Pea Soup

Naomi put this together over the course of several days. It consists of frozen peas, pine cone pieces, paper scraps, leaf pieces, salad supreme seasoning, a red feather.


She played pretend with it for a while, then one day she added water and had James try it.
He loved it.
I was a little late....
She claims he didn't eat any feathers or paper or pine cones. or Leaves.

Mummy Pizza!

Last night the kids and I made these spooky little snacks for dinner.
They were really a lot of fun to make, the kids loved helping, and they were so excited about eating them too.
We skipped on the the scallions. Because I hate them. And I am unashamedly influencing my children's tastes. Onions are gross.
Naomi found two olive ends so she could have x-ed out eyes for one of her mummys. And James really liked helping to make it but in the end ate mostly just cheese and olives.
For the recipe link, click here.
Happy Haunting!

(the best) Cinnamon French Toast

Cinnamon French Toast

Ingredients:
Cinnamon Burst bread from Great Harvest (YUM)
Eggs
Milk
Salt
Butter
Syrup
Strawberries

Melt a generous amount of butter on your griddle over medium low heat.
Wisk 1 large egg with about 1/4 cup of milk. Add 1/8 tsp of salt.
Slice 4 slices of Cinnamon Burst bread about 1/2 inch thick.
When butter is melted dip and coat the bread slices in the egg mixture and place on griddle.
Brown lightly on each side, remove from heat.

Serve with warm syrup and sliced strawberries.
It's like heaven.




I know I don't write recipes all that well, but this was too delicious not to share. And I didn't create this, people have been making Cinnamon Burst French toast long before me. Try it, it's awesome!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs over Spaghetti Squash.

(image courtesy of makeitandlove.blogspot.com)

I stumbled across this recipe the today and decided, "what the heck, I can make that!" I was lucky enough to have the ingredients, more or less, on hand. I made due a little, but didn't compromise the integrity of the meal. Seriously. These are great.
The meatball recipe is from Pioneer Woman, click here. And the whole meal idea and squash recipe is from Ashley at Make it and Love it.
I made this for dinner and it was a huge, enormous, wonderful SUCCESS!
Although, I also cooked up some bow tie noodles. Pasta is always, without fail, a hit for the 4 and under crowd at my home. So just to be safe, I added that to the menu.
Total it took one hour to prepare the meal, frozen ground beef to sit down and eat.

I just happened to have a spaghetti squash sitting  forlornly in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator. And I keep ground beef on hand, and pasta and sauce too of course, otherwise the kids might starve...
So I had only about one pound of ground beef, instead of the 1 and 1/2 so I adjusted the recipe accordingly. Also, my bread crumbs were of the plain variety. So I added my own spice mixture to make them "Italian." I did a dash and a pinch of each of these; sage, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, and fresh chopped basil! Also the recipe called for fresh parsley. I just added some dry. It doesn't taste much, it's just for show and the fresh basil covered that.
Also, I didn't have fresh mozzarella. That's a shame, because I'm pretty sure it would be awesome. So I used what I had. String cheese. Yes, I chopped up two string cheese sticks to use as my meatball centers. They were yummy.
Oh, and one more thing, I didn't have worcestershire sauce. Too bad. They were awesome anyway. It calls for only just a teaspoon anyway. So I fudged there and it was fine. See, you too can make a recipe work without a trip to the grocery store!
The spaghetti squash was surprisingly good, and it's a really low-calorie alternative to pasta. Probably not much less fat with the butter I added while it was baking though. And surprise, pasta sauce is really good on spaghetti squash!
My quash came with a sweet little label with cooking instructions, so I followed those and Ashley's. I sliced my squash in half, put them cut-side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (that stuff is awesome) and cooked them for 45 min at 400. Then I flipped them over, added butter to the hollowed out inside and lowered the temp to 350 because I was putting the meatballs in the oven right then too. I cooked both for about 10 minutes and the squash was done the same time as the meatballs. Perfect.
I added some grapes and called it a meal.
Share your favorite not-too-hard recipe with me. I am always looking for new things to make for dinner!

