Day2 eating kid friendly

Yesterday I really just threw together what I had to start our week of kid-friendly meals.  Grilled cheese, applesauce, and pretzels was kind of a no-brainer.  I put ham on my husband's grilled cheese to "man" it up a little.  Sophia did eat most everything.  I can't say if she complained because she ate upstairs with her Daddy and I ate downstairs with the baby.  The true test will be when we're sitting at the table.

Today, I made my menu and grocery list.  I want to compare this week with future weeks that I hopefully start the kid friendly meals in a more healthy, homemade, wholesome way.  It's also important to keep in mind that I also included vegetables that my daughter likes so these meals aren't completely without benefit.  Here's our weekly menu:

Sunday:  Grilled cheese, pretzels, applesauce
Monday:  Chicken nuggets, french fries, peas
Tuesday:  Cheeseburger Hamburger helper, broccoli
Wednesday:  Hot dogs, Mac-n-cheese
Thursday:  Fish sticks, spinach, rice
Friday:  Hamburgers (McDonald's style), cut up apples, black eyed peas
Saturday:  Homemade pizza- ham and pineapple for Sophia, pepperoni for Zoë
Sunday:  Chicken Quesidilla

I didn't go to the store until Monday so everything on my list covers Monday through Sunday.  Also, I accounted for things I already had as well odds and ends I needed for lunches, and snacks.  My total grocery bill was $100.49 with only one $0.75 coupon used.  Here's my grocery list:

Chicken Nuggets
Fish sticks
hot dogs
lunch meat
hamburger helper
hamburger
granola bars
nutrigrain bars
apples/fruit
peas
broccoli
spinach
black eyed peas
pizza stuff:  dough, sauce, toppings
chicken quesidillas: chicken, cheese, tortillas
ginger ale
capris suns

Here's the product of my bounty:


Here's dinner for tonight.  It doesn't look so bad I guess, except who knows what's in those chicken nuggets and I'm not a fan of those frozen fries.  I'm trying to lose post baby weight so I'm having some chicken stew I froze a few months back.

Feeding kids

I've always prided myself that my kids are good eaters.  Both Zoë and Sophia will eat most anything and plenty of things that most kids won't.  Zoë has always eaten just about anything put in front of her, and I've never been one to give much acceptance to turning her nose up at something.  For that I have a 17 year old that is an excellent eater, who loves food, who has (what I consider to be) a healthy relationship with food, and who is willing to try all different kids of foods.

Sophia has always given me a hard time about eating.  Not so much what she's eating, but just getting her to eat.  She's always been distracted.  She wants to talk and play and eating just isn't in her schedule.  My husband says it's because I serve unfriendly kid meals.  (i.e. chicken teriyaki and rice)

So, I have decided to serve a week's worth of kid friendly meals.  I'm taking my meal ideas from kid's menus.  I'm curious to see if it really is the food or if it's just the sitting down to mealtime that is the problem.  We will have chicken nuggets, fish sticks, mini pizzas, hamburgers... just to name a few.  My concern is that most of this is processed foods with lots of sodium and fat.  If it turns out that the problem is the food I'm going to search out healthier homemade versions of the foods rather than the processed stuff.

Here is last night (Sunday)'s dinner:

And, to make me feel better... I decided to have a little "processed" treat for myself, so I made a Betty Crocker cupcake mix with some cream cheese icing.  Yum.  They almost made me forget that I was serving my kids grilled cheese for dinner.  :D

Pinterest has ruined me

After being on Pinterest for a while now I've had the opportunity to browse a lot of blogs. This has lead me to realize two things. First, this blog of mine SUCKS! and I need to spend 2012 improving. This means better organization, more focus per posting, more pictures, a better overall design... Yeah, that about covers it. The second thing Pinterest did was to make my "to do" list and/or wish list a thousand times longer. Now I have too many crafts to try and get great at, too many foods to cook and eat, and too many ideas for my own style. I can do it. I can, I can, I can.

Listings and stuff

I managed to find Pinterest.  This website has become my newest addiction.  It is both a blessing and a curse.  Blessing in that it has given me lots of ideas and inspiration for all of the crafts and baking and cooking I want to try.  Curse in that I spend so much time looking at the pins and finding things to pin that I've neglected to *do* anything.  Everything has a double edged sword, now doesn't it?

On that note and back to my new year's resolutions (which by the way I have not had great success with thus far) I'm going to make a list of the some of the things I want to get to further my goals.

