I'm often asked about what sites I recommend for this or that. Here's a list, in no particular order, of sites I love. Sites I find fun, useful and informative as a mama.
*I love learning of great sites, if you have a site you love that you think I'd love too, please leave a comment and share it with my readers and I.*
Family Fun
Fact Monster
Baby Center
Bible Gateway
National Geographic Kids
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
The Idea Box
American Sign Language
Moms Club
Smithsonian For Students
No Time For Flash Cards
Parentables
Show Kids The Fun
Cafe Mom
The Natural Child Project
5 Minutes For Mom
ABC Mouse
Savvy Source
Productive Parenting
Craft Cafe
PBS Kids
Starfall
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Tuity Fruity Bananas
We struggle with breakfast at our house. The boys want toast every. single. day. I'm about to have a "Mommy Moment" with you, that moment where you bare your farfromperfect mommy soul to another mother, a mother you know (or at least hope) will understand.
There have been days, several of them if I'm being honest, where I've sent Sean off to school with as many as 6 pieces of toast in his belly. That's so much bread. Too, too much bread. Plus bread at lunch most days and almost always a starch with dinner. Somethings got to give with the damn toast.
My kids are hard to feed. In the morning anyway.
They both despise eggs, which throws a lot of traditional breakfast options out the window. Sean has always hated eggs. Sine the first time I tried to feed him scrambled eggs when he was just a little guy. He won't even eat homemade french toast because he knows the bread is dipped in egg. Daniel previously LOVED eggs, like really loved them...which was super exciting given that my first born wanted nothing to do with them. About a year ago, he suddenly decided he would no longer eat eggs under any circumstances. And that's been that.
Pancakes, waffles, french toast and anything else that would require the accompaniment of syrup is out on school days as we get our baths/showers in the evening before bed and my kids require soaking and scrubbing after consuming syrup.
They eat cereal, but only dry cereal in a bowl - no milk - and they only eat specific parts of different cereal. Only the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, only the certain colored squares in a box of Chex.
You get the idea. It's rough.
I've been trying to come up with new and healthier breakfast options for them and this one has been a big hit.
It makes a great breakfast or after-school snack. It's fast, it's fun, it's nutritious and it's so easy that your kids can do it themselves.
Step 1: Pour cereal (we've been working with a big bag of imitation Fruity Pebbles) into a small plastic bag and seal. Let your child use their hands to crush up the cereal. Pour contents of bag onto a plate or in a bowl.
You can use any type of cereal you like.
Step 2: Have your child peel a banana and use a butter knife to cut it up into chunks. Dip banana chunks into cereal and get your breakfast on. You have the goodness and nutrition of a banana and the hint of sugary cereal deliciousness.
There have been days, several of them if I'm being honest, where I've sent Sean off to school with as many as 6 pieces of toast in his belly. That's so much bread. Too, too much bread. Plus bread at lunch most days and almost always a starch with dinner. Somethings got to give with the damn toast.
My kids are hard to feed. In the morning anyway.
They both despise eggs, which throws a lot of traditional breakfast options out the window. Sean has always hated eggs. Sine the first time I tried to feed him scrambled eggs when he was just a little guy. He won't even eat homemade french toast because he knows the bread is dipped in egg. Daniel previously LOVED eggs, like really loved them...which was super exciting given that my first born wanted nothing to do with them. About a year ago, he suddenly decided he would no longer eat eggs under any circumstances. And that's been that.
Pancakes, waffles, french toast and anything else that would require the accompaniment of syrup is out on school days as we get our baths/showers in the evening before bed and my kids require soaking and scrubbing after consuming syrup.
They eat cereal, but only dry cereal in a bowl - no milk - and they only eat specific parts of different cereal. Only the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, only the certain colored squares in a box of Chex.
You get the idea. It's rough.
I've been trying to come up with new and healthier breakfast options for them and this one has been a big hit.
It makes a great breakfast or after-school snack. It's fast, it's fun, it's nutritious and it's so easy that your kids can do it themselves.
Step 1: Pour cereal (we've been working with a big bag of imitation Fruity Pebbles) into a small plastic bag and seal. Let your child use their hands to crush up the cereal. Pour contents of bag onto a plate or in a bowl.
You can use any type of cereal you like.
Step 2: Have your child peel a banana and use a butter knife to cut it up into chunks. Dip banana chunks into cereal and get your breakfast on. You have the goodness and nutrition of a banana and the hint of sugary cereal deliciousness.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
My Taco Noodle Casserole Recipe
Yesterday I shared my recipe for how to make your own taco seasoning. I use taco seasoning in my kitchen quite often and for way more than just plain old tacos. This recipe is one of my favorite uses for taco seasoning, it's a family favorite for sure.
TACO NOODLE CASSEROLE
Here's what you need:
1 package of egg noodles
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup milk
2-3 tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning OR1 packet taco seasoning mix
Shredded Mexican cheese blend
Corn chips (like Tostito's), crushed up
Here's what you do:
1) Cook noodles to al dente, whatever the package says, usually 7 or 8 minutes. Drain, dump in large bowl.
