Back from the dead. I mean,*ahem* two kids.

Random Blogging Stranger: "Why, Ruby Mama, did you fall of a cliff?"

Me: Nope. Just had another baby and been busy trying to keep my marbles intact.

Random Blogging Stranger: "But, Ruby Mama, I mean, come on. How hard can managing two little babies POSSIBLY be? I mean, REALLY?"

Me: *glaring*

Random Blogging Stranger: "I mean, really, you're just a stay at home mom. What do you do ALL day?"

Me: Now, bloggy friends, this is where us mamas with filthy mouths would unite and give RBS whatfor. But now I have been TRYING to keep the potty mouth to a minimum with the kiddos starting to repeat things, so instead, I will just glare. A lot.

So, what do I DO all day, you ask? That's what this little blog is all about. I do quite a bit, thank you very much. I do the cleaning, I do ALL the cooking, the menu planning, the shopping, the diaper changing, the bathing, the planning, the budgeting, the checkwriting, the vacation research and booking, the ironing, the organizing, and, oh yeah, all that baby raising so my kids don't turn out to be total snotty nose punks. Just a few things.

But here's the thing---ultimately, when it really comes down to it, does it really matter to me what y'all think? (this is me trying to be a bit Southern even though I'm a Northeast Jew.) Nope. The truth of the matter is, when my husband walks through the door every night after a hard day's work to put this roof over our heads and the food on our table and the occasional chinese takeout dinner on our plates, he is welcomed by a clean house, hot food (yes, sometimes chinese, but rarely these days), bills paid on time, and well mannered babies that are fed, bathed and ready for bedtime. That's the only approval methinks we need. Just sayin'.

Kisses!
Ruby Mama

Boiling Your Sponges

So, I've been working with my beloved sponges for quite some time now. I don't buy just any ordinary sponges, oh no, my friends. I buy special Israeli sponges that have cleaning superpowers. They motivate me to clean. No, really. I guess holy land sponges really are special.

So on my special superpowered sponges are tons of germs, grease, grime, and soap. Yes, soap. I kid you not. Here's why: after realizing how much paper product I was wasting and how much moolah I was wasting on buying said wasteful paper product, I decided instead I would wipe down all surfaces with a wet, hot, soapy sponge. Sounds a little dirty, doesn't it? *oh yeah* So, after wiping down counters with wet, hot, *cue sexy voice* sponge I mop excess soapy hot water with a good old fashioned plain white kitchen bar towel. Every day I throw the used one in the laundry and rotate them. I just throw them in with a load of whatever is going in. I'm not a fussy laundry lady, I know, horrible right? I don't even seperate lights from darks! *gasp!*

So today I am boiling my sponges to kill off all the germs. I figure I should do this about once a week to keep the life of my special sponges going.

Do you boil your sponges?

Me :)

Doing it yourself--Cleaning That Nasty S%$t Out of Your Tub

Well, as I posted before, we got rid of our cleaning lady about two or so weeks ago. I had her coming 2x/month to help with the heavy duty cleaning. What I have found out is this: having someone else do all the heavy cleaning is much nicer than doing it yourself. HOWEVER, and this is a biggie--there is no more sense of a pride you have when your house is clean, smells fresh, the beds are made with freshly laundered sheets, and YOU DID IT ALL YOURSELF. Golly gee, I feel awesome. I just finished wiping down all the surfaces in our home and scrubbing the tub out. I like a nice, fresh, white tub.

So onto the point of this post--I think there is NOTHING more disgusting than when you go to someone's house and take a peek inside their bathrooms and you see nasty films of SHIT lining their tubs. *I say this with love to all my ladies out there with this very problem--clean that shit up, cuz it's gross--you know it, I know it, we all know, just bite the bullet and clean the shit up.*

So, having said that, let me also say this. I fucking hate cleaning tubs. I hate cleaning that nasty shit out of the tub, and I hate getting on my knees to do it. BUT--here's the thing! Ready? I bought new awesome lemony cleaning products and special cleaning brushes to do it, and I timed myself. Guess what? IT AIN'T SO BAD! It took me about 10 minutes from start to finish to clean out the tub, wipe down all the tiles, and scrub out the sink. I didn't get to the floor today because I had already vacuumed the bath rug and floor and am waiting to do the floors when I clean the other hard surface floors.

So here's what I did--I bought a nice new lemony fresh scented bottle of Comet, some new scrubby sponges, and a long brush with sharp, hard bristles (gotta get that nasty scummy stuff out of that tub!), and I got to work. I put the water on hot shower mode for a few seconds to wet all the surfaces. Then I sprinkled the comet on all the hard surfaces I wanted to scrub. (A little goes a long way here.) Wet my sponge, and in sharp circular motions scrubbed down everything on the walls. Then for the tub floor, I used my long brush to scrub out all the nasties until that tub was shining up at me. Then with the sponge, wiped everything down. Ran the water, and with an old washcloth, I washed everything down. Did the same with the sink. It really didn't take long at all and I realized if I keep up with this every week, my tub will thank me for it and it will take even less time next time I do it.

