setting up house

Well, I am trying to get this thing together so I can keep in touch with people, but of course things are not going as smoothly as I had in mind....For some reason, email does not want to cooperate, and while I beat my head against that, I get further and further away from just sitting down and writing, which is what I've really wanted to do all day.

So, now that I am in knots and of no mind to write, I must do it anyway; at least to relieve a bit of this pressure building in my brain.

We have been in St. Louis now for just a bit over a week. The kitchen is unpacked and mostly organized. Our rooms are basically done, which is good since the girls really need their little nest to be free of chaos. It has been difficult for them both. Murmur was up at 3am 6 nights of 9, and of course woke up her sister, who climbed in bed with us. Macky, well, she has just been impossible. Of course my mom WOULD say a day before we were leaving town that she thought 2 was the worst age for a move. Great. Dear girl has been fighting with those who would be her new friends. You see, everyone (or at least 70% of the families) on campus have children our kiddos' ages. Probably half of them have exactly 2 kids exactly our kids' ages.

The family just downstairs from us, for example, has two girls, one will be 3 in November, the other just turned 1 this month. The mom and I plan on taking advantage of this proximity and do babysitting swap--which sounds great, as long as we can keep our two almost-3-year-olds from provoking one another the entire time....Hilarity, let me tell you.

In other news, I have discovered Trader Joe's, which may prove to be my new favorite grocer. Reminds me of Amazing Savings, only with a little more consistency, therefore a bit more expensive. But rather more like a discount GreenLife than anything else. Good stuff. I have also had a chance to so some odd work, which I'm about to go do when hubby returns. Nice to have a project to take me outside of the appartment, where things like emptying book boxes and writing meal plans and organizing clothes stare me in the face waiting to be completed. Ah, I must learn to stop sometimes....Still learning that one.

Well, one of the other things I'm going to try and do on this blog just for the fun is to include any recipes we may have made up or particularly enjoyed while being here. Today's is from last night's Indian meal, and is vegetarian:

Curried Spinach and Potato with Curd Cheese (this would be called something like "Aloo Sag Panir")
chop and saute 1 white or yellow onion over med heat in 6 tblspns vegetable oil until softened
add 1 tsp of a curry option (garam masala, or yellow curry for ideas. we used yellow curry which is turmeric based,
and i would highly recommend that choice) and cook for 2-5 minutes until very fragrant.
add 1lb potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2" pieces, salt to taste; stir well and cover, cook for 10 minutes
add 1lb chopped spinach (if frozen, try to completely thaw before adding, but not necessary) and cook until potatoes
are tender
now add about a cup of well-drained cottage cheese (easier than trying to find panir)--use a cheese cloth if you have
one, but not necessary and stir well.

My girls loved this. It is almost like an Indian version of creamed spinach, but the potatoes add a nice texture. Also, potatoes prepared like this are similar in size and texture to the Indian cheese called panir, while the flavor comes from the cottage cheese. Enjoy!