COME! I AM TEACHING A COOKING CLASS IN PROVO ON THE 23RD!

Yo people. Good news. I am teaching a cooking class in Provo next Thursday, May 23rd at The Kitchen. I will be teaching a class called "Spring Greens" and teaming up with La Nay Ferme and their beautiful produce. I will be going over ways to use greens like spinach, kale, chard and arugula. We will go over a couple recipes and learn a few new ways to get greens into you and your kids diets. It will be fun and tasty, I promise! Here, this is the menu I have been working on.


Grilled kale, red bell pepper and corn salad with cilantro vinaigrette
Arugula and walnut pesto pasta
Spinach and chorizo tacos with chipotle cream sauce
Baked eggs with chard and feta cheese
Strawberry spinach smoothie

Click HERE to sign up! See you there!

A Day of Mothers.

January 2013, when it was literally 3 degrees outside. 

Today is the day of mother's. It's been a good one. I mean, I took a 4 hour nap. How bad can that be? Not bad at all. I also woke up to a pan of brownies that I told my husband to make for me while I slept. This morning, I was given an incredibly eloquent, wonderful card from my husband and some gifts. He has always been good at writing letters and cards to me. I have a big stack of them in my dresser. I make him read them when he is mad at me. I got another nice one to add to the pile today.

Van gave me a plaster hand print he made in preschool and it melted my heart into a puddle. Something about that boy. Something about him growing up has been killing me. I think it is because I have watched his older brother and I have seen how much school made him grow up. Van is such a sensitive little guy. So compassionate and tender. I know that he will change so much in kindergarten. Thank heavens I am waiting a year until I send him.

Jack gave me a little book and a letter. The lettered started with "Dear Whitney....." Yes, I suppose we are on a first-name basis now. Jack is getting baptized in a few weeks and I am feeling a lot of peace about it. I had been so worried about it in the last few months. Feeling like we hadn't prepared him enough. We really wanted him to make the choice to be baptized on his own. No cultural pressure, which can happen here in Happy Valley. But lately, I know he is a ready. I don't how I know, I just do. And I feel great about it. June 1 is going to be a good day.

Violet gave me a little cut out of her hand attached to a popsicle stick with some green leaves. It's her "hand flower" as she calls it. Violet got kicked out of nursery today for yelling and throwing the chalkboard eraser. So we had a little "come to Jesus" in the foyer and she pulled it together and then went back. I also had to calm her down with some of my chocolate popcorn our church gave out to all the moms today.

Motherhood made me. Having to be responsible and serve so selflessly helped me grow up. I had my first baby at 21. I was a baby having a baby. But looking back, I was so discombobulated. For me, I had to have a baby at a young age. It helped me figure everything else out. I needed the delicate responsibility to look outside myself and become me, all at the same time. So thanks kids, you did a good job raising a mom.

At the moment

That was hilarious when I thought I was going to blog all of May. I am adorable. I failed because my life is a big pile of to-dos and it isn't even because I volunteer for crap. I just have a lot all the time. This morning, I told my sister Haley to not let her two little girls grow up. Once your kids grow up, they get involved in more crap and then people think that because you have an older kid, you need to be involved in more crap. They think I am mature or something. If people only knew that I am just a baby. I am not even 30 yet. I just want to go back to bed everyday.

Wow, I just read over that and I sound crazy. Oh well, I am leaving it.

At the moment: 

I am on the couch and air conditioning is softly humming away. I don't like to feel overly cold or hot, so my house is always the perfect temperature.

I have a bunch of boys running around my house and playing some game that has to do with them kicking a ball over my house. I occasionally bark at them when they leave a door open. I need popsicles for these ruffians.

Violet is with Ethan at Home Depot looking for some sprinkler parts. A busted sprinkler pipe under our lawn makes it feel like a grass water bed. Once they get back, I have to figure out some type of food substance of the dinner variety to shove down my kids' gullets. Then the boys will head to a baseball game at UVU and Violet and I will be getting ice cream and going to the park. I sort of hate separating the girls and boys like that. It's lame. The only reason Violet and I aren't going is because she would be a spicy beast if we took her to a baseball game. Maybe next year...

