Stay-At-Home Goddess

Two Amazing Fall Recipes: Pumpkin Soup and Spiced Country Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 01:39:00 +0000

Fall is in full bloom and I couldn't be more excited about it! I look at all the leaves turning colors right now and I just want to start jumping and screaming in excitement. I want to run to strangers on the streets exclaiming, "It's Fall!! It's Fall!!! Don't you get how exciting this is?!" It's barely into October and I have already enjoyed so many of the fabulous things there is to enjoy. Pumpkin Spice Latte and apple picking, anyone? Yep. Checked off the to-do list. Even a big scoop of pumpkin ice cream! Heaven in a bowl, not even kidding.

I was bragging to my Facebook friends that I made some amazing Pumpkin Soup for dinner yesterday. I can't even say how much I enjoyed it. My kids slurped at it like I hadn't fed them in a week. It was so good.

It takes a good bit of effort to make, but I felt the outcome was worth it! Next time you're at the grocery store pick up a small pie pumpkin and some chicken broth and you've probably got all the other ingredients on hand. If you don't want to use half and half, milk will do just fine!

Pumpkin Soup

1 pie pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chunked

1 32. oz carton chicken broth

1/2 c. onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

6 whole peppercorns

1/4 c. half and half

1 tbsp. butter (opt.)

Prep your pumpkin. In a large pot combine all ingredients but the half and half and butter. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. When the pumpkin is fully cooked, transfer your soup to a blender and blend until smooth. You might need to do this in batches. An immersion blender comes in handy here. If you have one, like me, you'll be so glad you do. When your soup is smooth, continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Add your half and half and butter and heat gently until the butter has melted. Serve.

I served it with a hot ham and swiss sandwich. It was a hearty, filling meal.

He sat still to eat this. That speaks volumes.

The sandwich really hit the spot, too!

The butter at the end really adds something special and helps to balance out the flavor of the soup. If you decide to skip it, you'll still have an amazing soup to enjoy! The easiest way I found to chop up a pumpkin is as follows:

Ensure you have a very sharp knife. Give it a quick sharpen, if needed.
Remove the top as if you were going to make a jack-o-lantern.
Slice the pumpkin in half vertically.
Slice each half into wedges and scoop off the pulp as much as you can.
Chop each wedge into chunks and slice off the skin as you go. It is much easier to remove the skin in smaller chunks than to try to do it in larger sections!

It can be a bit time consuming to chop that fresh pumpkin up, but worth it. I did this with my two kids running around like wild animals. I started early and watched Netflix on my laptop while I worked. It wasn't such a horrible chore!

Next on my list of fabulous fall foods I've been cooking is my Spiced Country Ribs. Summer is over and I'm so over barbeque anything. Give me fall flavors!Still, country ribs are an inexpensive cut of meat. I just don't want them smothered in BBQ sauce. Cheap, simple and fall flavors? These hit the spot. My husband very quickly added them to the list of favorites.

Spiced Country Ribs

1.5 lbs Boneless, skinless country-style pork ribs

1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Allspice

1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/8 tsp. Onion Powder OR 1/4 c. chopped fresh onion ( I have done both and both works)

Black Pepper to taste

2 tbsp. Maple Syrup

2 tbsp. Soy Sauce

In a small bowl, combine your spices. Sprinkle onto the pork and rub into the meat. Place meat into slow cooker. Combine the maple syrup and soy sauce. Pour on top of the meat. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Your house will smell amazing. Your family will thank you. I like to serve this with a simple side, like rice, that will soak up the juices. It couldn't get any easier.

Enjoy!!

Excited Fall Hugs,

Cindy

For a printable version of these recipes, click Pumpkin Soup or Spiced Country Ribs

Lunchbox Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:28:00 +0000

It's a rainy, dreary Friday morning here in my town. Normally on Fridays, I wake up pumped and ready to go. Today, I want curl up under a blanket with a good book! Quick and simple, here's a little lunchbox inspiration for your. My girly lucked out; I wanted granola bars. I had a coupon and I don't usually buy them. She loved them though and I love having them around the house for me to snack on, too. Also, I found these great little yogurt and smoothies that fit in her lunchbox. They are the perfect size! They came in a pack of 6 for a dollar. Of course I'm going to grab up a deal like that! This week has more convenience food than I typically pack.

Monday:

When you say your child doesn't want to do something anymore, of course they'll change their mind! My daughter ate school lunch on this day. She tried to change her mind right as we were walking out the door, but too late!! She had...Pizzatas? Whatever those are. Then, chocolate milk. Yay.

Tuesday:

Apples filled with peanut butter topped with coconut and raisins. Carrots, Mandarin Oranges. Cheese cubes. Granola Bar.

Wednesday:

Granola bar. Cheese stick. Smoothie. Cherry tomatoes. Clementine.

Thursday:

Ham and cheese rolls ups. Granola bar. Broccoli (Her choice! Not pictured: ranch dressing to dip). Clementine. Yogurt.

Friday:

Half a ham and cheese sandwich. Cherry tomatoes. Smoothie. Clementine.

Hope you're inspired! Her favorite lunch this week was Friday's, because when she saw it she said, "Yay! It's the same. I like when you make it the same!" Awww, my five year old is bored with my creativity. Sad face. Maybe she really is the kind of kid that wants the same thing every day. I learn new things about her all the time. :)

Happy Friday Hugs,
Cindy

Special Sunday Dinner: Spaghetti and Meatballs Perfected

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:32:00 +0000

printable recipe

My goal as a cook has been to perfect my spaghetti sauce. I feel like if you can make an amazing sauce, you've really made it as a cook. I tried several recipes. I've had some pretty decent ones. I've had some horrible ones. Then came the day I found a recipe that included red wine and crushed red pepper. I thought, "Yes. This one will be the winner." I've made it a few times now, tweaked it a bit and I'm proud to say: It is PERFECT. I feel as though I deserve some Italian badge of honor, and I am by no means Italian.

I asked my husband if he thought this Special Sunday Dinner is blog worthy. He responded, "Oh hell yeah!" Then, went back for a big scoop of more meatballs saying they were the best he's ever had.

Proud moment.

Here's how it's done:

In olive oil, saute half a cup chopped bell pepper, chopped onion and 3 to 4 cloves garlic minced. I'm always heavy handed with the garlic.

Add a quarter cup of dry red wine. Let it reduce down a bit. This will improve the overall flavor of the sauce. I've skipped this step and I'm telling you, it makes a difference. Also, choose a wine that you actually want to drink.

