I have a really easy casserole recipe. It needs a catchy title. It's chicken, rice, cream of whatever soup, frozen veggies, and cheese. Not fancy, but plenty tasty.

Em had her 9 month check up last night. 2 shots, which were handled ok. She's 28 inches tall and 16lbs 2oz. She went down into the 10th percentile for weight and is hold ing at the 75th for height. Doc said she's alert and happy and making all of her milestones early, she's just very active. I upped her bottles to 8oz just Monday and she's eating better now that she isn't sick anymore, so hopefully by her i year checkup, she'll be back up in her weight.

From photos, Joe looks pretty wiry. Is he, Aimee? I always figured Em just inherited his body type. Regardless, it's sort of hard to predict what a baby of that age is going to be like weight-wise as a toddler, younger child, and older. My niece was smaller than Em. They actually did a sweat test on her (for CF) because she was so tiny. She's almost thirteen now. She's shorter than average (I don't think there was too much genetic hope for her to be of average height) but she's actually in the puberty-pudge stage right now. When she was a year, I'm not sure if she weighed 14 pounds.

Benjamin was a bomb. By his first birthday he was 30 pounds. He looked like someone stuck a pump in him, and inflated him. Now he's long and tends toward lean, except right before a growth spurt.

I wish I could figure out a way to COMM this without it seeming overkill, but I can't. Still, when I thought about all the possibilities, this part of Deena's Press Announcement about the database update cracked me up:

You can/can't share this with any Buffista who asks (posters under 500, regular posters, only posters whose name starts with ‘B’):

Mom used to make mushroom soup over hamburger patties. I'm not sure exactly how she made them but it's easy to make and cheap.

One of my favorite meals as a kid was what my mom called "goulash". It was actually browned ground beef, put in a casserole with a small box of cooked elbow macaroni and two cans of tomato soup. Put a few bread crumbs on top, bake for 40 minutes, and it's delicious. I guess you'd call it "macaroni and beef" or something. Total peasant food, but so comforting and tasty.

Hee. I'm glad, Cindy. I hope it all comes across as funny and not just a little. too. crazy.

Childcare quest continues. I just emailed one of my CPs who has a nanny for her two kids to see if she'd be up for a temporary nanny share or otherwise has ideas or advice. DH has posted to the UW childcare board that we're interested in a nanny share starting in October. Later today I'll stop by and see the neighbor and see how available she is. And I went through the actual physical yellow pages highlighting every center that's broadly close to our house, UW, or the main route between the two. I'll make a few phone calls once I've showered.

I could easily do this all day, but it's not my only job right now. I've got to prep for the interview tomorrow and apply for any new listings that pop up. I've got a wedding I'm coordinating 10/1 where I'm meeting the bride and groom again today, and work for the writers conference 10/7-10/9 is picking up. And right now I think I'm less than 2 weeks from having a rough draft of the WIP. Busy busy.

I tried to figure out a recipe for my favorite meal as a child, something my mother called "skillet dish," but there's too much winging it involved. You brown ground beef with a chopped green pepper and a chopped onion; drain the mixture; and add a can of vegetable soup, another can or so of water, and macaroni or other small pasta, plus a lot of Worchester sauce. Cook until the noodles are done, adding water if needed. It was sort of her equivalent of macaroni and cheese, which she never made.

I think this is one of the universal American dishes.

My mom called it "skillet hot dish", because it was always made in the electric skillet. Saute ground beef with onions; add tomatoes, macaroni, and seasonings; cover and cook until done.

My husband's family calls it "slumgullion".

Both AmyLiz's dish and Ginger's dish are variations on what we usually call American Chop Suey.

For mine, I sautee 1 or 2 Bell Peppers in a minute amount of oil, chop an onion while the peppers are cooking, and throw it in. When they start to cook, I throw in the hambur (a pound or so). When the hamburg is done, I throw in a can of crushed, peeled tomotoes, and sometimes a small can of chopped tomatoes, too (in general, I use different tomato combos, mood depending). When the macaroni is cooked and drained, I throw the hamburg/tomato/pepper & onion stuff right in with it, and mix it all up. The kids love it. It's easy, and quick.

When Julia was little, she couldn't say "American Chop Suey" so she accidentally renamed it "Mac Chewy" which cracks me up, so I often call it that, now.