Okeedokee Artichokee

We like artichokes at this house. It's a new development, within the last 6 months. I must have presented them in a good light the first time, the kids were actually hungry, or something. Or maybe it's the melted butter. Never underestimate the power of melted butter.

The kids go wild for them. It is, at the very least, comparable to the excitement level of when we have ice cream cones. Seriously.

I know, who knew that kids could be so perplexing?

I guess I should add though, in all fairness, that my kids do like vegetables in general. Broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, peppers, squash, and cucumbers are regular winners. And avacados and mushrooms for James. So there wasn't that bump to get over. And artichokes are fun to eat. And Naomi will try anything once, and James will do anything she does.

So there you have it, a recipe for artichoke lovers.

They are just kinda weird looking.

Naomi asked me the first time, like she does often when a food is only vaguely familer or altogether new, "do I like this mom?" And what do you think the answer invariably is? "Yes, you love it!"

Now don't start worrying that either, 1) I am bragging and exaggerating, or 2) my kids like everything. Neither is true. Well, definitely not the second one.

My kids have plenty of things they do not like. Will not eat. Not one bite. And James is the worst when he decides he is done. He is DONE and will not, no matter the coaxing, bribing, demanding, camaraderie, take one more bite. Not ever. He's better with distraction, like "look, that's a neat __________, eat your _________." And sometimes absent-mindedly while he's looking at said distraction he will take another bite. Not usually though.

So, back to the artichokes. Naomi asks every time we hit the grocery store if we can buy one. I tell her we will check the prices. It's a good introductory to the concept that things cost money, things change price and we don't like to spend too much money. Buy low, eat high. Something like that.

So last shopping I brought home from Macey's not one, but two cool-funky looking artichokes! Oh happy day!

I cooked up the big one,  using this recipe page the first time and they have turned out delicious repeatedly.

I set the kids up with their own little cups of melted butter. I reuse applesauce cups for stuff like this. They are perfect.

Naomi danced a happy dance before I finally told her she had to sit down to eat. James has entered the "I DO IT" stage and I supplied him with fresh leaves. He dipped, licked, slurped to his belly's content. I often had to confiscate and replace leaves once he had stripped the edible part off and was trying to see if he should eat the whole thing. Naomi was more precise but I did stop her from sipping the butter at one point. Only to turn to see James's butter cup bottoms up and then him bring it down to the table and ask innocently for "mo butter. pees."

Naomi babbled about the artichoke heart and was just as excited for that part as anything. It's a pain to get clean. You have to cut off or dig out the little thistle things once all the leaves are off. But then it's a big delicious chunk of artichoke. We split it three ways, a satisfying way to end a meal.

So if you haven't tried these before, go check prices next time your are shopping. Supposedly they can get as cheap as a dollar each. You might just love them, and your kids too. Shocking, I know.

Christmas Gifts

(this photo will not for the life of me, stay right side up...)



Ferrero Rondnoir would be a delicious gift that's not the ordinary box 'o chocolates for Christmas.

My Brother in law brought a box of these divinities to me from Geneva Switzerland when he visited Utah last month. Thank You Mark!

They are truly heavenly.

The Ferrero website says it best:

"Ferrero Rondnoir dark chocolates, are a unique combination of dark chocolate creme surrounding a "black pearl" of fine dark chocolate, within in a delicate, crisp wafer...topped with crunchy dark chocolate morsels."

Obviously I love dark chocolate.

What's for Lunch?

Sometimes it's hard to know what to make for lunch (or dinner) that your kids will eat and that will actually be real food for you. Mac 'n Cheese does not a mom meal make. Trust me on that one.

Yesterday I made these, and they were very good. Happy kids and Happy Mom.

Quick Veggie Paninis/"grilled cheesies"

For the kids:

Two slices of bread, lightly buttered with Monterrey Jack cheese slices for the inside. Feeding kids cheese as you slice. That's what happens at my house anyway.