For the kitchen:
a new LARGE crockpot
personal soup pots for individual pot pies, soups, etc.
some good knives- not a set- individual
a large stock pot for cooking soups in large quantities
some mixed, funky cereal bowls (lots of colors and stuff)
some freezer-friendly pans/dishes
a couple extra large muffin/cupcake tins- enough for at least 12, up to 24
a hand mixer (I can't beleive I don't have one of these)
some more mixing bowls
some new pans
some new metal bread pans
a dutch oven
I'm sure there are several other pots I could use
- I know the list goes on... just not sure what else... right now.

For the bathroom:
More towels
more washcloths
some rugs that match
a large mirror for the downstairs
a hand towel ring for Zoe's bathroom
a toilet paper holder for Zoe's bathroom
some general decor
a garbage can for the downstairs bathroom
candles for the bathrooms

For my bedroom:
a crib
bedside tables
a comforter
bedding:  bedskirt, shams, etc.
extra sheets
a headboard
baskets for the shelves
decorations for the shelves:  candle holders, picture frames, vases, etc.
curtains
lamps
a small reading chair and ottoman

This is my list... so far...  Boring reading, but helpful for me.  :)

Happy Birthday to me

I celebrated my birthday this week- Tuesday.  It was uneventful and could easily have passed for any other day except that my grandmother called me which we never does and my friend Denise left me a piece of red velvet cake on the front porch which I ate and thoroughly enjoyed.  The beauty of getting older is that eventually it fails to bother you that you're getting older.  You just begin to appreciate the fact that you aren't dead or dying.  Ha ha.

The funny thing is that I'm 36 (shhhh... don't tell) and I realized that it was at this age that my mother had saw her daughter graduate from high school, had a brain aneurism and nearly died, almost lost her father, and became a grandmother.  All I can think is damn.  What a lot to happen in her short life.  Then again, Zoë is a Junior and will graduate soon.  I pray she doesn't get pregnant any time soon because I'm still doing the mommy thing, I'm not ready to do the grandma thing.  But overall, I've been very healthy.

I think birthdays and getting older have somehow become less exciting over the last few years.  I don't feel the need to make a big deal about it like I used to.  It's become just another day.  And that's sad.  I think we should all celebrate our birthdays with great pizazz because being born is certainly the greatest gift any of us are ever given.  I think we should love ourselves enough to make a big fuss about the fact that we have graced this Earth with our presence.  Why shouldn't we?

And for that matter... why aren't we also celebrating the people that brought us into this world?  I always tell my parents, "Happy becoming a parent day" on my birthday.  I'm the first born and I gave them the first opportunity to succeed (or fail) at being a parent.  What a wonderful gift!

My final thought on birthdays is in regards to gift giving.  I used to send cards out to everyone I cared about on their birthday.  I have a calendar that tells me everyone's birthday and their kids' birthdays and I sent out 30+ cards a month.  It was a way for me to let them know I was thinking about them and I was celebrating their birth because I was glad I had the chance to be touched by their life.  I did this for years.  Last year I decided not to do it because it was expensive and it felt like the people I was sending cards to didn't really care.  No one said thank you.  And last year when they didn't get their cards, no one said they missed them.  Well... not no one.  One person said she missed my cards for her and her kids.  And this year she sent me a birthday card.

I can't tell you how happy it made me.  How it put a smile on my face (not just because the card was funny).  I remembered why I sent those cards.  It was not for me, but for the people I cared about.  So... this year... I'm going to save myself some money and make funny little birthday cards for the people I care about and send them out.  I hope that they appreciate the cards, feel special and loved and know that I care about them.  I hope it makes others feel as good as it made me feel to receive that card.

Happy birthday to me.  And happy life to you.

The New Year is Coming

I barely made it through my 2011 "Resolutions" so the idea of making 2012 resolutions seems ridiculous.  But who am I if not ridiculous!  :-)   So... here we go...

First, I'm very anxious about life with the new baby.  Being able to juggle him, Sophia, Zoe, and Dave feels somewhat daunting.  Zoe's schedule is always hectic, Sophia is demanding of my time, attention, and energy.  Dave's expectations of my "role" in the family is as high maintenance as he can be if I don't stay on top of things.  Not to mention my course load this upcoming semester and my own goals.  I feel quite fortunate that Ethan is such a laid back baby and hopefully that won't change.

I am going to focus this year on a couple of things that should keep life in balance, and assist in my ability to juggle everyone.

