I'm thinking of changing the name of this blog from 'The Latham Family' to 'Road Rage Rants' cuz seriously, I could go on and on. And, there are enough stupid drivers on my commute each day to continually fuel my rants (ha ha). If you guessed that there was a stupid driver in front of me tonight then yes, you are correct! I had just pulled out from work and it was a tan Toyota Sienna van and it almost cut me off and then proceeded to go - no exaggeration - 10 km/h. Usually the traffic does not move that slow and I was a tad bit late so I was a little antsy to get moving so you can imagine how impressed I was. Finally - finally - we got to the intersection where I turn (of course he was going the same way) and I zoomed off into the other lane so I wouldn't have to be behind him anymore. But, as we proceeded down the bypass, he decided he wanted to be in my lane, so as we're coming up to another intersection, he signals and just starts moving over, even though I'm clearly in his blind spot. (Does that even work? Clearly in his blind spot? If he had shoulder checked he would know I was there, but his back windshield wasn't cleaned off so obviously people behind him were the least of his worries) I honked - I'll take any excuse - but that didn't work, he kept moving over. So I leaned on the horn for like 15 seconds straight. That worked and I zoomed past. Seriously! Some people!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
I Won!
Last night Michael and I decided to play a game of Settlers. I'm not sure why I agreed to this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I should preface these remarks by saying that of all the times we have played Settlers, I have won maybe 3 times. We hardly ever play anymore but we used to play a lot. 
Anyways, at the beginning I tried to put my settlements on good numbers, and banked pretty heavily on there being quite a few 10's or 11's rolled. Unfortunately for me there was only one 10 and about three 11's rolled the entire game. I literally started to fall asleep because I had no cards coming in, couldn't do anything and was losing pretty badly. But then, slowly but surely, I started to pull ahead and woke up enough to sneakily build my road long enough to get the Longest Road card and next thing I knew I had 18 points! (you need 20 to win, we were playing with the expansion pack). Then Michael noticed I had 19 points and tried to do something about stopping me but it was too late! I built my last city and won the game! Just in time too - next turn he was going to turn over his third soldier card and then he would have gotten the Biggest Army card and I would have had to work a little harder. I was pretty proud of myself. Michael is a bad loser and was accusing me of cheating (I didn't) so I told him that it was a good thing he didn't have to lose very often. He left the game on the table, so I'm not sure if that means he didn't get to putting it away or if we're going to have a rematch tonight. I'm not sure whether to revel in my victory or see if I can win again...
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Thursday, November 30, 2006
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Windchill
I was going to post a little thing this morning when I got up because I was mad, but as usual, I was running late (why am I always late in the morning???)
However, now I think I will. It is -33 outside right now, and when you add in the wind, it feels like -45. -45 Seriously! That's like a joke, but let me tell you, it is cold out there. The ONLY good thing about it being this cold is that usually there isn't any ice on the windshield.
Anyways, I just wanted to express my displeasure with this stupidly cold weather...that's all I have to say.
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Alanna Latham
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
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Monday, November 27, 2006
Recipes
I promised my mom I would send her a bunch of recipes about 3 months ago, and I keep putting it off. So I thought I would post them on here and maybe more people could try them. I can speak for all of them except the Crab Chowder which I have not eaten. They are all good, easy yummy healthy recipes, some of my favourites. I'm not a huge seafood fan, but my mom loves that fake crab meat you get in the seafood section and that's what we used for the Crab Chowder. It was more a gumbo than a Chowder and she said it was really good.
Perogies (from the previous post - except don't use whole wheat flour!)
Weight Watcher’s Recipe
2 small to medium potatoes, cubed
1/3 - ½ cup cheese
1 tsp onion powder
2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
Water as needed (about 1 cup)
Cook potatoes in a saucepan on the stove, boil 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and mix in cheese and onion powder with a fork until smooth.
Meanwhile, combine flour, salt and egg in large bowl. Add water, about 1 tsp at a time, until a still dough forms. Roll dough out on a large surface and use a drinking glass to punch out circles about 4 inches wide. There should be enough dough for 16 circles. Top each circle with 1 spoonful of potato cheese mixture. Fold dough over, making a half moon shape and pinch edges to seal.
Place perogies in rapidly boiling water for 5 minutes to cook and then either barbecue or pan fry.
