Plantain Run Down

By the end of the day I count my stars I am still alive. Here is my normal route of activities:

530/6a: nurse baby Wake up and water grass
645a: Isaiah leaves and I get the toddler outa bed
7/730a: Nurse the lil ones
8a: breakfast
830a-1130a: Any series of the following events can ensue (this is really my only time to get stuff done outside the house and sometimes even in the house:
grocery shop
park
errands
walk
make dinner or prep it
pack
laundry
play outside
10a: nurse baby
12n: lunch
1230p: begin toddler naptime routine
1p: nurse xire and take a nap
3p: Teenager gets home
330p: nurse xire, wake up toddler
**and this is where it gets hairy because from here on out it is an insane remix of baby crying, post playing, Elmo, post crying, mama loosing her patience and holding on by a thread, etc.**
5p: start dinner, or heating dinner
545p: serve dinner to the boys (maybe eat mine)
6p: nurse xire
630p: start bath for toddler
7p: bed time and story time
715p: Give Xire a lil night cap
730p: bath for baby and mama
8p: bedtime for baby and
815p: water the lawn and then......
FREEDOM!!!
1030p: bedtime for teenager and mama is pooped
2a: nurse Xire

It is hard to get to talk on the phone or make things extra or enjoy something when freedom starts at 8ishp. And honestly i don't have a lot to give to the world by then. I just want to shut myself into a cave and hibernate until the next episode of the Stoker Family. Most times it is a repeat and I am not complaining it can just be hard for others to understand, it is a one woman juggling act, and why should they completely understand they aren't me. Just have to meet ya'll in the middle of the road.

So lately it has been a continual guarding of the baby. Post is on a toddler rampage where no matter what mood he tends to attack the baby. And then the baby wails and I am stuck trying to calm the lil one and correct the middle one. I have tried allowing him more baby-helping contact and so on but it seems that it just happens anyway. I can't wait for this phase to pass because the lil guy is terrified of his brother. It was all funnies before but now it is much more. The baby cringes and stiffens, somewhere in between playing dead and hyperventilating like a squeaky toy, when he hears his brother coming close (voice, feet, anything).
This too shall pass. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.....I am waiting.

Dinner tonight, a plantain version of Breadfruit in Coconut sauce from the Rasta Cookbook, pg 59. Since breadfruit doesn't exist in Salt Lake City, I settle for Plantains because i am sick of potatoes (alternatives to breadfruit):

Plantain Run Down
3 green Plantains, chopped and fried in oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 T coconut oil
1 bayleaf
1 sprig of Thyme (seriously 1 only, I put too much in mine this time, you don't need a ton of that stuff)
freshly ground pepper
2 c coconut milk

1. heat coconut oil over medium heat in a sauce pan. Add onions and cook until soft (not brown)
2. Add tomatoes, thyme, bayleaf, and pepper.
3. stir in Coconut milk and bring to a boil. add fried plantains, cook for 20 minutes