Pull out your old George Foreman or the like. I haven't used mine in years, but for today it was perfect!

Grill until browned and cheese is melty. Done.

Add to plate sliced red peppers, avocado chunks, mushrooms and (very important) Dip. My kids like Kraft Green Goddess. It's very tasty.

For Mom:

Two slices of bread, lightly buttered and Monterrey Jack cheese slices.

Add to sandwich: baby spinach, avocado slices, red pepper slices, mushrooms, and a little bit of your favorite vinaigrette splashed on there. I like Kraft Cesar Vinaigrette with Parmesan.

Grill to perfection and enjoy your yummy veggie Panini!

*Tomatoes would be great on this too, but I didn't have any today.

Extra avocado and peppers for me.

Ok, so I know that there are professional photographers that still can't make food look appetizing, and I realize that my sandwich photo might make you not want to make this. But photos make things more fun. So bear with me will ya?

Autumn Treats

I found these delights at my grocery store.

Yes pomegranate are a lot of work, but they are oh so good.

Clementine's are perfect little snacks for little fingers.


Pumpkin Eggnog? You bet, and it's delicious. And I don't even really like regular eggnog.

They also had the flavors, Cinnamon Stick, Sugar Cookie and Gingerbread.
It's tastes just like pumpkin pie!


And THESE are a special treat for just Mommy. I mean it.
Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bears. Delicious.

Pie

I am a cake girl. I pick cake over pie always. My mom makes the best chocolate layer cake I've ever tasted. She uses two round cake pans and then slices each round cake to make four layers with whip cream between them and then covers the whole beautiful cake with chocolate frosting. I love it. So do most people who've tried it. I wish I had a picture to post.

So when it came to birthdays I would always request a chocolate cake, never a pie!

Once I got married (nearly 7 years ago!) I started to make a few different pies. I started out easy with banana cream (my dad's favorite) and chocolate cream (of course). I later added a new favorite of mine, key lime pie. It's delicious. I'll post the recipe below if I can find it. I first tried key lime pie at good ol' Village Inn in Logan, UT. I was instantly hooked. Some of my favorite treats are related to that discovery. I love Stewart's key lime soda and Yoplait key lime pie yogurt.

A week or so ago Zach started talking about how he loves pumpkin pie, and is excited to have some for Thanksgiving. I've never baked a pie;) So I shrugged it off. Then I spotted the cans of pumpkin at the grocery store while I stocked up on chocolate chips (for cookies- I love to bake cookies). I grabbed a small can and turned it around. It was Libby brand and they have a pie recipe on the back. I realized it called for really simple ingredients and I could give it a try. We were going to the Piersons for dinner and trick-or-treating that night so I thought bringing a pumpkin pie to a Halloween dinner was so appropriate.

I enlisted Naomi's help with the stirring and together we made a darn good pumpkin pie! I had to bake it for 25 extra minutes past the recommended 45. I made a second one yesterday, same thing with the cooking time, I guess it varies with ovens quite a bit.

I was so pleased when the pie turned out to taste really good! I definitely did it the easy way to start. I used canned pumpkin and frozen pie crusts, but it was a great start. I'm hoping that if I go to the extra effort of making my own crust and even buying a pumpkin it will turn out heavenly. We will see.

I've always loved to bake and I'm so excited to finally realize that pies aren't so tricky! I have a delicious apple pie recipe I need to try, maybe this afternoon.

So I am turning pie. So long cakes, you have taken a back seat (for now).

Not the greatest picture, just visualize a perfect slice on a pretty plate with a large dollop of whip cream on top;)

And just a few more halloween pics I missed, Naomi was proud of her pumpkins.

Chalk it up as a good week

Zach made a castle with a big 'ole box last week. It took him probably longer than he intended. But it's been well loved by Naomi. And also by her friends.