I don't need no damn cleaning lady! I can do this myself!

Just wanted to share.

Hmmm...now what else can I use that lovely smelling lemony scented Comet on???

Me :)

Work That Dutch Oven Like a MoFo!

Anyone else obsessed with your Dutch Oven? Do you even own a Dutch oven? if you don't, why are we EVEN TALKING???? Get thee to the store and get yourself a big fatty, pronto! I own a deep blue beauty, a 5 quart Le Crueset suckah. I received it as a wedding gift, so don't go getting all snotty like, where the fuck does she get off advising me to buy some stupid ass dutch oven that costs like a million dollars. Bitch. No, I kid, I am not a bitch and I'm just as broke ass as the rest of you, I really did get it as a gift. Like I would go spend $250 on a piece of cookware. *snort* Right. Ok. Maybe?

So check it--I have resorted to using my dutch oven pretty much on a daily basis. Why you ask? Not only because it causes spontaneous orgasm from the food that exits said dutch oven, but in all honesty, simply because it really is the easiest tool in my kitchen. I think of it as my crockpot on crack, sort of. I make just about EVERYTHING in that sucker, and I also feel like I am a REAL cook, not just some bullshit stay-at-home-mom trying to cook. As my best friend Leslie said, "It's the Louis Vuitton of cookware." So true, my friend, so true.

So what can you make in a dutch oven, you ask? Well just about every fucking dish known to mankind. Sorry for the cussing, but it was necessary to get the point across. What did I make last night? Roast chicken, roasted potatoes, and yes, all in my one, big, fatty, blue dutch oven.

You want the recipe, doncha? *Cue pussy cat dolls music: doncha? doncha!*

Ok, so here it is: ready? Super easy. (While you are reading this, set your oven to 350 degrees, 375 for a larger bird)

You will need:

• one big fat bird, any brand, any weight, I usually buy a 5-7 pound oven roaster, whatever is on sale. Sometimes I buy a chicken cut up, it's cheaper and hey, they did the heavy work for me. There is usually a $2-3 dollar difference in price, so it's worth looking into. Put your big fatty bird in a baking pan or big baking tray on your counter and set it aside. I find this easier to season the chicken and you won't get chicken juice everywhere. Can we say cross contamination? Fucking gross.


• potatoes cut up in huge chunks (I do yellow yukon gold potatoe, but I've used all kinds--they all work just fine, it's a matter of, again, what's on sale and my wallet allows me to buy without throwing a fit)


• cut up 1 or 2 onions (do NOT use frozen for this recipe, you actually have to cut the fucking onion for this. ugh.)


• chicken bouillon of choice, I use the Israeli brands (telmek or osem)


• some olive oil, kosher salt (cuz hey, I'm a Jew! no really, it does cook better with kosher salt. It's a Jewish chicken. Oy!), paprika, and garlic powder.

So here's whatcha do:

1. Start your oven up. I use 350 degrees for a long slow cook or 375 for a faster cook and with a big bird or multiple birds.


2. Sprinkle some olive oil on the bottom of your big fatty dutch oven.


3. Ok, you ready for the difficult part? Get ready for me to blow your mind! Throw your diced potatoes and onions and a heaping TABLESPOON of chicken bouillon into the big fatty dutch sucker with the oil already in it. Toss everything around to get it nice and evenly coated. Make love to those taters. Love 'em down, nice and slow like.


4. Now, once that is on the side, (it took you like, what, ten seconds to put that together, right?) lets get to your big fatty chicken. So, you have her laying like an anxious lover on her baking pan. Take the innards out and set them aside. I do this in the baking pan in my sink so that I don't get any gross chicken juice anywhere else. I do NOT want bacteria chicken juice getting anywhere near my counter where I sometimes put a formula case or a baby bottle. Fucking gross.


5. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to coat the skin with oil or butter! You also don't have to wash the chicken! Just taker her right out of her package and season her ass!Sprinkle a very generous amount of salt all over the chicken, then garlic powder, and last, the paprika. Turn her ass over and do the same to the other side. Rub everything into the skin, and get all those little crevices. Don't worry if you think you put too much salt, it's supposed to have a nice coating.


6. Put your seasoned bird on top of your nice patient potatoes and close the lid. Bake that big fat sucker for about a good 2 hours and serve. For a cripy skin, leave the lid off the last 45 minutes.

Now the best part about working with the dutch oven? You have leftovers? Put the whole pot right in the fridge and take it out the next day and throw it in the oven and serve all over again.