Mother's Day is in two days and all I asked for was ice cream and a big fat nap. Like the kind of nap that has ear plugs and a box fan. I can't wait. Ethan says he has a great Mother's Day gift for me, and $2039539463094 says it has to do with the kitchen. He always gets me kitchen stuffs.

Speaking of kitchen stuffs, I got my two favorite kitchen knives sharpened today. I just wanna cut stuff up now. What are my favorite kitchen knives? Google Calphalon Katana Series. They have a small enough handle for my small hands and they aren't too heavy.

We have a ton of meat in our fridge. Tomorrow night, we are doing a dinner for some people that won a silent auction at a church fund raiser. We offered up a BBQ dinner for 8 people and it was the highest bidding item of the night. Last night, while laying in bed, Ethan and I were planning out the menu and Ethan stopped the conversation and pointed out that we had been talking about barbecue sauce for 10 minutes. Just barbecue sauce. We are awesome. Don't be jealous.

I have been getting e-mails from my cookbook project manager and every time he sends me an email, my heart starts pounding. Today's emails were about getting started approving interior designs. Seeing my recipes formatted like a real live book is so surreal. I have waited for this for such a long time and put in a ton of work. You guys are going to love it. I just know it.

BLOG ALL OF MAY: Things that make me uncomfortable

Today's Blog All of May's prompt is things that make me uncomfortable.

1. Racism. I can't take racist jokes, stereotypes and just plain prejudice. I always think, "What makes you think you are any better than them? You are just as trashy and stupid as you are saying they are." So as a tip, don't talk to me about how Provo High "is just so full of Mexicans! I am going to send my teenagers to a different school." I want to punch your ignorant face. Diversity is great people!

2. In the same vein as racism, I really get uncomfortable when people talk negatively about homosexuality. And if you are talking to me and you say that something is "gay", I get super bugged. Just stop. If you are still living in the dark ages and you use "gay" as a derogatory term, just stop. Please stop.

3. People talking about politics in church. The fact is, Mormons aren't all republicans. There used to be a lot more republican Mormons, but people are changing and change is good. Thinking for yourself is good. So there are times that things get dicey in church classes when someone brings up gay marriage or health care. Leave it at home, folks.

4. Running into people from high school. I lived in Southern California for 5 1/2 years when I got married and I never saw anyone I went to high school with. That was nice. Now, I see people all the time and I hate it. If I wanted to talk to you, I would have kept in touch after high school. One time, some guy came up to me and was all "Whitney Peterson! How are you?!" And I said, "Who? My name isn't Whitney." I lie sometimes. It's best for everyone.

5. The size of my legs. The fact is this: I will always have thicker legs. I just will. But I should be grateful. They are really strong and they can do hard things. Like take me on runs for miles. And I did climb Mt. Timpanogos last fall, all 16 miles. But dang it, they will never be long and willowy. Just short and thick. Oh well.

BLOG ALL OF MAY: Something I am good at

The prompt for today is to blog about something I am good at and how to do it. So, to you I present:

HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOURSELF TOO MUCH

I do this when I get nervous in social situations. And I usually talk about the stupid things about myself. Like what face wash I use or why I never breastfed my kids. Stuff that no one cares about. Here is a step by step guide how to do it yourself!

1. Meet a few new people and in your mind, kneel at their feet and worship them for their cleverness, accomplishments, skinny legs and ability to say no to desserts.

2. While still in your mind, start to feel inferior and lame.

3. Again, while still in your mind, try to think of interesting things about yourself. They need to be stupid things. Like how your 8 year old peed the bed up until a year ago. Or maybe how you wear socks to bed, even in the summer because "you guys, I just have the coldest feet! Like so cold!"

4. Don't wait for a break in the conversation, just jump in with a comment. Like "So my husband had to withdraw from major pain medication!" or "I painted my front door last weekend!" Once you do that, the intellectual conversation everyone was having will stop and they will all give you a courtesy gaze and pretend to care.

5. Keep going. Keep talking about yourself. Make sure it's all mundane or even TMI. Actually, make sure most of it is TMI.

6. At some point, maybe between talking about your high school eastern European teacher or what you ate on your first date with your husband, you will start to sweat. This is your body's way of telling you to shut up. First, you will sweat profusely through your Dove deodorant and then your hair and scalp will get sweaty. At this point the remorse will set in. You will realize you need to peace out immediately.