Then I had some leftover buttermilk from making fried chicken (see last post:) and remembered a creative idea from my days in school. Preschool that is. My professor during my undergrad days at USU for the Child Development Lab used the cool trick once of chalk+buttermilk.

If you dip sidewalk/colored chalk in buttermilk it gives it a much deeper and thicker color. Zach and I probably had the most fun with it. Sometimes you need to just sit down with your kids and color with crayons too, except this was more fun, definitely cooler:)

As for other fun and exciting news- as fun and exciting life with a toddler and baby all day can be... James had his first bowl of baby cereal! And he liked it.

He's been eating a bowl a day for 4 or so days and he's getting better and better. His hands like to get in the way though. He tries to grab the spoon and then sucks the cereal goop off his fingers, or smears it all over the table. He also dribbles it out a lot. He still has the tongue-thrust thing going on. He ends up eating nearly everything- meaning not that much is actually on his bib/hands/table. But it's still plenty messy.

Naomi could not be more thrilled that her baby brother is *finally* starting to "eat." She gets to help with a few spoonfuls each time we feed him. She's a little overzealous but he'll survive. I'm sure she'll end up feeding him plenty of food in the future.

I've started reading up (again, I forgot nearly everything) about baby food and what foods, when, etc. I also read a bit about introducing your baby to spices! I'm interested in adding a few of those in as we get going on foods for James. Here's an informative site: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipspices.htm

I also gave James a sippy cup with water for the first time last week. It's a love/hate relationship. Actually he likes it now, he gets small sips and Naomi is more than happy to assist him with holding the cup. Seriously, he'll never learn to do anything on his own with her around. Rolling over, drinking from a cup, holding his toys, rolling over, sitting up, eating his toys, rolling over. Just a few things she "helps" him with. "Tummy time for James!!!!"

(new) foods I love

I have lots and lots of foods that I love. But I put together a list of some new ones and a few old favorites:)
Totally a random post, but it was fun.




Nutella
How was it I was well into my 20's before I discovered this decadent treat? Probably because the label is "foreign looking" and my parents never bought it. If you have never tried this, please stop at the nearest grocery store and buy a jar. You will not regret it. It's like peanut butter but waaaay better. I think the traditional/normal way for people to consume this chocolate hazelnut "spread" is to put it on bread. A spoon will work fine. If you must eat it on something, I recommend dipping Nilla wafers.






Bueno Bar
I first tried one of these in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, about a year and 1/2 ago. We stopped at a grocery store to grab some snacks and this candy bar caught my eye. We bought one and I was hooked. It's so yummy. It's also hazelnut and chocolate (and wafers). You'll find a good review of it here. It's not really marketed in the U.S. but random stores will stock it. I had my sister who lives in Switzerland bring me back a stash last time she came for a visit. Sadly it's gone.





Raspberries
Does this one even need explaining? Probably not but I will anyway. I grew up on raspberries every August-September. I remember going as a family to Grandma and Grandpa Low's house to pick raspberries. We each had a bucket with a rope or old tie on the handle and then tied to our waist. I think I used to eat more than made it to the bucket back then.
My parents have had raspberry bushes for as long as I can remember too. At one point about half the garden was devoted to raspberries. I've learned from my mom how to make freezer jam. Last fall I took Naomi to a local farm here in Maryland where you pick your own produce. She picked right along with me, but probably ate most of her finds. I'm looking forward to going again next week- the raspberries are on!




Chocolate Milk
This is a new find. Well, I've aways loved chocolate milk but we all know it's full of fat, that's what makes it good right? Nope. At least not now. This brand Skinny Cow is awesome! It's so so so yummy. And yup, it's fat free. Plenty of sugar, yes- but whatever. I'm in love with it.