Pork and Black Bean Stew
Makes 4 servings
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed of any exterior fat, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pickled jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 ½ cup water
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp corn grits - I just use quick cooking oats
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
Heat the oil in a large nonstick saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the cubed pork and cook, stirring often until browned, about 4 minutes.
Add chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and jalapeno; cook until aromatic, about 20 seconds. Pour in the water and beans and stir well to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer very slowly for 15 minutes.
Stir in the grits (oats) and cook until thickened and intense, about 15 more minutes, stirring quite often to prevent sticking. Stir in cilantro and lime juice; serve at once.
Calories - 291, Protein - 30, Carbohydrate - 24.5, Total Fat - 10, Sat Fat - 3, Cholesterol - 67, Fiber - 8, Sugars - 1, Sodium - 586
From Dr. Phil’s The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook
Halibut Baked in Packets
Makes 4 Servings
4 (5 oz) skinned halibut fillets, or other white fish fillets such as sea bass, red snapper, tilapia or basa.
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained, rinsed and halved (I don’t put these in)
1 yellow squash, diced (about 1 cup) (I use a medium butternut squash)
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
6 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp chopped fresh dill or 2 tsp dried dill
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 500F. Place each fillet on a 16 inch long piece of parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil. (I use the non stick baking paper and it works fine, you just have to twist the top so it stays closed) Top each fillet with 6 tomato halves, 2 artichoke halves, and ¼ of the squash and bell pepper. Sprinkle 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp fresh dill or ½ tsp dried dill, ¼ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper over each. Seal and crimp the packets closed and transfer them to a large rimmed baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Transfer to serving plates, let stand for 2 to 3 minutes, and serve. (since the steam is hot, you’ll want to open any served to children). You might want to check that the squash is cooked and soft before letting the packets cool down, sometimes it needs a little longer in the oven.
Calories - 194, Protein - 32, Carbohydrate - 8, Total Fat - 4, Sat Fat - .5, Cholesterol - 46, Fiber - 2, Sugars - 0, Sodium - 497
From Dr. Phil’s The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook
Crab Chowder
Makes 6 Servings
2 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups no salt fat free vegetable broth
1 cup fat free evaporated milk
1 bay leaf
1 small baking potato, peeled
¾ pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shell and cartilage
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3-4 dashes Tabasco sauce, optional
Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the corn, then the thyme, salt and pepper and cook 20 seconds, until fragrant. Pour in the vegetable broth and evaporated milk and add the bay leaf. Stir well, then cover and simmer 5 minutes.
Using the smallest holes of a box grater or an old fashioned potato grater, grate the potato into the chowder. Stir well, cover again, and simmer another 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Add the crab and cilantro and cook until crab is just heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in the Tabasco, if desired. Serve at once.
Calories - 180, Protein - 16, Carbohydrate - 22, Total Fat - 3, Sat Fat - trace, Cholesterol - 46, Fiber - 2, Sugars - 0, Sodium - 389
From Dr. Phil’s The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook
Kraft 4 Cheese Italiano Vegetarian Lasagna
Makes 8 servings
1 cup each finely chopped onion, zucchini, sliced mushrooms and eggplant
1 can Primo Tomato Sauce
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 300g pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3 cups Kraft 4 cheese Italiano Shredded cheese
¼ cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese
15 Lasagna noodles
Saute vegetables in a bit of oil in a large frypan until soft. Add pasta sauce and water. Simmer 5 minutes. Combine eggs, spinach and cheeses. Spread ¼ sauce on the bottom of a 13x9” pan. Arrange noodles on top. Spread 1/3 of cheese mixture over noodles. Repeat layers twice, ending with sauce. Top with additional cheese. Bake at 350F for 60 minutes or until bubbly.
Never content to just leave the recipe the way it is, I usually leave out the eggplant, double all the vegetables, and add about ½ a container of lowfat ricotta cheese to the spinach, egg and cheese mixture. This lasagna actually tastes really really good, try it!!
