Virtual Coffee: Baby It’s Cold Outside
Welcome to Virtual Coffee!
It is super duper cold here this morning, so I’ve already had my fair share of coffee this morning. It is -11 degrees right now. With wind chill it is -25. If you don’t live where the weather gets below zero, let me tell you what happens when it gets this cold: your boogers freeze.
Of course, we live in North Dakota. We’re used to this. This is a colder than average winter even for us though. We had some snow nearly every day in January. We have tons of snow in our yard. It is really too cold for the kids to play in the snow.
So when it is too cold, we read! It is reading month at the boys’ school. I usually take advantage of reading month to read a book as a family. This year I chose Around the World in Eighty Days
Well, when it is too cold to play outside, we also play video games. We’re a techy family, so it follows that we love electronics. Andrew and I have been enjoying some mother/son Rock Band 3. Of course, he made me play an entire level of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess first. I surprisingly enjoyed it. I guess I can see why the boys are so hooked.
The Rev. has issued me a challenge. He is seriously addicted to Mongolian Stir Fry at our local Chinese restaurant. I think he dreams about the stuff. Since I don’t have a big enough kitchen or the $5000 or so it would cost to get a portable flat top grill, or even a fancy Teppanyaki table, I think I will invest in an electric frying pan. I’ll be working on this for a while, so watch here for updates on our new little food adventure!
Do you like yogurt? I do! I’m a a particular fan of Yoplait Original yogurt, but I admit I took a break from them for a while when I began working on cutting back on high fructose corn syrup in our family diet. Well, recently Yoplait reformulated their yogurt and it is sweetened with sugar (I still don’t like the light version that has artificial sweeteners). They have also doubled the calcium and added vitamin D, which helps aid in calcium absorption. And. . .they added a coffee flavored variety! (I think the coffee flavor would taste better frozen!) Do you want a free cup of Yoplait yogurt? Head on over to their Facebook page and “like” them! Sorry North Dakota people, our Dairy Board won’t allow a free cup coupon, so we will get an “alternative” coupon in the mail. How about 50 cents off of a cup?
Yes, I know I could make my own yogurt. Yes, I know it would be cheaper and probably healthier. No, I really don’t like yogurt any tangier than Yoplait. I can pronounce all of the ingredients so it is really fine in my book!
The babies are walking all over now. If we were really having coffee you would be laughing at them. They look too small to do what they do! At their one year check up Elizabeth was 18 pounds and Emily was 16 pounds, 9 ounces. They continue to maintain that pound and a half difference. Elizabeth is at the 8th percentile for weight and Emily is not on the chart. However, they have “normal” sized heads, so they don’t look as small as they could. The extra bulk of their cloth diapers helps hold up their pants. Elizabeth has also taken up climbing. I was greeted by this sight yesterday while I was cooking dinner!
Not only could she get up there on her own, she figured out how to climb down!
So, chime in! If we were really having coffee together, what would you have to tell me! I’d love to hear from you!
What fun to have two more walking around the house!!
I hear you on the cold temps. We’re trying to stay warm over her in MN.
So funny that Elizabeth would do that. I cannot wait for Rebekah to start walking. I know I will regret those words later but right now that is what I say!
It is definetely cold here cannot wait for spring!
We got ice last night! it’s so pretty, but so scary. I nearly lost it three times trying to take photos today for one of my husband’s colleagues who lives in the south of France and has never seen an ice storm. Must be nice, right?
Thanks for the yogurt link. I’ve switched to plain yogurt, whatever is on sale. At first I wasn’t happy with it but I’m getting used to it, with just a little flaxseeds or fruit in it. (Or honey if I’m really hankering the sweet.)
Today I’m sipping my coffee with soy milk. I’m trying to ease off the dairy for health reasons, and so far the soy is yummy! Just sweet enough that I’ve given up the pale yellow, pink and blue packets.
Good luck with the cooking! We have a wok for the stove top and it does a great job. You just have to cut the meat up into small pieces. Jamie Oliver has a lot of great stir fry recipes out there. It’s good because you can make your own sauce. We had Chinese take out last night and it was so sugary…my weight shot up a whole pound today and I was tres disappointed. Oh well, so we begin again!
Keep warm!
Shannon recently posted..Keep calm and carry onplus ice storm pics
A friend of mine had a baby who started walking at 7 mos. She was very petite. It looked strange seeing this tiny girl walking around!
I miss my gas stove for cooking stir fry, but I just get my big iron fry pan really hot, and if necessary, cook in two batches. I think you could do it without buying another applicance. I will even use my good nonstick for the veg unless I want them to have a bit of that burnt sear taste.
You realize that Mongolia has one kind of meat and 3 kinds of veg, eh? (Onions, potatoes and carrots)
Thanks for the tip. I’ll just use my cast iron. Potatoes? really? Sliced thinly, I’m guessing? I think I’d have to go with five batches around here. Piggies. I really think I need to fly you out for some ethnic cooking lessons. It would totally be worth it. And then you could pretend that you were back in Canada!
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