Fried Chicken
I decided that if I'm going to live in the South I had better learn how to make fried chicken. I've only done it twice but it was better the 2nd time. There are pages and pages of instructions, tips and recipes online for Southern Fried Chicken and each is just a bit different. There are a few basics that I've followed and from here on out it's just tweaking to get it just perfectly right. Peanut oil, soaking in buttermilk and the right seasonings seem to be the most important.
Unlike the chocolate milk, this one is NOT fat free:) I won't even put a link. If you want to make some too, just Google it- the info is endless.



Bacon
I just love bacon. Even when I was dead-to-the-world pregnant-sick I could still eat bacon.



Almonds
My parents used to buy a big bag of bulk nuts, with the shell, around Christmas every year. I honed my skills at nut cracking and discovered that almonds are not too difficult and definitely my favorite. I didn't even realize back then that you could buy almonds in a can, shelled.
I like smoked, roasted and salted but the natural raw ones are my very favorite.





Dark Chocolate M&M's
I hope they never discontinue these. I eat these by the handful. I have to hide the bowl/bag or I I have to share... Naomi always ends up with colorful stains on her shirt, and if I share with Zach they are just gone too fast. So- these are for me:)

Welcome to the South

Speed Street, Charlotte, NC





Jeff Gordon on the card on the windsheild. It was cool to see the cars up close. I might just have to become a NASCAR fan. Just kidding.



Menu for a heart attack.
They also had Cheesecake on a stick. It was a frozen wedge of cheese cake that they dipped in chocolate right there. It looked soooo good. Maybe I should have bought one of those too.



Ribbon Fries- they stuck the potato on a drill with some sort of shredder attachment at the end and made a pile of fries! Yes, a drill, a real drill.



This guy is eating a Turkey Leg- people would just carry them around like that, biting off big 'ol chunks. Bleh.


Our first Deep Fried Snickers! With powdered sugar on top. Mmmmmm.


Yeah, it was REALLY good! The whole candy bar was melty and warm.



Naomi would have eaten the whole thing if I didn't make her share!


She spotted a "M M" and was SO excited:)


The mascott for the Charlotte hockey team- The Checkers



At the cereal booth, a picture with the CoCo Puffs bird.


Last weekend in Uptown Charlotte was Speed Street. It's hosted by a grocery store chain and there are tons of vendors giving out samples of all things food. Gogurts, a fizzy gogurt- carbonated? Cereal, gum, coupons, etc, etc, etc. The big event it's all winding up to is the Coca~Cola 600 race that was yesterday. There were about 15 NASCAR racing cars out on display, Naomi thought they were pretty cool. There were several stages with live music going round the clock. Friday night was Kelly Pickler and Saturday night was Travis Tritt. I didn't see either.....


But the most amazing thing about all this was the PEOPLE. Everyone and their dog, literally, was there holding a beer bottle. about a mile of city streets were closed off for this and people were just pouring into town. During the day on Friday I took the kids down and met Zach near his building when he was done with lunch. We rode in on the city's new light rail system. It's like the Metro but newer, smaller and cleaner:)


While we were there Friday there were a lot of other parents and kids and business people on their lunch breaks. Naomi and I had hot dogs and ice cream for lunch. We all went back down Saturday afternoon and it was more of a weekend crowd. Kind of like Lagoon.... if you know what I mean:)


While there the second time I decided that it was time to try some authentic Southern street vendor food.


Deep Fried Candy Bars. (or Twinkies!)


Zach couldn't keep his eyes off the enormous Turkey Legs people were gnawing on, but he declined when I told him to buy one.

It was a fun weekend, especially since Zach was home! Friday evening we had a little cookout at our apartment courtyard with some of the other Summer Associates Zach works with (and their significant others:) And today we spent the day at the mall shopping! What a husband huh? Really we shopped mostly for Zach, spending his b-day money from our parents on new "Business Casual" clothes for him. He was loving it:) Then he was a good sport and made a few stops for me, even entertaining both kids while I tried on things. Both Naomi and James were patient at the mall. Naomi was really sad to leave actually. Then she fell asleep instantly in the car.

So our long weekend is over :( But I'm looking forward to another good week here in Charlotte!