2) While you're waiting for the water to boil, season ground beef with salt and pepper and brown, add onion a few minutes before beef is done. Drain excess grease, return to frying pan.
3) Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce and milk to ground beef and onion, stir, bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.
4) Pour meat mixture into bowl with noodles and mix it all up. Pour a layer of noodles/meat into a casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, spread evenly, top with cheese. Spread remaining noodles/meat into casserole and top with more cheese. You can never have enough cheese, right? Right.
5) Put crushed up corn chips all over the top and bake uncovered for 20 -30 minutes at 350.
Serve with salad or corn. You can use additional taco seasoning to give it a stronger taco flavor. I use a little less than I might otherwise like so doesn't have too much bite for the kids.
TACO NOODLE CASSEROLE
Here's what you need:
1 package of egg noodles
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup milk
2-3 tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning OR1 packet taco seasoning mix
Shredded Mexican cheese blend
Corn chips (like Tostito's), crushed up
Here's what you do:
1) Cook noodles to al dente, whatever the package says, usually 7 or 8 minutes. Drain, dump in large bowl.
2) While you're waiting for the water to boil, season ground beef with salt and pepper and brown, add onion a few minutes before beef is done. Drain excess grease, return to frying pan.
3) Add taco seasoning, tomato sauce and milk to ground beef and onion, stir, bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.
4) Pour meat mixture into bowl with noodles and mix it all up. Pour a layer of noodles/meat into a casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, spread evenly, top with cheese. Spread remaining noodles/meat into casserole and top with more cheese. You can never have enough cheese, right? Right.
5) Put crushed up corn chips all over the top and bake uncovered for 20 -30 minutes at 350.
Serve with salad or corn. You can use additional taco seasoning to give it a stronger taco flavor. I use a little less than I might otherwise like so doesn't have too much bite for the kids.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Tomorrow's Cinco De Mayo! - Make Your Own: Taco Seasoning
Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and White Moms all over America will be making tacos for dinner because tacos are the only Mexican food we know how to make.
It doesn't get much easier than browning ground meat in a pan, draining the grease from the pan, opening a packet of taco seasoning mix, sprinkling it on the meat, adding water and heating it up.
What's in that taco seasoning mix? It's just spices and herbs, right? Wrong. Here is the list of ingredients from a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix:
*Maltodextrin
Salt
Chili Pepper
Onion Powder
**Spice
*Monosodium Glutamate
Corn Starch
Yellow Corn Flour
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
*Silicone Dioxide (anticaking agent)
**Natural Flavor
*Ethoxyquin (preservative)
*=Say what?
**=Can you be more specific?
Are you ready to make your own taco seasoning and never spend $1.00 on one of those sodium stocked, preservative filled packets again?
Here's what you need (and you probably already have all of it in your kitchen):
4 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Cumin
2 Tablespoons Paprika
2 TBS. Garlic Powder
1 TBS. Onion Powder
2 TBS. Dried Minced Onions
1/2 TBS. Cayenne (red) Pepper
1 teaspoon Oregano or Cilantro
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
Here's what you do:
Dump all ingredients into a jar. Put lid on jar. Shake vigorously. Voila, homemade taco seasoning mix. Store in an airtight container (I use an empty spice bottle). Add 2-3 tablespoons of seasoning per 1 pound of ground meat and 3/4 cup of water.
It doesn't get much easier than browning ground meat in a pan, draining the grease from the pan, opening a packet of taco seasoning mix, sprinkling it on the meat, adding water and heating it up.
What's in that taco seasoning mix? It's just spices and herbs, right? Wrong. Here is the list of ingredients from a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix:
*Maltodextrin
Salt
Chili Pepper
Onion Powder
**Spice
*Monosodium Glutamate
Corn Starch
Yellow Corn Flour
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
*Silicone Dioxide (anticaking agent)
**Natural Flavor
*Ethoxyquin (preservative)
*=Say what?
**=Can you be more specific?
Are you ready to make your own taco seasoning and never spend $1.00 on one of those sodium stocked, preservative filled packets again?
Here's what you need (and you probably already have all of it in your kitchen):
4 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Cumin
2 Tablespoons Paprika
2 TBS. Garlic Powder
1 TBS. Onion Powder
2 TBS. Dried Minced Onions
1/2 TBS. Cayenne (red) Pepper
1 teaspoon Oregano or Cilantro
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
Here's what you do:
Dump all ingredients into a jar. Put lid on jar. Shake vigorously. Voila, homemade taco seasoning mix. Store in an airtight container (I use an empty spice bottle). Add 2-3 tablespoons of seasoning per 1 pound of ground meat and 3/4 cup of water.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Shroom Fly Pie
Last night for dinner, we had Mushroom Pie, first cousin to a quiche. If you're anti-shroom, this recipe is obviously not for you...but if you are a fungi fan, read on...
