Moore Minutes

Friday, March 16, 2012

My best friend, my lil brandi

Best friends are gold. I treasure my best friends: my childhood ones, my husband, my Mom, and my forever best friend, Brandi! It's Brandi's birthday in a couple of days and I wanted to send her a big birthday wish. I've spent today reflecting on the gift she is in my life. She is irreplaceable. Brandi is such a dynamic part of my life and I truly could not imagine life without her. I have found my soulmate friend...the one who really "GETS ME", loves me, and accepts me.

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All of that is true so I will never let her go. We talk every day, and have for YEARS, only missing a handful of days in all that time. We know every single little detail about each other. She lets me share all my silly, dreamy ideas with her and she reads the 2 millions texts I share, chatting about what I'm doing every step of the way for birthday parties, school days, and just lazy weekends. And I read her 2 million texts as she shares her daily life with me too.

My Brandi is a beautiful girl...inside and out!

She makes me smile every day.

Brandi celebrates the best of me and she is steady and patient with the worst of me. She sees my flaws and she loves me anyways. And she encourages my strengths too.

She was the constant strength in my life when it was falling apart to pieces several years ago. Brandi was always there. Always. In the middle of the night when I would call sobbing uncontrollably and in the middle of the day when I just needed a calming ear. And she is here with me now, years later, in my happy days. It doesn't matter what time it is or what day it is...

I have Brandi and she has me.

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I have never met someone with her combination of unique qualities. She is 33 this year {shhh} and I have a list of 33 random things I adore about her.

1) witty

2) smart

3) strong

4) a dreamer who treasures the beauty in life

5) gorgeous

6) adorable lil doll

7) charming

8) classy

9) confident

10) forward-thinker

11) tradition-keeper

12) impeccable taste

13) loyal

14) reasonable

15) patient in the important areas

16) critical thinker

17) person of great depth

18) loves true beauty

19) daring

20) exciting

21) prayerful

22) excellent listener

23) takes pride in her work

24) successful

25) coy

26) of good quality

27) sentimental

28) inquisitive

29) sun shine smile!

30) perfectly poised

31) quick and sharp minded

32) lover of life

33) treasures our friendship as much as I do!

So dear Brandi, 

I treasure YOU, the incredible woman who you are.  I am grateful for our friendship.  You have my whole heart, for always.  Sometimes we drive each other crazy and we see red but what we have is a gift, a blessing that I wouldn't trade for anything!  Thank you for going through this little life with me. Happy 33th Birthday!

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The best friendship is the kind that gives away everything but never loses anything. It is a gentle dance of always emptying the cares of our hearts, only to have them be instantly filled up with love again.

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Monday, March 5, 2012

Better Than Candy ROASTED VEGETABLES

Who knew vegetables could be snatched up and snacked on all day like candy? I realize roasting veggies is a common way to prepare food, and also very simple just like boiling an egg BUT...I've learned TIPS to take the roasted vegetable from good to absolutely delicious! All three of my boys clean their plates when I serve brussels sprouts this way...

Mom says "eat your vegetables". And thankfully she just amped up the normal roasted veggies in a hip-new-Mama-prepared way! My Mom recently taught me how to prepare roasted vegetables PERFECTLY. But the big secret is that you must follow all of these tips and use the right tools too. If you modify them, I can't promise that you'll prefer your veggies over candy. But...if you stick with the tips, you'll be in veggie candy heaven. Promise.

My Mom sharing her secrets with me

My Mom's roasted cauliflower for Christmas morning breakfast

~ TIP 1

Use an oil mister instead of tossing in a bag of oil (please do, it makes ALL the difference)

I used to roast vegetables like these jewel-roasted veggies, tossed in a bag with olive oil. That is the first and most important change made: no more tossing them around in a bag of olive oil. When you do this, the oil doesn't evenly coat your veggies and too much oil is used, making both texture and taste less than ideal. Instead, invest in an oil mister. I use a Prepara oil mister. The diffusers softly and lightly coat vegetables with just a delicate mist of oil. Your food won't be heavy with oil or won't be visually unappealing. This improves texture and is healthier too! You'll also want to use cold-pressed olive oil.

~ TIP 2

Use Microplane products to lightly grate quality cheese over the top directly after they are removed from the oven.