Add a 28 oz. can of whole plum tomatoes, 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, and 6 oz. can of tomato paste.

Add a tablespoon of sugar, half a tablespoon of Italian Seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper and two bay leaves. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for 4 hours. Yep, I said 4 hours. It's completely worth it. You can throw this all into a slow cooker and end up with a delicious sauce, but I've done it both ways and it is so much better from the stove. Stir it occassionally, but otherwise, forget about it for about 3 hours and go spend time with your family.

When you've got an hour left on the sauce, it's time to start the meatballs. Combine one pound ground beef, one pound sausage (I use Jimmy Dean's Sage sausage. I love the extra flavor from it. Use what you like the best.) Add a half cup onion and a half cup chopped green bell pepper. There's no need to be exact. I cut a whole onion and pepper and used what was left after making the sauce. Add bread crumbs and eggs and get your hands dirty. Yes, use your hands. Any good Southern cook will tell you, you mix meatballs, meatloaves, whatever, with your HANDS. It's how it's done, people. Make them nice and big and throw them in a 350 oven for 30 to 40 minutes depending on the size. This made enough meatballs for me to freeze half to use later.

This meatball recipe is so simple, but it'll knock your socks off. It's the sausage/meat combination. It really makes it spectacular, so you don't need to do much more.

Boil your noodles. The whole tomatoes should break down, but you can always take a potato masher to them if they haven't. Remove the bay leaves. When your meatballs are done, throw them in the sauce and serve it up. Then, try not to let the compliments you'll receive go to your head. I served this with a simple side salad and wine for the adults.

There are no words adequate enough to describe how delicious this sauce is. It's tangy, robust and...well...perfect. It's simple, but complex in flavor. Your house will smell like heaven.

Click here for the recipe.

For dessert, I served some Chocolate Toffee Cookies. I love Heath Bars, and I adapted this so I could use them. I often plan to make cookies that are easy since my daughter loves to help. It's our special time together. I used this recipe to teach her that if something starts with mixing butter and sugar together, you know it's good. :)

Here's a Printable Version of my Spaghetti and Meatballs.

And, because you've got to give credit where credit is due, my Spaghetti Sauce is adapted from this recipe.

The cookies are adapted from Taste of Home. I made them exactly as shown in the link, except substituting Heath Bar chunks for the white chocolate chips. I highly recommend you give that recipe a try.

If you make this, I'd love to hear how it turned out for you! Look out for next week's Special Sunday Dinner, too!

Hugs, Hugs and Extra Hugs,
Cindy

My Sunday Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:31:00 +0000

I thoroughly enjoy cooking. Not the kind of cooking where you throw a few ingredients into a slow cooker and you're done. I do that because I have to. It's in the job description. A family has to eat! What I enjoy is the the task of putting together a full meal where the flavors go together perfectly. I love a cutting board full of perfectly chopped and minced veggies. I enjoy putting the effort into meals that take plenty of effort.

A pot of soup that has been simmering on the stove for hours with a pan of homemade rolls rising next to it makes my heart happy. Especially if I have a delicious pan of brownies in the oven, too. Watching my family enjoy something that I worked so hard on is the best part. Well, I'm not going to lie, I love eating it too. I'm a big fan of my own cooking!

This is not something I do every day, though. Who has time for that? If you do, I'm jealous. I try to make delicious meals on weekdays, but they are mostly kid-friendly fare with tons of shortcuts. We all eat at separate times and my kids usually don't eat much dinner, anyway. I'd rather do other things than cook on a weekday.

But, Sunday. Oh, Sunday. It's the best day. We are all together and hardly do anything. We sit in our pajamas most of the day. It's a day of rest and family time. It's also the day I use to pursue my favorite hobby. I have declared Sunday dinner to be Special Sunday Dinner.

Special Sunday Dinner is the new tradition in my home. I plan a special meal and always finish it off with a dessert. My kids are getting to the age where they are going to start remembering traditions and looking forward to them. I want them to look back fondly on Sundays. I want memories of sitting around the table using the nice plates. I want them to remember how they always got to help cook dessert. How the house always smelled amazing and I was in the kitchen cooking while they spent time with their dad. When the kids are grown, I want them to know there will always be a good meal at my home on Sundays. I do it for the pure enjoyment of it and for the memories I'm creating.

I'm not telling you all this to brag. This isn't a fabulous tradition that I've come up with out of my own brilliance. I know many families out there do the same thing. I'm going to be blogging about my Special Sunday Dinners from now on. It'll be a way of sharing recipes, help you plan, and maybe inspire you. I'm still finding my niche as a blogger, and since this is a big part of my week, I want to share it with you.

Watch for my posts. I will have them out most Mondays or Tuesdays at the latest. Life is life and I get busy sometimes. It will be in plenty of time for you to plan for your next special meal.

As always, thanks for coming to my blog.

Warm and Fuzzy Hugs,
Cindy

More Lunches? Absolutely!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:25:00 +0000

I don't remember the last time I was so excited that it's Friday! Alright...maybe I say that every Friday. I love that the anticipation for the weekend. I feel like I spend all week prepping for today. I'm all like, "What's that, Weekend? You want me to be all lazy and relax with my family and sleep in? Sweet. I can do that." It's exciting. So, short and simple, here's what I packed this past week! It was a 4 day school week and I packed everyday. The girl has declared she always wants me to pack her lunches. No more school lunches equals Proud Mommy Moment. Hope you're inspired!

Tuesday:

Turkey and cheese on whole wheat. Pickles. Pineapple. Cucumbers.

Wednesday:

Homemade Lunchables. Grapes. Smoothie. See this post for details.

Thursday:

Butterfly PB&J as requested. Raisins. Popcorn. Kiwi.

Friday:

Rice cakes wedges with peanut butter. Cheese cubes. Carrots and Cucumbers with Ranch for dipping
Raisins and Kiwi.

This little guy was SO jealous of his sister's lunch, he got his very own bento-style breakfast. Happy boy!!
Peanut butter rice cakes, banana, cheese cubes and kiwi. You lucky kid.

You might be wondering where the vegetables are. Some lunches seem so one sided, right? I know. Last week, I worked really hard to sneak them in. This week I was exhausted and I just plain didn't feel like putting up the effort. I figure, it's mostly healthy, she eats vegetables at dinner, and eats fruit all day long. I don't eat vegetables at every meal; I don't expect her to. I know that, overall, she's getting what she needs. If you don't want to waste carrots that won't get eaten, let it go. I give you permission. You don't have time to whip up smoothies or muffins. Oh well. You can make sure they get their daily vegetable quota at dinner. Let it go. I sure did.