From www.kraftcanada.ca
Garlic Butter Chicken with Tomatoes
2 tbsp butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 tbsp loose
4 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
¼ cup white wine (or a little more)
½ - 1 pint grape tomatoes
Melt butter in pan and add garlic. Add rosemary and chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook uncovered 4 minutes/side. Add wine, scraping up bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in tomatoes. Cover and simmer, turning chicken occasionally, until springy when pressed, 6-10 minutes. (squish some of the tomatoes ½ way through). Place chicken and tomatoes on plates and spoon pan sauce over top. Great with rice, boiled new potatoes or mashed potatoes
Calories - 214, Fat - 8, Protein - 30.8, Carbohydrates - 1.9, Iron - 0.8, Calcium - 12
Alternately, remove the garlic and subsitute 1 small chopped onion and some basil and switch the white wine for vinegar.
From Chatelaine Magazine
(I am making this dish this week and can't wait...it is soo good!)
Slow Cooker Stuffing
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp parsley flakes
2 tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp summer savory
¼-½ tsp sage
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
10 cups dry bread crumbs - just rip the bread
¼ cup margarine or butter (half the amount works just as well)
1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder mixed with 1 ½ cups water
Optional: mushrooms, apples
Saute onion and celery, set aside. Mix bread crumbs and spices, add sautéed celery and onion, mix well. Dissolve margarine in chicken bouillon mixture and mix into bread crumbs. Cook 5-6 hours on low in slow cooker or in an oven at 350F until browned and crusty.
This dish is also very good when cooked with chicken breasts. I put my chicken breasts around the outside of the slow cooker so the stuffing was all in the middle and the chicken was very tender and flavorful.
From the Chatelaine Forums
If you do try them, let me know what you think!! And feel free to share your favourite recipes too, I love trying new things.
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Monday, November 27, 2006
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More Pictures
Aidan and I made our Gingerbread house kit on Sunday finally. He had a great time and thought it was really fun. It turned out pretty good actually.
I was making dinner and so Aidan decided to make 'cake'. The black squares were chocolate, the orange ones were orange, green was lemon - and he was very concered that we be careful of the peel - yellow was pineapple and I forget what red was. He also made tea for us in the cups.
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Monday, November 27, 2006
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A Mini-Rant
So I had quite the morning today.
Yesterday Michael went out to start the car before making a quick grocery run and discovered that both the cars were stone dead. Fortunately there are usually a couple people hanging around the church parking lot, so he was able to get someone over to jump the focus and then from there he worked on the sebring.
We're going to be plugging the cars in from now on.
The only good thing about that is that at least it happened mid afternoon on Sunday instead of Monday morning. That would have been seriously un-cool. Or really cool...however you want to look at it. So I got the car started and we headed out - late of course - and made it across town without incident but when I turned into the Crystal Lake subdivision, it appeared they were trying to do something about clearing the streets. For the most part, the subdivision is made up of little cul-de-sac's off the main street and you can imagine how clogged up with snow it gets!
Near the entrance a big loader was clearing snow - Aidan was very impressed but was sad that we couldn't stay and watch. He was also upset because Tad, his little Leap Frog buddy, hadn't seen the loader. But, as we got closer to Darlene's house, traffic slowed down because there were 3 graders working on clearing the road. They were going mainly down the middle of the road, so the middle and the sides were getting piled up with snow and I didn't think my little car was going to make it across, so I parked on the side of the main road and told Aidan we'd have to walk. While we were behind the loaders Aidan made sure Tad had a good look, holding him up to see the graders working and saying 'Look Tad!'. They're actually pretty cool to watch and I was happy that someone was doing something about the snow!
We got out of the car and were standing by the side waiting for a break in traffic when a grader stopped for us to cross. Aidan was a little in awe of being within inches of such a large machine and hustled his butt across the street in front of that thing. I think he was a little afraid, but at least I didn't have to worry about coaxing him to hurry up! The graders must have made a couple passes while I was dropping Aidan off because the middle pile of snow was considerably higher and I had a little difficulty getting over it. I was just so thankful that I was wearing my boots! Not my winter boots - I haven't yet worn them this winter though I probably should...they're just cheap ones I got down in Abbotsford my first year of Bible College so I don't know how warm they would keep my feet...but they might keep them warmer than some of my shoes!
Anyways, I continued on my way to work, now with only 6 minutes til 8:30 and I still had to make it across town! Of course I got stuck behind 2 vehicles carrying oversized loads but luckily managed to get around them before I got on the bypass. I am so sick and tired of being the smallest thing on the road and driving with semi's and weird huge oilfield trucks!! Especially when the big trucks don't have good manners, I'm always afraid they're just going to move over and squish me off the road. One time one did and I honked for a good long time and he moved back. I wish my horn wasn't so wimpy - but at least it works!