Using just a teeny tiny bit of Parmesan cheese will enhance the flavor without sabotaging a healthy diet. The beauty of a Microplane grater is that it grates SO fine that a handful of cheese is light as a feather. Just a little bit goes such a long way. You use less cheese but still get the full flavor. Be sure to use quality blocks of cheese. It is more expensive but it lasts a long time.

Notice how airy and light these cheese grates are. There is no compassion to a good block of cheese shredded with a Microplane and the pre shreds of Parmesan you can buy.

Please don't substitute.

Microplane graters are "must haves". Oh my goodness, these things are AMAZING! My friend, Jil, an exceptional cook, who prepares gorgeous food, first introduced me to the Microplane nutmeg grinder last spring. My mom later bought me a mini collection of Microplane tools that I use ALMOST daily. I got rid of my old cheese graters and old Parmesan graters and will only be using Microplane products now.

These are much sharper than old graters, making it a super quick task to shred cheese. Remember, if we are going to indulge in cheese, quality and freshness count! Those "convenient" bags of shredded cheeses aren't worth eating. Buying a block of good cheese and using a Microplane is almost equally as convenient and the taste is far superior.

So pretty.

Okay! So back to topic. Those two tips will make your roasted vegetables taste better than candy.

Putting it all together:

1) Wash and cut your vegetables. I get very ~~lazy~~ rushed when chopping food and often don't cut off the ends of my brussel sprouts, etc. Oops. But cut your veggies first.

2) Spread in a shallow pan. Don't overlap too much because you want each veggie bite to be roasted well.

3) Mist with a Prepara oil mister using cold-pressed oil. You can liberally pump and mist because it is such a light coat that even if you pump a lot, it's still a little. {wink}

4) Season. I use garlic salt and parsley. But yes, please season.

5) Roast in a 400 degree oven about 30 minutes or until crisp-tender. Allow the veggies to get dark and toasty. This makes it GOOD.

6) After removing from oven, softly sprinkle with your "light as a feather" grated Parmesan cheese.

For a variation, I also roasted butternut squash, blue cheese, and fresh basil. MmmMm.

You're going to {double love} these.

Remember to follow all the directions

to ensure that BETTER THAN CANDY taste addiction.

Just a spoonful of ~~sugar~~ veggies...

Excellent choices to roast:

- brocolli

- cauliflower

- yellow squash

- zucchini

- carrots (these taste better with no cheese)

- asaragus

- brussels sprouts

- green beans

Various ways to serve:

- simply in a bowl alone as a main dish: Hot roasted vegetable salad

- topped on a pita pocket for a veggie pizza

- rolled in a wrap

- folded in an omelet

click to enlarge

Thank you Mom for the tips

and I {promise}

to always eat my veggies now.

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This post is linked to: Under the Table & Dreamin, Nifty Thrifty, Seasonal Sundays, Met Monday, Making the World Cuter, Tuesday Tutorials and Tips, HOMEWORK: Be Inspired, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy, Tip Junkie, Get Your Craft On, DIY Design, Works for Me Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, Organize and Decorate Everything, Transformation Thursday, House of H, Tablescape Thursday, Show off Your Stuff, Strut Your Stuff, 36th Ave Show and Share Day, Foodie Friday, Frugal Friday, I'm Lovin It, Tickled Pink, Friday Flair, Design Dazzle, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors, Weekend Wrap Up DIY by Design

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Family Dinner Show N Share Nights

MooreMinutes is partnering with Rosanna Dishes for a series of posts. I am {over the moon} with this news because as a lot of you know, Rosanna Dishes are some of my FAVORITE THINGS. I've been a passionate fan and happy collector of her dishes for several years because each collection is uniquely beautiful and peacefully simple.

Rosanna's life philosophy mirrors my own: living with intention, creating beauty in everyday life, treasuring simple moments, and holding onto tradition while maintaining a fresh, modern lifestyle. I want to share a sound quote from their company website, "Rosanna knows the recipe for the Good Life. Start with three intentions: sustain tradition, create ritual, and cultivate connection." How true this is!

Rosanna's Coming Home book

One recent tradition our family started about two years ago to help keep our family connected is Family Dinner Show and Share Nights! The idea was inspired by childhood school day routines of "Show and Tell" in the classroom. Those were my favorite days. I double love showing and telling (as is quite obvious by my little blog). I borrowed that concept and brought it to our family dinner table. We don't have an EXACT routine or schedule for it. We basically try to plan it for Fridays, but certainly not every Friday. We are a typical modern-day, American family who works too much, plans too little, and who has family members all going in too many different directions. But, our scattered lives is what made Family Dinner Show N Share Nights necessary!