7. Now you get in your car. At this point, start to replay the evenings events over and over again in your head. You will spend the drive home kicking yourself and hoping that next time you have a social encounter, you will just shut up.

And that my friends is how to talk about yourself too much!

BLOG ALL OF MAY!

So Jennie is doing this blogging everyday in May thing. I think I will do it. Or at least give it an honest effort. This might be a stupid choice because this month is pretty nutso. School is getting out, my book is coming out, Ethan's work is busy and I have to start thinking about girl's camp and doing something with those thoughts.

What should I blog about? Well, I could tell you about my cookbook, which is scheduled to go live on Amazon on June 1. Let's hope we hit that date. I will keep you posted. I just got the cover design proofs yesterday. It's crazy seeing my name on the cover. Kinda exciting! Also on June 1st, my first born will get baptized. It's a pretty big deal. I have to plan a luncheon of sorts for that. I also think I have to find him a suit. That's what you do, right? Your child getting baptized has to look like a 10 on their special day. I think that's how it goes.

I could also blog about my grand plans of filling my kids' summer with all sorts of classes, sports and day camps. I am going into this summer with a plan instead of winging it like I usually do. My only big concern is that I might not get to take very many naps like I did last summer. Last summer was the SUMMER OF NAPS. I took at least a 2 hour nap almost everyday. It was glorious. And restful.

Another thing to blog about would be how I have gained 8 pounds. Weight gain for me is a sign of stress. When I am stressed, I eat treats. Lots of chocolate. And preferably of the baked variety. Time for some more spin class and less brownies. Boo. But on a side note, I have been craving a super good burger. Like an amazing burger.

I should blog about my daughter having anger management issues. Today, she got mad and ripped up one of my geraniums. So we talked about the way to properly get angry. Stomp on the ground, throw stuffed animals and hit the pillows on her bed. When we went to counseling with Jack last year, we learned that anger is fine. You can be angry. But there are right and wrong ways to express it. 

Should I blog about my dream last night? Like I may or may not have had a dream that I had a penis enlargement surgery. I woke up so scared. 

Roast, Blooms and SCREAM!

At the moment, dinner is in the oven. Two pot roasts. And then there will be gravy, white rice, steamed green beans and chocolate cream pie. Happy Sunday, ya'll. This is how we roll.

Someone gave a talk in church today, some high council guy, and he said the most infuriating thing. I can't get over it. He said that girls and women need to dress modestly because then they aren't a temptation to men and boys. SCREAAAAMMMMMM!!!!! Are you kidding me? The female race is responsible for male thoughts? It is our fault if they screw up and get too handsy during a makeout session? It is our fault that they might be tempted to look at porn by what we wear? It's our fault if we get sexually assaulted? This type of stuff makes me so mad. Makes me mad that my daughter could be taught that someday. Makes me mad that we don't give our boys enough credit. The fact is this: I dressed very modestly in my teen years and guess what, I got in plenty of trouble with boys. We should be modest for ourselves. Our own preference. We should have our own personal testimony of modesty. Dear High Council Guy, you are so far off base. Please bless no one heard you but me.

(Phew. Breath deeply.)

Oh! Guess what! My cookbook is finished!!! Sheen and I got everything turned in last Friday and we are DONEZO! I have had people asking me about my cookbook for the last two years. Every time, I would say, "Still just plugging away. In the middle of editing/recipe development/photographing." Today at church, I got to say, "I am done! Expect to be able to buy it at the end of May!" So people, the end of May. I will keep you updated. As for now, we start the design and formatting process with my project manager. This is the fun part.

Last week, I think I got hit by a drunk driver in the school parking lot. I was waiting in the carpool line and some lady behind me hit the back of my car. I got out, she started to back up off my car. Once she did, she then did something and hit my car again. Then backed up again and got out. She looked totally drunk. Or maybe stoned. Under the influence of something. I told her it wasn't a big deal because my car already had a ding where she hit it (bonus of driving a 10 year old car? You don't care about it.). She loopily said "Okay. Sorry." and then got back in her car. Anyways, as I drove away, I put the puzzle pieces together in my head and I am pretty sure she was drunk. Kinda funny, but not really.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year. Flower and herb potting day! Each spring, I go to the nursery and pick out a few blooms, some dirt and herbs and go home and create my favorite part of spring and summer. So excited!