Or if you do pack them, make sure you give them a nice, "You better eat these!" Like I did. ;-) hehe! What did you pack this week?

Giddy Friday Hugs,
Cindy

P.S. If you do want to know how to disguise some vegetables, just check out my post about it here.

Disguising Vegetables In Your Kid's Lunches

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:04:00 +0000

I was making lunches last week when I took a break to go talk to my husband for some of his no-nonsense advice.

In a sweet, thoughtful voice I said, "I'm stumped. I always pack vegetables for Teaghan and they hardly get eaten. I don't know what to pack."

He looked at me like "DUH" and said, "Because she's five."

Touche, dear husband. Touche.

See, my darling child loves vegetables, which is why I pack them. Imagine having a giant bowl of ice cream sitting on your counter with every topping a kid could dream of. Imagine the squeal of delight they would deafen you with when said ice cream was discovered.

Take that squeal and make it my child, discovering a bowl of vegatables sitting on my counter top, screaming, "VEGETABLES!!!!!" I'm not making this up. That actually happened.

So, when she comes home with a few bites taken and garbage shoved ontop of it, naturally, I'm irritated at the waste. And, since my five year old is completely random, I can never predict what she'll actually eat. She'll devour something one day and the next hate it. She'll never touch meatloaf and then suddenly request it for dinner and eat three servings. I can't be the only one with a kid like this, right?

Also, I have to take into account that she has 25 minutes to eat. Plus, she eats with her best friend everyday and they are busy gabbing and giggling. Who has time to chew carrots? This week my mission is to disguise the veggies, make them fast to eat, and completely appealing. This can't be some simple ants on a log. No. No. I know her better than that. She'll lick the peanut butter off and ignore the celery. She doesn't know it yet, but this kindergartner is going to eat some serious vegetables.

Monday:

Spinach tortilla with provolone and turkey. The tortilla had spinach powder in it. Okay, not my best example of disguising a vegetable. I needed to go to the store. Peanut butter crackers, kiwi, and some of the most amazing brownies I've ever made.

Tuesday:

Do you see the veggies? No? Neither did she. In that purple water bottle is a smoothie full of spinach, strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries. It's packed full of vitamins. Also, cheese cubes, peanut butter crackers and sliced nectarine. I'll show you more of the smoothie in a minute. The new containers? Dollar Store! You don't need to spend a lot to have reusable items, people. Heart them.

Wednesday:

Okay, here you see spinach, pumpkin, carrots and zucchini...What you don't see it? HA. That's the point. (I'm obnoxious...) A smoothie, two Sneaky Pumpkin Muffins, half a banana and two peanut butter crackers. This lunch won me some kind of award, I'm sure. She LOVED it.

Thursday:

More spinach tortillas with cucumbers, cream cheese and turkey. Frozen mixed vegetables, a Sneaky Pumpkin Muffin, and an apple sauce. This lunch is so chock full of veggie goodness, it's ridiculous. She ate every bite of it. Honestly, sending frozen vegetables like that is hit or miss. This day was a hit.

Friday:

Tortilla with avocado, turkey and cheese. Animal crackers, chopped-up pear and sliced olives. I took a gamble with the avocado, and I'll be honest, I lost. She didn't touch it. Some days she likes it. Some days she doesn't. She didn't even eat the olives (her favorite thing ever) so I know she was way too busy playing and not eating. If your kid likes avocado and you have it on hand, this is a great way to serve it. I like it, at least.

Prepping a Smoothie for Lunches:

I packed a smoothie almost every day this week, but no way did I sit there every morning and make them! I did it once at the beginning of the week. Here's what I did.

Take whatever frozen berries you want. I have a mix that had strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, and blackberries. I added an equal amount of fresh spinach. There's some frozen banana in there, too.

Add a heaping scoop of yogurt, any flavor, and enough milk to cover. This will make it a good consistency. You can also add a squeeze of honey and a splash of vanilla.

Blend. Blend. Blend. You can't even see the spinach and you really can't taste it. I had to take a few test spoonfuls. It was good.

Fill up an ice tray with all this smoothie goodness, pop it in the freezer and you're done. In the morning, pop out some smoothie cubes and put them in whatever drink container you use. Do not over-do the ice packs when you do this. The smoothie cubes won't melt in time for lunch.

You could also purchase these:

I've been drooling over them just a bit. It'll save you steps and precious time. I will have them one day soon. I just haven't gotten around to ordering them, yet. I hear fabulous things about them! I'm more of a "spending a dollar to find a solution" kind of girl. ;-)

Make sure you check out my recipe for my Sneaky Pumpkin Muffins. They're freaking delicious and I figure they deserve a post of their own!

Sneakiness and Hugs,
Cindy

Do you have any tricks to hide vegetables so your kids will eat them? What did you pack this week?

Sneaky Pumpkin Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:31:00 +0000

I was a girl on a mission. I needed to feed my child some vegetables without her knowing. So, I developed this recipe and it was a HIT. They turned out so delicious my whole family gobbled them up. Everyone from the husband down to the two year old couldn't stop eating these.

They are completely sneaky. They are whole wheat and have three vegetables in them! My daughter took a bite and said, "Pumpkin Muffins!!!!!! My favorite!!!!" I didn't bother to mention they also have zucchini and carrots in them. Use white-wheat flour and you can barely tell they're whole wheat.

Sneaky Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour 2 eggs

1/2 c. packed brown sugar 3/4 c. canned pumpkin (not the pie filling)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 c. zucchini, steamed and pureed

1/4 tsp. ginger 1/4 c. carrots, steamed and pureed

1/4 tsp allspice 1/3 c. vegetable oil

1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/3 c. honey

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350. Get your muffin pan prepped with some cupcake liners or cooking spray. Note that the carrots and zucchini are steamed and pureed. If you haven't yet, take a minute to get them nice and soft and throw them in a food processor or blender

In a large bowl, combine your flour, sugar, spices, baking power, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a small bowl combine the eggs, pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, oil, and honey. Add all at once to the well in the dry ingredients and stir only until combined. Scoop into your muffin tin with each being about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 18 minutes or until done. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing.

Here's a Printable Version for you.

Seriously, they are so good. They also freeze well. So, make a double batch and feed them to your family and have extra leftover for lunches. Check out my post about disguising vegetables to see what I packed them with. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Goodness and Hugs,
Cindy

Two Easy Lunchbox Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Happy Friday! I get so excited on Fridays! Not only is the long week over, but I also get to share the post that takes all week to pull together. Today, I have two easy recipes you can whip up for using in lunches. Sandwiches and roll-ups can get a little monotonous at times. These recipes let you get it done beforehand. Make a big enough batch of them and you can keep it around and use it all week!