I've had many of those "bad mama" moments.

My son would enthusiastically run up to me while I was in the kitchen and attempt to show me his extra big LEGO project, but I would quickly brush him away because...

I was too busy.

Or, another boy would try to curl up next to me while I was knee deep in paperwork and he would explain how super cool the book was he just read and I would quickly brush him away because...

I was too busy.

Sometimes a son would follow me around as I gathered my purse and was heading out the door for errands and he would try to show me his school papers, but I would quickly tell them not right now because...

I was too busy.

Other times, they would all try to ask me how something worked, how to fix something, or how to do something and I would quickly push them away because...

I was too busy.

It isn't always just the kids. Sometimes my husband would attempt to share something about work or fitness or show me something cool but I would quickly move on because...

I was too busy.

Looking back, it makes my heart feel so sad that the ones I love most get so quickly ignored. But these "bad mama and wife" moments propelled me to make some changes! I planned Family Dinner Show N Share Nights. These nights are designated times when each family member has an opportunity to share what's on their mind and to show us what they're interested in at the moment. We all participate, even the adults. We each get a handful of minutes to share. Our family highly anticipates these nights around the dinner table now! This created a small solution to all the "too busy now" moments. This also created an excellent way to TEACH the kids how to use different household tools that they always ask how to use but we are often too busy to stop and show them. Our children are eager to learn and will soak up everything we try to teach them. Now, whenever I can't give my full attention to my loved ones, I give them a quick squeeze and ask them to save it and share with us at Family Show N Share Night.

click image to enlarge

Examples of things to Show N Share:

- projects we currently completed
- favorite things that are special to us
- A tool we use and how to use it
- academic papers: tests, book reports, Science projects
- stories that have helped define our life or that mean a lot to us

Benefits of a Show N Share night:

- creates a designated time for the family to gather and focus uninterrupted attention on the one sharing.
- practice in listening skills
- practice in speaking concisely and purposely
- practice in showing interest in other people other than ourselves
- creates unity and family connection
-brings peace within the home
- creates a designated time to TEACH each other how to use a variety of household tools

Chris has showed his guitars to us, explaining the different components of them and a brief overview of how they work. Other ideas men could share are: pocket knife proper use and tips, a summary of their career and what exactly they do, how to use handyman tools, business planning tips, hobbies that are of interest to them, sports memorabilia, and more!

I have showed off this old little teacup I received from a family in Mexico when I did a community-helper trip there as a teenager. It means a lot to me and I had a story to go with it. Other things women could share are kitchen tools and how to use them, journal entries, favorite pieces of jewelery, hobbies that are of interest to them, and more!

The boys have shared toys (!!!), finished LEGO projects, little pocket treasures they found on outdoor adventures, school papers, sports and academic awards, and stories.

Each family member gets center stage for a few minutes during the evening meal:

These nights are also a welcome opportunity for me to put my HOMEMAKER on! It's an excellent night to try new recipes for the family. We don't sit down around the dinner table for every meal. My moneymaker husband works late often (thank you babe!) , and the kids have outside activities. We sometimes have our dinner in intervals or in the car. However, I am still mindful of the importance of gathering the family around the table and I try to make it a goal to do it more often. I work towards making these meals {just a bit} more special than average.

So I dress up the table...

And rinse off most-loved dishes...

And pull out new cookbooks...

to create some home cooked comfort.

Williams Sonoma chicken pot pie recipe here

Inside Out Chocolate Chip cookies

change up your traditional cookies by adding

1/4 cup cocoa powder

and using white chocolate chips

instead of semi-sweets.

A quick table-setting tip:

If you don't want to take the time to set a full table,

keep a basket of napkins handy

and easily add a pile of flatware to the basket

and set the whole thing on the table before a meal.

The sun is almost leaving

and it is almost time to gather around our dinner table

to Show N Share.

Our meal is a celebration of family

and a practice in unity.

So if you wander by our house on a random Friday night, you may see boys dressed up like this: with full smiles and a dinner table mixed with pretty dishes and piles of toys, projects, and papers.

That's just us making a moment to experience life on pause for a quick second. And by the time we all wake up the next day, the quick hum of busy life will return. But that's okay because we have another random Friday Family Dinner night ahead...and each one of us is looking forward to it with anticipation.