1. I want to get us on a very good and fairly strict family schedule.  I think that we have really been lacking that consistent schedule and that's been a big problem for Sophia especially.  I want to focus our schedule around Sophia so that she can get up and moving on time and in particular focus on the evening schedule getting dinner at a decent hour and a bath and bedtime routine.

2.  I absolutely have to focus on my health.  I didn't gain much while I was pregnant, but I didn't exactly start off at a good weight.  I'm getting older and my body just isn't "bouncing" back like it used to.  It can't handle the sugar and junk food/lack of exercise regiment I've maintained these last 35 years.  So, with the new year I am going to focus on making exercise a part of my weekly if not daily routine.  The fact that I'm taking Fitness Walking as one of my courses this semester helps, but I have to do more.  I want to incorporate some yoga/pilates in with the cardio that will be Fitness Walking.

3.  Related to #2 is focusing on the eating habits of myself as well as my family.  We can always eat healthier and I'd like to really focus on getting the right kinds of nutrition for the family.  My Dad gave me a freezer meals cookbook and I'd like to really incorporate that into our family meal time plans.  This would make food available for them to pop in the microwave that's good for them (and me).  Not to mention, if planned right, this would be wonderful for my pocketbook too.  Cha-ching.  $$$

4.  I want to focus some of my extra money and attention on the house.  There is such a long list of things we need for this house and even more that I want.  I've been living in this house for a year and a half now and have been in Raleigh for three years and it's time to make this HOME.  Not just the place we live, but a complete home.  I need to hang pictures and curtains.  There's no reason I can't get some things to complete the decoration of this house.  Of course, I need a list.  The list may be more fun to make than to actually buy from.

5.  I absolutely have to get to the crafts I want to do.  I can sew and should focus on doing it.  I want to learn to knit/crochet and there's no reason I can't learn.  This year I'm going to make crafting a part of my weekly schedule.  My crafting includes finishing the last bit of Zoe's quilt, making Ethan's crib quilt, making Sophia's new quilt for her new bed, and working on the many patterns I have in the books I have.  Plus, hair bobbits, tutus, and whatever else I can think of.

I'm going to "limit" my list to these five things.  They kind of include a lot so I don't feel bad for limiting myself.  I really hope I can accomplish these 5 resolutions plus maybe throw in a few extras.  I hope that these 5 help me get organized in my life as well as in my home.  I hope I lose weight and get healthy.  I hope I help Sophia to be happier and more secure in her family.  I hope I am able to balance the family and house and self.  I hope that 2012 brings me as much happiness and inner peace as 2011 has brought.  So far, 2011 has been the year I've grown the most in and I hope that trend continues.

Happy New Year readers.

Birthday 2012

Yes, I'm thinking ahead.  But this is just absolutely the coolest idea ever!  For my... um... (can I pass for 25 still?) birthday I'm going to throw my own birthday party.  A Cookies and Cocktails party.  I got the idea from here:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/cookies-cocktails/cookies-cocktails/index.html

I was up at 3 a.m. for Ethan's late night feeding and I happened to catch the show and was like, totally cool!  Ironically... or Coincidentally, I checked my email that day and had an invite to a cookie exchange which is basically the same idea without the adult festive beverages.  I'm thinking about having the beverages and making this a couples party so my friends and their significant others can come, but also have some kid friendly cookies and beverages so that everyone can bring their children.

I'm especially excited to try some of these recipes, especially the Momofuku Compost Cookies and Cereal Milk Cocktail.  Of course, let's hope none of my invitees are on major New Year's diets.

While I'm on the topic of things I think are cool... this show has a lot of fun stuff that I'd like to find the recipes for to try at home since it's unlikely I will get to many of the places on it:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/unique-sweets/index.html

For Denise and in referenve to this post I am posting my grandma's chocolate chip cookie recipe.  These cookies are so much yummier than what you find on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag.  Maybe it's the crisco that makes them over the top yummy.  They're not too sweet, just the right mix of sweet and salty.  The recipe doesn't make that many cookies, maybe a dozen or a baker's dozen or so...  But then again, if the recipe made more than that I'd be tempted to eat more than that and I don't need more.

Nana's Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crisco
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons water
1 6oz bag of chocolate chips
1/2 cups nuts (optional)

Cream crisco and sugars
Add egg, blend well
Add vanilla and water
Sift flour, salt and soda together
Add flour mixture to cookie mixture
Stir in chips and nuts

Bake 375
9 minutes
ungreased cookie sheet