Let's start with what I've been packing:

Tuesday:

Ham and cheese rolls ups with a twist. I added pickles and mustard in the middle. And, boy, my cheddar did not want to roll up. Not pretty, but she ate every bite and said they were the best. Also, grapes, trail mix, carrots, cucumbers and ranch to dip.

Wednesday:

Peanut butter and banana sandwich. Trail mix. Grape and kiwi fruit kebabs. That only too a few extra minutes to do, but she was super excited about them. Completely worth it!

Thursday:

Pasta salad, trail mix and grapes.

Friday:

Half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut out like a dinosaur, as requested. Applesauce, peppers (yes, that red one is a sweet pepper!) cheese and raisins. This is another day she planned to eat school lunch and changed her mind on me at the last minute. She loves my lunches!

Two Easy Recipes:

Trail Mix

As you just saw, I packed this almost all week and everyday it got gobbled up. Trail mixes are too easy to make with ingredients you already have around your house. I bought nothing special for this. I looked in my pantry and went off of what I had. You could probably look in your pantry and whip up something similar.

Whole Hearts, Craisins, Pretzels, Pecans, White Chocolate Chips.

This is what I put into it. No measurements. Just stick to a formula to make it easy: A cereal, dried fruit, something salty, nuts for protein, something sweet. Add mostly cereal, then slightly less fruit than you did cereal , then slightly less of your salty than the fruit...get the picture? Easy! I also sat around and snacked on it, too. It was good. It looked like this:

Since this had the white chocolate chips in it, I considered this her dessert everyday. She also had fantastic behavior at school all week and no fruit snacks with high fructose corn syrup or artificial dyes. Coincidence? Possibly. I'm just sayin'.

Italian Pasta Salad:

I wanted to send something new. I gave it to both my husband and daughter and got good reviews from each. I was in the kitchen a little longer that night, but it was worth it.

Ingredients:

6 oz. Spinach or Veggie Pasta

1/2 c. pepperoni, sliced in half

4 oz. cheddar cheese, cubed

Small can sliced, black olives

1/3 c. chopped bell pepper

1/3 c. Italian dressing

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Rinse with cold water. Combine with the rest of the ingredients Stir well and refrigerate overnight. Makes approximately 4 servings. Add more or less dressing to suit tastes.

To be honest, I didn't measure. It's just not something I do when I'm throwing ingredients together. Everything above is approximate. I taste as I go. My husband liked it, too. This is what he took that day:

Looks good, right? He sure liked it! Those mini sweet peppers? We're big fans! They're delicious and easy to pop in a lunchbox. I keep them on hand for packing in his lunches. He prefers them over carrots any day.

What did you pack this week? Anything you made in advance so it was easy to pack? Hope this is helpful if you are doing your grocery shopping and planning over the weekend. Look out for next Friday. I'll be back with ways you can disguise veggies into your kid's lunch!

Mixes and Hugs,

Cindy

Learning to Roll with the Punches

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 21:31:00 +0000

As a young mom, you can never count on anything to go just how you want it to. Kids make your plans for you. Life makes your plans for you. You can either accept it and roll with it, or whine because nothing works out right. We all try. Try to keep order and finish our to-to lists while keeping our kids happy. Try to keep our houses clean, despite sticky fingers, too many toys, pet hair, accidents. and spills. Try to keep up with the never ending laundry. I feel like I wipe my table down all day long. Is it completely gross every time I do? Yes! I could either let this frustrate me (I do. I admit it. I'm preaching to myself here.) or let it go.

Here's my day of rolling with the punches:

First a little back story...I bought maple syrup this weekend when I grocery shopped and when I got it home, I noticed the seal was broken and syrup had leaked out. Gross. No big deal. I'll return it. I'm putting away groceries when I notice I had two rolls of toilet paper left. No big deal. I have to go back to the grocery store, anyway. I go to bake something. I forgot cooking spray. Well, crap. How much did I forget? No worries. I'll have to go back anyway. I made a list of the seven or so (yeah, seven...) things that I forgot and stick it on my fridge.

Fast forward to today.

My daughter wakes up with the same crazy hair every morning. Every morning I make it look adorable and send her on her merry way. This morning, I could see it in her eyes; if I made one move towards any brush or bow, she was going to lose it. She was going to do it herself. She grabbed a mismatched bow (nothing she was wearing today matched, anyway), fluffed up her frizz and smiled. I let it go.

Beautiful no matter how her hair is styled or what she is wearing.

We pull up to the school this morning and the car lane attendants open the door to help my girl out of the car. I cringe every morning at this moment. The kids spilled snacks on the backseat, again. Her carseat is full of crumbs, as usual. I decide to pull it out and clean it when I get home. Using toothpicks, q-tips, soapy water and I got every crumb and spill off. I attacked the fabric with a vengeance. The words running through my head: "You are going to look brand new. Then, I'm going to blog about how clean I got you, you filthy...." Well, I won't finish that sentence. Did it come perfectly clean? Nope. Am I going to blog about it? Nope. Big, fat sigh. Move on. It looks better than it did.

With that finished, I decide it's time to hop over to the store and exchange that syrup. I grab the syrup and decide that on the way I'm going to vacuum out my car. I get it done and my car looks nice now. I'm satisfied. Halfway to the store, I realize I forgot the list . At least I didn't forget the syrup, right? I piece it together and try to make it home before naptime, crossing my fingers I didn't forget anything. Suddenly, I'm starving. My son ate half my breakfast, despite having his own in front of him. I grab a pre-made sandwich and a bag of chips and a drink and head home. I get halfway home, and I'm irritated with myself. Really? Three bucks on a sandwich you could of made at home on less fancy bread? Yeah, I'm cheap. Oh well.

Rolling into the driveway, I realize the boy is asleep. Crap. If he gets a catnap in the car he doesn't nap the rest of the day. If I even touch that buckle, he'll wake up. I wanted to clean! I wanted to blog! Ugh!! But, then I get smart. I roll with it. I run my cold groceries inside, grab my pre-made sandwich (thankful I bought it now) and my laptop and sit in my car with the a/c running so I can eat, blog, and let my crazy boy get a decent nap.

Then, I totally got crumbs in my nice, clean car. Oh well.

If you're new to motherhood, there is one piece of advice I can give you. Half the things you want to buy or think you need for your kids, you don't. What you'll need most is patience, lots and lots of patience, a sense of humor, the ability to roll with it, and knowing how to improvise.