I finally got to work, got my coat off, punched in, was just getting started on some work, when someone pointed out to me that I had a huge tear in my pants!!! I couldn't believe it, randomly, in the middle of my right thigh, is this big rip in my jeans. It was so weird, not on a seam or anything. So I hopped back in the car to go home and get some new pants.
The rest of the day was definitely less eventful, just cold. It is seriously freaking cold here. I wish I could just stay in a warm shower all day, that would be so great. I'm cold constantly, at work, in the car...I don't normally start the car before I leave at the end of the day, but it was close to -30 and I should have, it was bitterly cold. It was so cold the my breath was fogging up the windshield and I had to put the fan on high so I could see. It's supposed to warm up a little by the end of the week with highs of -18 - doesn't that sound weird, a high of -18? But hey, it sure beats what we've got now.
I'm sure most of you noticed my new addition of a little weather button, courtesy of the Weather Network on the righthand side of my blog. This is just a shameless ploy to make you all feel bad about complaining about temperatures that are not really cold.
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Monday, November 27, 2006
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Sunday, November 26, 2006
Very Important Events
I'm getting tired of posting without any pictures, so I took a couple of Aidan this morning. He got this cool Lite Brite cube from his Nanny and Papa for his birthday. It's got a Lite Brite on one side, a white board on another, a tracing surface on another and the last side is a black colored 'white' board. 
Our camera takes a couple seconds to take the picture, so I had it all set up, I got his attention, he looked, and then by the time the picture was taken, he had turned away and was being grumpy.
I can't type very well today because last night I was trying to open a box of chocolates with a pair of scissors and somehow I literally sliced my finger open. The weird thing is that this morning when I took the bandaids off, the cut looked completely different, like it was in a different spot than last night.
Yesterday we tried out a new babysitter and it went very well. I got her name from Brooklyn's mom, and the idea was to try her out this weekend and then hopefully get her to babysit for my Christmas Party next weekend. But...she plays hockey and next weekend she has a tournament in Dawson Creek so that won't work. Aidan loved her and she seemed to enjoy hanging out with him so that's good. Michael and I went to see The Fountain yesterday while Brandi was with Aidan. I thought it was going to be completely different than it actually was. The description of the movie starts off with 'The Fountain is an odyssey about one man’s thousand-year struggle to save the woman he loves.' So I thought it was going to be 3 or 4 little stories set at various points throughout history - maybe including current or future - about 2 people who keep meeting and falling in love or something like that, and they're the same people. If that makes sense. It was a tiny bit like that, but a whole heck of a lot weirder. Very independent and artsy - so I'm surprised that it came to Grande Prairie. I am now 2 for 2 with the movies I've seen this weekend. I saw Stranger than Fiction on Thursday evening and it was a bit of a disappointment as well. It seemed really funny in the previews, but probably because they showed all the funny parts and it was really short. I don't think it lived up to it's potential for funny-ness.
After our movie Michael and I came back and took Aidan out to Superstore and Costco. I can't remember the last time we've been grocery shopping all together - maybe a couple months ago. It was only supposed to be a couple things, but you know how that goes. On the way over we were listening to Kids Stuff on Sirius Satellite Radio and the Wiggles came on singing Willaby Wallaby Woo which is one of Aidan's favourite songs. He gets quite silly when we sing it. We sang about elephants sitting on Aidan and Teddy and Mommy and Daddy. When we sang about Daddy, then Aidan would say 'Daddy! Sit on you Daddy!'
The other Very Exciting Thing that happened yesterday is that Aidan finally pooped in the potty! I let him wear underwear yesterday, and then in the evening after his shower he decided he just wanted to run around naked. So he's running around and then as he runs past me he says 'I poop now' and I said 'okay' and then he comes out again and says 'Mommy! Come look! I pooped!' and sure enough, he had! It was very exciting, and he got his 3 nibs and was very happy because he had never had 3 nibs before. Then I decided to open Michael's box of chocolates and give Aidan a chocolate to celebrate and that's when I cut my finger.
Now it's starting to hurt and if we're going to church we should probably get ready, so I'm going to end this.
Posted by
Alanna Latham
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Sunday, November 26, 2006
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