor can offset the taste factor (especially if it is so close) and so we may use frozen spinach instead of fresh for example. The recipe above would be great for that but I did happen to have "fresh" spinach as I mentioned.