Being a mom who can roll with it means you tell your daughter she's beautiful with her frizzy hair and mismatched clothes, because it is not her hair that makes her that way.

It means making do when you're frazzled and forgetful.

It means running the dishwasher half empty sometimes because the top rack always seems to be full and you have top rack only stuff sitting in your sink.

It means recognizing that funny faces are SO much more fun to make on clean glass.

It means accepting there will always be crumbs in your car, no matter how many times you say "No eating in the car! I mean it this time!"

It means that sometimes the convenience food is completely worth paying for.

It's letting your kids go to the store with a tutu and crown and cape and chocolate on their faces. It's the only time in their life they can get away with it.

It's accepting the stain that's never going to go away and putting the shirt on your kid anyway.

It's letting your kid splash in your sink, because it's the only way you're going to get to put on make up today.

No matter how organized, how prepared, how much you clean, not every day will go just right. Some days life has other plans and it's up to you to roll with it, keep your sense of humor, and keep smiling. Am I still preaching to myself here? Yes. Yes I am. No one needs to hear this more than me.

Relaxing Deep Breaths and Hugs,
Cindy

If you're wondering, yes, this post was written in my car. Then, proofread while my daughter decided she wanted to wear a bathing suit. Just because. Because that's how we roll. What ways have you found to improvise when your day isn't so smooth?

Tzatziki

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:19:00 +0000

This weekend I whipped up one of my all time favorite foods. It's too delicious not to share. I'm addicted to Tzatziki. Have you ever had this cucumber-yogurt dip? If you have, you're probably addicted to it too. It's never as good if you buy it at the store. I'll show you how ridiculously easy it is to make. There are many recipes out there with dill or mint in them and they are great. This one is simple, and sometimes, I feel simple is best.

Start in the morning. Take a large cucumber and peel off all the skin.

Cut it down into smaller chunks. Cut it into quarters and then slice away the seeds.

Grate the cucumber. Since cucumbers are a watery vegetable, you're going to have to dry it out or your tzatziki will be watery, too. You could squeeze all the water out using paper towels, but it's messy, takes some effort, and you lose some of your vegetable. We're going to do it the easy way.

Line a colander with paper towels. Spread your cucumber out as thin as it'll go on the paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Place another paper towel on top and put some weight on top. I grabbed a bowl and some tomatoes I had sitting there. Forget about it for at least an hour. I was having a nice, lazy day and let it sit for two. I also changed the top paper towel after a while since it was at maximum capacity.

After it's been a while, grab your ingredients: olive oil, greek yogurt, sour cream and two cloves of garlic. If you have plain yogurt, place it in a colander in a coffee filter over night. The extra water will drain out and your plain yogurt becomes nice and thick.

Combine together 16 oz. yogurt, 1/3 cup sour cream, two cloves minced garlic, and a tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

Add in your grated, drained cucumber. Mix it well and add salt to taste. I use kosher salt. Let it sit in your fridge for at least an hour, but the longer you let these flavors mingle the better it will be. Mine sat for 4 hours.

There's nothing better to dip in tzatziki than flat bread. It's sinful perfection. When you're ready to eat, get a griddle, grill or skillet heated up on medium high heat. Take a little olive oil (I don't measure, but I mean very little. Let's say 2 teaspoons) and sprinkle a little greek seasoning in to it. If you don't have Greek seasoning, you could do salt and pepper, garlic powder, or oregano. Whatever your heart desires. Brush it very lightly onto both sides of your flat bread.

Throw it onto what ever method of heat you chose. It was raining, so we did it inside on the griddle.

When it gets all warm and crispy on one side, flip it over.

Cut it up into triangles. Bat away the hands that are desperate to eat this deliciousness so you can take a picture.

Dig in!! Then, with a mouth full of deliciousness, mutter to yourself how amazing you are. You can also dip veggies into it, put it on top of some savory meat, make a gyro, or eat it with a spoon....Okay, just kidding. It is that good though. There are a ton of ways to use this versatile dip. Enjoy!

Happy Belly Rubs & Hugs,

Cindy

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Make Packing Healthy Lunches Easier, Cheaper, and Faster

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Packing healthy lunches needs to be fast. You know what's faster than packing lunches? Giving your kids lunch money and letting them buy the subpar food at school. Or, throwing an Uncrustables, a banana, a bag of chips and a Carpi Sun into a lunchbox and being done with it. That's just not how I roll. Chances are, if you're reading this, that's not what you want to do, either. Plus, you probably don't want to spend all night on it.

After my kids are in bed, I head to the kitchen and get two lunches made, for both the girl and the hubby, the dinner dishes done and the counters cleaned. Most nights, depending on how messy I was cooking dinner, I'm out of the kitchen in 30 minutes. It seems kind of long, but lunches are always the fastest part of the process. Some nights I'm not so quick. I might take the time to do a little prep work...or stare at the pantry with a blank stare hoping for some inspiration. It happens to the best of us. Here's what I do to streamline the process a bit and make it even faster.

The Supplies

There are a ton of choices out there for packing a lunch, especially with bento-style rising in popularity. I chose the ever popular EasyLunchBoxes. They are reusable, inexpensive, sturdy and the perfect size. They do have one downfall; they are not leakproof. But, because I'm awesome like this, I can tell you how to make that a non-issue. They are 13.95 for 4 of them, but sadly, she's sold out until late September. Like I said, crazy popular. There are other options like the Ziploc Divided Container, which is leak proof and also...sold out. Packing lunches in these things really is faster and more convenient than plastic bags ever were. How awesome am I? I write blogs with cool things that you can't buy because they're sold out. I rule. Here's a picture of the set:

EasyLunchBoxes set. Minus the blue one.
He was too cool for pictures and ran off to the dishwasher instead.

Maybe the Goodbyn Bynto Lunchbox would be a good option if you wanted something sooner rather than waiting for the others to be restocked. It's cute and I was kind of drooling over it.

I haven't started posting pictures of what I pack for my husband's lunches each day, but believe me, I'm totally going to! We save so much money by him taking his lunch each day instead of hitting up a fast food place. Plus, health is important in our family and he would rather eat healthier fare from home. It holds a lot of food, and since my guy does stuff like wake up and run seven miles, he needs it! The smaller containers are leak proof and have measurements on the side for portion control. You can find the Fit & Fresh Lunch on the Go here.

How it all goes together.

