The Prairie Lady

"You can blog Molly. Just write like the Prairie Lady!"

These loving, inspiring, and hilarious words of wisdom from my wonderful Aunt Christie have convicted me to get back to blogging. All 2 of my readers (Hi Mom and Nanny) have probably been wondering what's up. Well things were pretty crazy at the beginning of the summer. We bought a house.

We had Kids Club at The Crossing. If you haven't been to Kids Club, think: VBS on steroids.

David and I got to vacation with his family in Michigan. It was lovely (and so is my sister-in-law!)

This guy still lives with us. Seriously.

And now we are enjoying the semi-slow pace of summer. Activities include but are not limited to: Wii, training for a half-marathon, house sitting, and watching So You Think You Can Dance. Also, recently I've been cooking up a storm (aka, we're on a budget). But it has been fun. I'm not great, but I'm getting better! Here is one of my favorite recipes as of late (courtesy of the Freezer Club)

Cracker and Parmesan crusted Tilapia

Serves 4

1 cup oyster crackers

1/3 cup Ritz crackers (generous handful)

¾ cup parmesan cheese

1/3 cup flat leaf parsley leaves

3T chopped fresh chives

2T fresh thyme leaves

1T Old Bay seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder (optional)

Flour, for coating

2 large eggs, beaten

Splash of heavy cream or half and half

EVOO, for frying

4 sole or tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry

salt and pepper

lemon wedges for serving

Using a food processor, grind the oyster crackers, Ritz crackers, parmesan, parsley, chives, thyme, Old Bay seasoning, and garlic powder (if using). Transfer to a shallow bowl. Place flour in another shallow bowl. In a third shallow bowl, beat the eggs and cream.

Fill a large skillet with enough EVOO to reach a depth of ¼ inch and heat over med.-high heat. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper. Coat the fish with the flour, shaking off any excess; coat with the egg mixture, then with the cracker crumbs. Working with 2 fillets at a time, fry the fish in the skillet, turning once, until deep golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer each batch to the oven to keep warm. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Enjoy! Maybe one day I'll post some good recipes with step-by-step pictures. Just like the Prairie Lady.

Really?

Today David went to our bedroom to take a nap while I sat down at the kitchen table to do some work. Within 5 minutes my phone was ringing. Don't worry, it was David.

"Yes?"

"Hey, can you turn on the TV and see if the Cardinals game is on Fox?"

"Are you seriously calling me from the bedroom to ask me to turn on the TV?"

"Ha ha, yes, but can you just check?"

At this point I'm turning on the TV.

"This is ridiculous"

I'm flipping through channels.

"Please, just love me!"

"Love you? I'm checking for the Cardinals game while you're in bed in the same house! It's on."

"Ok, I'm gonna nap for an hour and then come watch it. That ok?"

"Yes, do you want me to record it?"

"Yes, that'd be great! I love you."

"Ok, it's recording. I love you too."

Don't worry, I heard his voice over the phone and from down the hallway during the entire conversation. Our house is not big enough to warrant a phone call to another room.

Office Wars

Everyone is familiar with harmless office pranks--fake memos, staplers in jello, etc. Last week I opened my file drawers to find them all full of plastic Easter eggs (files removed, of course). Funny? Yes. Annoying? Definitely.

I've been carefully plotting my revenge, and I knew it had to be good. But when April Fool's Day rolls around, retaliation looks entirely different.

Wendy and Kay, you had it coming.

Things Lately.

Here is what has interested me lately:

The Pioneer Woman

Even if you're an ultra-cool hipster, you'll love Ree Drummond. She takes good pictures, makes good food, and has somehow managed to find time to raise a family while maintaining a great blog. Ree also has a great dog named Charlie. I like to imagine that Timriggins will look exactly like him someday.

Eating Out

You know how we are on a tight budget and need to eat most meals at home? Well guess what: sometimes our dog is barky and we are sleepy and a Sycamore beet salad sounds a heck of a lot better than anything we have.

Craigslist

To be more accurate, Craigsphone. It's an app for my iPhone where I can waste lots and lots of time looking at furniture I "need" for our new house. It also keeps me occupied during March Madness.

Laughing

Don't tell him I said this, but David is hilarious. He starts telling jokes the minute he wakes up in the morning. Although I usually don't find him funny at that moment, I do once I have a cup of coffee.

My Apologies.

I really only blog about the dog(s) that are currently surviving in our home. I'm sorry. That's about as uninteresting as the people that blog about their kids. (Kidding, sort of). So here are some non-dog things happening in my life:

1. I'm trying my best to maintain a gluten-free diet. "What has gluten in it?" you might ask. The answer: EVERYTHING. But truthfully, some good friends of mine had encouraged me to go gluten-free when stomach pain after meals persisted. So far, so good. I'm learning a lot about the importance of knowing what is in my food. Aside from candy (you can't take away my M&M's) I have eliminated most processed foods*. I can't explain how wonderful it is to be able to enjoy a meal and know that I won't be in pain because of it. I'll keep you posted.

2. The house-building process is good so far. As it turns out, I have been waiting my entire life to choose the color of my kitchen cabinets and countertops. I blame this entirely on Katie Boggs for bringing me along on frequent trips Home Depot when she remodeled our kitchen. I think it is also the reason I assume that every kitchen should be sage green. Thanks mom.

(This is not my kitchen. If you would like to donate to the David and Molly Would Really Like Granite Countertops and a Double Oven Fund, please email me).

3. Other than Saturday's snowfall, spring is HERE. That means I've started wearing flats again.

Fact: I only wore boots for the months of December, January, and February.

4. At this moment in time, I'm completely caught up on laundry. If David spills his dinner on his shirt (an incredibly common occurrence) I will most likely throw his shirt away to avoid more laundry.

*I make excuses for the occasional Shakespeare's pizza and warm bread at Sophia's.

We're building a house.

Seriously.

As usual, Timriggins is skeptical.

This is the first time he's stopped moving in 4 hours.

I'm going to stay here as long as humanly possible. I'll probably fall asleep too.