Here's what you need:
(1) ready-made pie crust shell, if you wanted to be fancy you could make your own
2 tablespoons butter
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, any variety you like, sliced
(1) onion, I used a white onion because that's what I had, sliced (If you're not a fan of onions, you could leave them out...but I'd venture to say that if you don't like onions, you probably don't like mushrooms either.) :P
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
1/3 sour cream
2 eggs
A pinch or two of nutmeg
A handful of fresh chopped parsley
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Here's what you do:
1. Follow the package directions to bake your pie shell. This generally involves letting the dough come down to room temperature, laying it in a pie dish, using your fingers to make a pretty scalloped edge and baking it for 10 minutes or so.
2. Melt butter in a large frying pan, add mushrooms and onions, stir to coat them with butter, Kick the heat up and stir constantly. You will not believe the amount of moisture the mushrooms will release. You'll need to cook it off and let most of it evaporate, it'll take about 10 minutes. Lower the heat back down to medium and add garlic, stir it around for a few minutes, then kill the heat.
Here's what you need:
(1) ready-made pie crust shell, if you wanted to be fancy you could make your own
2 tablespoons butter
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, any variety you like, sliced
(1) onion, I used a white onion because that's what I had, sliced (If you're not a fan of onions, you could leave them out...but I'd venture to say that if you don't like onions, you probably don't like mushrooms either.) :P
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk
1/3 sour cream
2 eggs
A pinch or two of nutmeg
A handful of fresh chopped parsley
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, grated
Here's what you do:
1. Follow the package directions to bake your pie shell. This generally involves letting the dough come down to room temperature, laying it in a pie dish, using your fingers to make a pretty scalloped edge and baking it for 10 minutes or so.
2. Melt butter in a large frying pan, add mushrooms and onions, stir to coat them with butter, Kick the heat up and stir constantly. You will not believe the amount of moisture the mushrooms will release. You'll need to cook it off and let most of it evaporate, it'll take about 10 minutes. Lower the heat back down to medium and add garlic, stir it around for a few minutes, then kill the heat.
Mushrooms, onions and garlic lovin' on each other
3. Spread the mushroom mix into the bottom of the pie crust. Beat eggs, sour cream, milk and cream together in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to your liking...a little nutmeg goes a long way. Stir in cheese and parsley. Pour the cheese and cream mixture over top of the mushroom mixture.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400. Remove from oven and allow to cool and set for 10 minutes before serving.
This is a delicious meatless meal that's great for breakfast, brunch or dinner.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Crack For A Snack
Warning: Crack is dangerously delicious.
Here's what you need:
40 saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of light brown sugar
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
I said it was good, I never said it was good for you.
Here's what you do:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange 40 saltine crackers on cookie sheet like so:
2. Put butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat:
As it starts to melt, it will look like this (and smell like Heaven on Earth):
Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil and then continue to boil for 5 minutes. Stir, fast and furious.
3. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture over the crackers and do your best to cover them evenly.
Put the cookie sheet into the oven and watch it like a hawk. You want to remove it just when it starts to bubble. It will take 4 or 5 minutes.
4. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips all over the top.
The chips will start to melt, use a butter knife to spread the chocolate all over the top.
5. Pop the cookie sheet into the freezer and leave it there for 20 minutes. The crackers will form one big sheet.
6. Break it into pieces and store in an airtight container. You'll think it's good the first day...you won't want to live without it the second day. Enjoy!
Here's what you need:
40 saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of light brown sugar
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
I said it was good, I never said it was good for you.
Here's what you do:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange 40 saltine crackers on cookie sheet like so:
2. Put butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat:
As it starts to melt, it will look like this (and smell like Heaven on Earth):
Bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil and then continue to boil for 5 minutes. Stir, fast and furious.
3. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture over the crackers and do your best to cover them evenly.
Put the cookie sheet into the oven and watch it like a hawk. You want to remove it just when it starts to bubble. It will take 4 or 5 minutes.
4. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips all over the top.
The chips will start to melt, use a butter knife to spread the chocolate all over the top.
5. Pop the cookie sheet into the freezer and leave it there for 20 minutes. The crackers will form one big sheet.
6. Break it into pieces and store in an airtight container. You'll think it's good the first day...you won't want to live without it the second day. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
I'm a Coppertone Water Mom!
I'm super excited to have been selected as a Coppertone Water Mom! Part of my job as a Coppertone Water Mom is to help other Moms learn to safely embrace the sun and understand the importance of sun care protection.
I have a clear recollection of the pink bottle and the iconic Coppertone Girl (with her little dog pulling down her bathing suit bottom) from my childhood and I trust Coppertone to protect my babies from the harmful rays of the sun, just like my own mother did.
Mom and I aren't the only ones who love and trust Coppertone..Coppertone is the #1 pediatrician recommended brand for sun protection.
My Coppertone Water Moms Welcome Kit has arrived! Here's a peak at some of the goodies:
I'm looking forward to sharing some Coppertone Swag with you soon and most importantly, sharing information to give you a better "sun-derstanding" of how to protect your families. Check back every Tuesday for my quick Copppertone Water Mom's Sun Tip and be sure to "like" Coppertone on Facebook!
"As a member of the Coppertone® Water MOMS group, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit. No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience."
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