However, most products have a downfall and I'd feel bad leaving them out. Although this comes with an ice pack, a selling point for me originally, it doesn't work as planned if you have to rely on the ice pack to keep it cold. If your husband has a fridge at work, this is great. Mine doesn't and the icepack eventually sweats on the sandwich. Soggy sandwich. Sad, hungry husband. No good. Here's how you fix it:

I still love this thing. It's like this perfect cube that holds a ton of food! Sometimes I like to look at how pretty it is with all that yumminess inside before I put it in the fridge at night. He keeps it his lunch box with a giant ice pack and he's good to go at lunchtime.

Drinks:

My orginal plan for my daughters lunch was to send her to school with these bottles with water or diluted juice.

Target. $1 Bin. So cute.

Sadly, they don't fit in the tiny lunchbox I chose (I'm getting to that part in a minute). They are too cute to not share and I will be using them eventually.

My husband takes a reusable water bottle and sips on it all day. Great way to stay hydrated and avoid the soda machine. He brews coffee in his office and opts for the energy drinks that only cost a dollar if it's too hot for coffee. Another way we save money big time.

Packing it all up:

Getting back to my daughters lunches, here is how it all goes inside her lunchbox:

The containers fit nicely into your standard size lunchbox you can pick up almost anywhere. There is not much room for anything other than a juice box, dessert, silverware, napkin and a flat ice pack. That little non-leakproof problem I mentioned before? It's so simple. Use a little Glad Press'n Seal!

Keeps everything right where it should be! Just leave it a little loose so the lid can still snap on.

I thought this was so brilliant, but it's not fail-proof. Consider yourself warned. I learned this lesson the hard way. In the first week of school, I packed some cottage cheese, sealed up tight, and gave myself a pat on the back. Fast forward to the end of the day and my daughter came home with only a few bites of cottage cheese eaten and the Press'n Seal bunched up in the corner. The mess was pretty gross. After a few mishaps, her lunchbox now looks like this:

That dark pink bottom should be light pink. Hurray for spilled food.
Ewwwwwwwwww.

Gross, right?! It's getting replaced sooner rather than later. Lucky for you, you can learn from my mistakes. If you put something runny into these containers, be sure it is something they will eat up! I'm going to purchase the EasyLunchboxes Insulated Lunch Box Cooler Bag and finally have room for the previously mentioned water bottles and a thermos of soup once cold weather hits. I'd happily pay $7.95 for the extra space! Also, the container is carried flat, rather than vertically, like in her lunch box now, which will reduce spills as well. Problem solved.

The Process:

Alright, I've rambled enough about what I use to pack lunches. Let's get down to business and talk about how I do it quickly. Organization and prep-work are key. When I get started, I go through my kitchen and grab everything I want to use. I've already asked opinions and suggestions from the eaters and know mostly what I'm going to do already. Not like asking is very helpful to the deciding process, my usual answers are, "Whatever is fine, hon." and "Cake!! Fruit Snacks!! Bacon!!" Want to guess who says what?

Anyway, I was saying...I grab everything I need, which is a piece of cake to do because I've organized it. Behold, my fridge:

The Sandwich Box

I love my sandwich box! I got the idea here. Her blog is amazing. She's pretty much my hero as far as organizing goes. Everything I need to make a sandwich or roll-ups is right there. Peanut butter and jelly are next to it. The drawer right above my sandwich box is looking a little empty right now, but that's where I keep snacking-type foods. My family knows to look there for yogurt cups, hummus, string cheese, or any other snacks I pick up. It's also right next to everything else I use to pack, and quick for me to grab from there. Personally, I feel that digging for things, looking for things, and rearranging so you can reach things is a huge time waster in any situation. I try to avoid it as much as possible. (Not to mention, I get super pissy-pants when I have to look for something!)

Fresh fruits and veggies ready and waiting

When I get a free minute during the day, I take the time to get veggies washed, chopped and ready to go. Apples get sliced up and are mixed with lemon juice to prevent browning. Throwing this pre-prepped goodness into lunches is mindless and fast. Doing this in advance saves me so much time and I can move on to more important things (like being with my husband...browsing online...having a glass of wine...important stuff). Other things you can prep in advance would be to boil and peel eggs, make tuna or chicken salad, make a trail mix, or bake muffins or other goodies to freeze and have on hand.

I like to keep fun little things like these within reaching distance when I'm making lunches. I pick these things up as I find them. The silicone cupcake molds are great for separating items you don't want to touch. Perfect if your kid doesn't like their food touching other foods or making homemade Lunchables! I've recently discovered the cake decorating aisle is perfect for making cute lunches! Cupcake liners, fondant cutters, and cute toothpicks make it fun with little effort on your part. I found the little cubes at a Dollar General for $2 for 8 of them! They don't fit in the containers with the lid on, but I've got Press'n Seal for that. I use them to send items to dip in like ranch dressing or peanut butter. You could also get some 2 oz. cups with lids.

After everything is put together, you need to add utensils and napkins. I always have left over party supplies and that's what I use. I had so many plastic bags of utensils falling everywhere, I needed a quick, cheap solution.

Look how easy it is to tell that I'm almost out of forks!

It's not super pretty, but it works. I'm in the opinion that if it goes mostly unseen, I'm not wasting my time making it pretty. This sits in my pantry next to the napkins and above where I keep the lunchboxes. Out of frustration one day, I grabbed an oatmeal container, took the label off, slapped some chalkboard contact paper on it, cut up some cardboard to make dividers and called it a day. Organization at it's best; free.

I'm not big on buying things you use once and throw away. I happen to have plastic utensils on hand from other occasions, so they get used. At home, we use cloth napkins. So, I don't buy paper ones regularly. Instead, I use leftovers from parties and my girly gets cute napkins in her lunchbox.

I happened to notice while taking these pictures I was out of forks, and I wanted non-disposable solution. I headed to the store and scored some cute forks and spoons for 98 cents per set.

I'll never be out of forks again and we've thrown enough parties in our life
to keep her supplied napkins for the school year. It works.

Alright. I've seriously rambled. This will probably be my longest blog post ever. I titled it about making lunches easier, cheaper and faster and now I'm going to break it down for you as quickly as possible.

Easier:

A good container system makes it easy. You throw stuff into it, and close the lid. Done. Baggies slow you down, stuff gets smashed and you have to consistently buy them.
You have three compartments. Three foods to fill those up are pretty easy to come up with. If you want more, grab a silicone cupcake liner.