Give her a try. I dare ya!

Needs vs. Wants--The Coveted Tupperware Cereal Container

Hi--Well, I seriously thought I was just sending random thoughts out to noplace in nowhereland (a.k.a. the blogosphere!), but apparently people are reading! So touched! It's inspired me to FIND the time to get with it and jot my thoughts and digital pics down. So, here's my update:

Yesterday, hubs and I went to Target to do a little pantry shopping for snacks, cereals, cleaning products, and a birthday present for a friend's baby. I love one stop shopping. Saves my ass with the two munchkees. You know that whole conversation we had about making sure what we were purchasing was stuff we felt we really "needed" and not "wanted?" It's PAAAAAIIIIINFUL.

Example: We were strolling down the tupperware aisle in Target. And if you are like me, tupperware and organizational boxes stacked in neat, orderly, classified manners makes my 'lil heart do dances and flips. I want to scoop them all up and bring them home and organize to my heart's content! So there I am, about to do the pee-pee dance when I see IT! The new amazing item that will totally make my organizational dreams come true! The cereal tupperware container! Oh how beautiful it was! All shiny, new, plasticky and clear! How it would organize my pantry! I had visions of beautiful pantryness and started to breathe heavy. This was it! I needed to have this item! IMMEDIATELY! Well, then. I picked that little puppy up and hugged her tight and put her right in our shopping cart. And then I looked at hubs. Not. So. Fast.

Said dear, amazing, saintly man of mine: "Um, honey, what is that?"

Said I, wifely, domestic goddess that I am: "Babe, duh! It's a cereal holder. It's to keep our cereal fresh! And see? It's clear! I can see what cereal is in it!"

Said dear, amazing, saintly man of mine: "Babe. Come on. We don't need that. Remember, we're supposed to be careful with our money."

Said I, wifely, domestic goddess that I am: "Hon! I totally need it!" Insert hair flip and furrowed brow. "You spill flakes all over the kitchen floor all the time from those stupid cereal bags. With THIS amazing totally needed product, you won't spill any flakes."

Then hubs looked at me with a "You know you are totally ridiculous here, right?" look, and said, "Babe, if the flakes spill, I'll clean them up. We only have one type of cereal in the house, and there's a label on the damn box. We don't need the container. Put it back." Sadly, he was right. We really do only eat one kind of cereal, and the truth is, we didn't really need that amazing airtight clear plastic container. I just really, really wanted it. I gave her one last little hug and whispered, "Someday, you will be with me." *sniff* So, off we went to continue our shopping.

This being on a budget and consulting each other about everything we buy is going to be hard.

I'll post soon on how that whole cleaning-on-a-schedule-to-keep-up-with-what-my-cleaning-lady-did-thing is going. Holy crap, it sucks.

Ruby!

New year, new goals-let's cut the shit.

Ok people, sorry it has been so long, BUT with 2 babies, life leaves minute time blocks to play around on the internet. But I want to share a real honest to God epiphany that has occurred to me--we be broke! No seriously, we are spending like my husband makes a jillion dollars and really, he doesn't. Hello!? Where has my brain been? Seriously? Every time I blow $20 here for a new shirt from Target or get a pedicure for $30, I am digging away at our savings account. Real quick, here's where I'm at before baby #2 wakes up--

• menu planning is now a necessity, not a "I think I'll be responsible and sort of plan what the hell I'm making for dinner now and then."
• after reviewing our monthly disposable income and how sad the amount really is, hubs and I made a decision to REALLY BE careful about what we are putting each dollar toward. Do we really NEED that thing? Does it even have a space in our house? can we do without it? For the most part, you bet your sweet money saving ass you can, I just haven't been making the effort!
• In an effort to keep more dollars in our bank account, we let our cleaning lady go. While I love her to death and she does an amazing job, that $150 per month is a better use of our money in our bank account.
• I am now creating a new cleaning schedule to keep on top of said messy house after firing said wonderful cleaning lady.

Ok, baby crying--gotta run. :) Wish me luck!

Ruby :)

Menu Plan for this week...

This one is tough. Today I am feeling like POOP, I have not slept properly in DAYS, am still pumping milk like a machine, and have NO CLUE what I will be making for dinner this week. I'm also having MAJOR panic attacks over how much I completely overspent this season on holiday NONSENSE. (Mental note--make it a goal to set aside money every month for the holidays!!!)

So here is what I THINK we will be having for dinner this week:

Monday-Chicken cutlet, rice pilaf, steamed broccoli
Tuesday-italian Chicken sausage and pasta
Wednesday--leftovers :)
Thursday-steak, roasted pots, string beans
Friday-grilled chicken salad wraps and soup
Saturday-grilled cheese and tom soup
Sunday-eating at inlaws