Cheaper:

By eliminating disposables, you might spend slightly more upfront, but over time it will more than make up for it. You will also never run out of lunch supplies and have to make an extra trip to the store.
Don't buy prepackaged snack-size anything. Advertisers love to market "easy" to you. Compare the cost of mini bags of animal crackers to the giant ones, for example. When you have a good container system, you don't feel the need to buy these things, anyway.
Watch for sales and stock up when you find a good one.
Be in the habit of buying plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. Having them around to pack in lunches is normal to me. I don't buy the things I do so I can pack them in lunches. I pack them because I buy them already.

Faster:

By finding simple organizing solutions, you will reduce your time in the kitchen. Digging through the fridge and pantry is a frustrating time waster.
Grab everything before you get started, make an assembly line and go. You'll be done before you know it. Put it all away in the same way. I'm talking Rachael Ray style kitchen grab here.
Prep as much as you can before hand. If you happen to be making a salad, go ahead and slice up ALL your veggies at once, then store what you want for later. You'll save yourself dishes and time.
If you can make it ahead of time, do it. There are moms out there who make lunches once a week. Find what style works for you.
When you grocery shop, plan a general idea what you want to pack and what you'll need to prep ahead of time. It's easier to be creative when you've already done all the planning ahead of time.

Whew. Taking a deep breath now. That was a lot. Hope I didn't lose you. This will for sure be my longest post ever!! I hope you find it helpful!

What do you use to pack a lunch? What ways have you found to make it easier, faster or cheaper?

Efficient & Easy Hugs,
Cindy

Lunch Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:15:00 +0000

Happy Friday, everyone! I've decided that Friday is Lunch Day here on Stay at Home Goddess. Every Friday morning you can check here for inspiration. I'll keep it quick and snappy. Just some pictures of yummy food.

Monday:

Remember my last post where I didn't wake up before my kids? I was super groggy and I forgot about my latest obsession. I didn't take a picture of my daughter's lunch. I was all sad because I thought I would only have 3 pictures this week. Fear not though, fellow lunch packers. I still have four lunches this week! Monday, she had homemade lunchables, mandarin oranges, and olives. It was very unoriginal. I was tired!

Tuesday:

Chicken salad sandwich on wheat. A great way to use up leftover chicken! Apples with peanut butter to dip, raisins, and pickles. A little lemon juice is all you need to keep your apples from turning brown. She drank milk with this, so that was her dairy for the meal.

Wednesday:

I was so proud of my daughter on Wednesday! She had originally opted to eat corndogs at school. I always double check with her to see if that's what she still wants to do. Then, she was all like, "Ummm...Can you just pack my lunch today?" I was bursting with pride, people. This was thrown together in the morning. Half a bagel sandwich with cream cheese and turkey, pretzels, grape tomatoes, strawberries and grapes.

Thursday:

Boiled egg, crackers, grapes, sliced green peppers, tomatoes, ranch dressing to dip and a cheese snack.

Friday:

I got a great deal on those Mott's Snack & Go pouches this week. I was excited! My kids love them and she could have applesauce with little mess. Turkey and provolone rolls-ups, grape tomatoes, pickles, and pretzels.

That's it! Hope you feel inspired! Look out for the Mott's Applesauces. They're new and I've seen them on sale in a few different stores. Plus, you can go get a $1 off coupon when you Like their Facebook page. You're welcome! Plus, keep an eye out for my next post about how I pack the lunches quickly, what I use and how I've organized it all. I've been working hard on it!

Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend and be safe if you are traveling. My husband and I are off on a much needed lunch date today. Hurray!

Cheers and Hugs,

Cindy

5 Reasons to Wake-Up Before Your Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:08:00 +0000

I love sleep. I love sleep in a way that if I don't get it no one around me is having much fun. The kind of love that means I could sleep 13 hours and feel just fine about it. If me and sleep had a thing going, it would be pretty hot and heavy. The reality is, I have two kids so sleep and I are only semi-aquainted. We enjoy our time together, but sometimes it's a smile and wave in passing kind of deal. There is always a longing for more. The lack of attention from sleep has turned me towards a passionate love affair with coffee. A girl has to get her fix somewhere.

This being said, if I love sleep so much why am I about to spout off about why you should give up more of it? My daughter recently started kindergarten and I decided I would be up before her every single morning. I'VE DONE IT, TOO! Sorry...I didn't mean to obnoxiously yell at you. This is just a big achievement for me. I've stuck to my word and woke up 30 minutes before her. Today I didn't and the result was a morning that chugged along, everyone rubbing the sleep from their eyes, sparing no sympathy for the tireness of the others around them.

I'm pretty sure I'm onto something here by giving up my extra 30 minutes of sleep and I'll tell you why.

1. Automatic "Me" Time

Moms are always saying it, "I need more time for me!" You know you've said it, too. You are constantly in demand. Trying to balance their care, your own personal hygeine, a clean house, nutritious meals, shopping, errands and socialization and there is just not enough time in the day. If I'm awake before my kids, I shower and get dressed, have a cup of coffee, and start breakfast. If I were really motivated, I could have my bed made before the kids are up. If I were super motivated, I'd make it an hour and finally get some exercise in. (Or drink a TON of coffee and have more time on Pinterest! Oh, the possibilities.)

2. Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed

Because I've been awake for a while now and that uninterrupted shower really got my eyes open, I'm in a good mood by the time the kids are up! This is a new concept to me. I'm so used to my oldest coming into my room a couple times asking me for things, asking me to get up, telling me the youngest is awake, all while trying to hold perfectly still hoping she doesn't see me. (Children can't see you if you're perfectly still, right? I'm pretty sure that's true.) So, when my daughter comes out of her room pissy, because her horrible alarm went off, she benefits! I'm in a good enough mind set to start her day off right. I'm there ready for hugs and this leads me to number three.

3. More Patience. More sympathy.

Waking up is hard! Alarms are horrible inventions with their loud buzzing just waiting to jolt you out of your dreams. It's even harder if you're five. Pretty much the first five minutes of her day, she's super emotional. Throwing herself on the ground because her pants won't snap, her undies are somehow inside out, whining that she doesn't want to get dressed, and I take it all in stride, because I understand it's hard to wake up. I'm not irritable because I'm trying to wake up too. My five minutes of ridiculous fits are over. This morning, however, when I snoozed until right before she got up, I was right there with her. This shirt is stupid. I need to wash my hair. My coffee is too hot. I don't feel like making oatmeal. Wah. Wah. Wah. Once I'm past this stage, she has my sympathy. It all works out for the best.

4. Quality Time With Your Kids

Okay, for the 45 minutes I've been awake before breakfast I've accomplished a lot. I'm showered and dressed, had a cup of coffee, got the girl dressed, her hair done, and her shoes on. The night before the lunches were made, the kitchen was cleaned and the backpack packed. At this point, I'm DONE. I can give her breakfast and sit there and enjoy her company. I ask her what she's excited about today, talk about what I put in her lunch, or sing a song if she's super grumpy (This works amazingly, by the way. Especially when she's trying to get dressed). Breakfast time is a chance to connect and be together. I'm not rushing to make a lunch or get myself dressed or checking my Facebook. This is a great start for both of us and well worth all the effort it took on my part to make this moment happen.

5. More Productive Later.

This was a completely unexpected side effect for me when I started waking up early; I became more productive. Once she's off to school and it's just me and the little man, I get busy. He's still waking up, too, and likes to chill with some Dinosaur Train until he's out of his morning crabbiness. I take the time to clean up after breakfast, unload the dishwasher, and whatever else I need to get done that day. The best part is once naptime rolls around, I'm DONE! I can use naptime to either: a) Accomplish extra things like organize, declutter, or work on a project I've got in mind or b) Sit down and relax on the computer and get "me" time for the second time today. I can't say it always works out that perfectly, but caring for children never does. Some mornings I spend the whole time playing cars, blocks and tickle monster, and I consider that productive, too.

A Couple Tips:

If you have a hard time waking up like me, here are some tips to help:

Set your alarm across the room from you so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.
Go immediately splash your face with cold water and get your shower started. I keep my alarm three steps from my sink. Just sayin'.
If you have a coffee maker that will brew on a timer, use it! I set my coffee maker every night and wake up to it all hot, steamy and waiting for me. Mmmmm. I'm less likely to stand in the shower like a zombie knowing it's there. If you don't have a coffee pot with this feature, well....I'm sorry. You should think about getting one.
If you always hit the snooze, like me, set your alarm a little earlier. My snooze is 5 minutes, so I set my alarm for 5 minutes before I actually want to be up.

Do you wake up before your kids? What are some of the benefits you've found to waking up first? What do you do to help yourself wake up?

Sleepy Hugs,
Cindy

Back To School Lunch Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:27:00 +0000

It's the moment I've been waiting for. My big debut and I'm completely excited. How can someone be so excited over lunches? I have no clue, but I've been ridiculously excited over making lunches for my little kindergartner. The first school supplies I bought were ones for packing lunch. Like I said, I'm ridiculous about it. Here is what I've packed for my daughter for the past two weeks that she has been in school.

Ham and cheddar roll-ups, homemade cornbread, carrots and cucumbers,
fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries and kiwi.

Ham, cream cheese, and cucumber wrap, carrots, string cheese, pickles ,
kiwi and grapes.

Ham and cheddar roll-ups, carrots, cheese crackers, kiwi, blueberries,
Fig Newtons.

PB&J, cottage cheese, mixed veggies with a little Season All for flavor,
mango fruit strip.

Ham and cream cheese pinwheels, string cheese, pickles, mandarin oranges,
mango fruit strip.

Same pinwheels as above, as requested by my daughter. She loves them!
Grape tomatoes, olives, mixed veggies, kiwi.

Peanut butter and honey sandwich, grape tomatoes, strawberry yogurt topped
with homemade granola, mango fruit strip. Note to match the sandwich :)

PB&J on a homemade waffle, string cheese, grape tomatoes, and grapes. They're
learning shapes, so I included all shapes!

Ham and cheese sandwich, grape tomatoes, cheese-its, strawberries, grapes and pickles.

Homemade lunchables! Sliced fresh peach, carrots and tomatoes.

Requested by the eater: ham and cheese dinosaur sandwich! cucumbers, olives and
mandarin oranges.

There you have it; two weeks of lunches for a hungry, little student. Most days she got some milk or some Minute Maid Fruit Falls, which is flavored with juice rather than high fructose corn syrup. I put a lot of emphasis on healthy food for her. The bread is always wheat and I try to get something from every food group. Also, I consider what she'll actually eat, so that means sometimes unhealthier things, like cheese-its, fruit snacks with her favorite characters on it, and flour tortillas are used. As much as I'd prefer whole wheat tortillas and NO fruit snacks, she's the one eating it at a table with peers who have fruit roll-ups, pudding cups, bags of chips, and pizza from the lunch line. I don't want her to feel disappointed when she opens up her lunch. When I have homemade cookies around I throw those in there and feel better about it since I cook with whole wheat.

My little kindergartner has decided she would like to eat lunch at school once a week. So, she's eaten from the lunch line twice and I always excitedly ask her what she ate. (Always excitedly. Never judgmentally. Inside, the nutrition nut in me is always cringing.)

Hot lunch 1: Pizza, corn, peaches, strawberry flavored milk.

Hot lunch 2: Fried chicken strips with ketchup, corn, peaches, strawberry flavored milk.

Diverse, right? To give the school credit, they use whole wheat in most things and always offer a variety of fruits and veggies, but when it comes down to it, it's a five year old making the choices. She will always choose corn over green beans and flavored milk over plain. I encourage her freedom of making that choice, so I keep my trap shut.

I'll be posting lunches weekly, so check back often! Thanks for reading!

Noms and Hugs,

Cindy

p.s. I'm working on my photography skills and blogging skills and will probably change things around until I figure it all out. Bear with me! Thanks <3

A Blog Is Born

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Woohoo, right? Yippee blog number two million and two is born! That's probably a serious understatement, anyway. I have been tossing the idea around in my head for a while now. Eventually, I just decided that I'm freaking hilarious and amazing and the world needs more Cindy. Now, here you have it. I'm here on your internet machine telling you how to be as awesome as me. You know you like it. Just follow along (*cough* subscribe) and try to keep up.

What do I have to share? Well, I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past five years. I've taught myself how to cook and if you ask me, my family or my friends, they'll tell you I'm pretty good at it. My newest adventure is packing lunches for my kindergartner. I'll be sharing those because, well, it's cool to do on a blog but not so cool on Facebook. The gears in my head are constantly spinning with how to keep my home functioning at it's best. I thrive on order and routine, but I only kind-of have the discipline to maintain it. So, my type of organization, cleanliness, and routine needs to be seamless. It's the only way it works for me. When my idea is good, you know I'll share! Basically, if it applies to being an at-home mom I'm going to talk about it.

So, that's it. I have so many ideas and couldn't decide where to start, but now I have. Movin' on. Basically, I just want to play with pretty fonts. ;-) Come back later for more awesomeness.

Awesomeness and hugs,
Cindy