What’s a jicama? It’s a root and it looks like this…

Now peel it like you peel a potato. Slice (with a very sharp knife or veggie slicer) for your tostada shell or very thin for your taco shell.   Add your favorite chilled shrimp, lobster or langostinos and top with an avocado yogurt salsa. 

Avocado Greek Yogurt Salsa

2015-06-02 00:25:48

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Ingredients

1. 1 Avocado
2. 7 oz. Plain Greek Yogurt Salsa
3. 1 tbsp Chopped Chives (more or less to taste)
4. 1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro (more or less to taste)
5. 1 Juiced Small Lime
6. Pinch of Salt
7. Splash or 2 or 5 of Tapatio Sauce

Instructions

1. Mash up avocado and in a mixing bowl mix in the greek yogurt.
2. Add herbs, lime juice and salt and mix throughly.
3. Add Tapatio to taste. Start with 3 splashes and add more if needed.
4. Sauce should not be spicy, just a little kick.

By Theresa Seid

momsmack.com http://momsmack.com/

Someday, when we grow up, we are going to look like those moms that don’t just speed up, open the door, hit their kids with a quick pound dog and race off before being seen. OH NO. Someday we are going to be one of “those” moms that show up perfectly coiffed, parks their car and walks their kid up so all the rest of us can see how put together they are. Just once. Until then, misery loves company. 

We asked a few of our favorite moms to share their carpool style and here is what they gave us. Which style is most like yours? 

Stefanie’s I’m Still Clinging to My Youth Style: The size of the coffee cup is in exact proportion to the real life cup I carry. What’s that you say? Uggs are so 2010? You know what I say? Flip flops nine months out of the year, so suck it. 

Laura’s Superhero Style: You are never too old to rock this look. Says Laura. And we aren’t arguing with Batman.

Jen’s I’m Almost One of Those Mom’s But I Don’t Care Enough Style: Jen barely made the look-like-crap every morning cut. If she had added jewelry or really cool sunglasses she would have toppled over into real fashion.

Jessi’s I’m Too Hip To Care Style: Ain’t nothing says our kind of people like pizza and coffee and the words duds.

Shell’s Under Cover Style: From the Shell herself – “Throwing the jacket over it all means you don’t see the rest, right? And YES, that would be two different flip flops. If I’m lucky, I have a left and a right one, forget about matching colors.” #ABSOLUTEGENIUS

Which Carpool Style is most like yours? We want to know in the comments below.

I have been looking for 4th of July decor with a coastal feel and this was perfect. Unlike every other time, instead of texting her, “Buy it!”, I told her to put it back.  I could make this one myself or at least similar. Off to Michaels I went. 

I bought the least expensive canvas there and paint colors I knew I would use again. Everything else I already owned. 

I used painters tape to help me create the stripes and square.  First I painted the red stripes and let it dry.  Next the blue square and let it dry. Finally I glued the starfish in the square.  

Exactly what I was looking for and it only cost me $11!

Either sit in leaning on your mantel…

Or replace it for another item just for the season…

I think I’m going to leave it right above my entry table.

Graduation season is bittersweet. As they leave the nest we are left to reflect. We long for the moments passed while tears fill our eyes with pride at these beautiful souls we have raised.  

I will forever miss waking to the sound of their laughter every morning. Even their bickering. I will miss the shoes that never quite made it to the closet or the laundry that lay inches from the laundry basket. I will miss their sports gear spread from one end to the next and hearing myself say daily, “Pick your crap up off the floor before someone trips and breaks their neck.”

I keep hearing all those cliches in my head that other parents used to say as a way to comfort, “it’s just a phase”, or to teach us something they couldn’t actually do themselves but perhaps we could, “enjoy every moment”. They used to drive me crazy, these silly cliches, but as a parent who is finishing up the “raising your kids” portion of parenting, they seem more poignant. They make more sense. They mean something real as I look back over the years.

THE DAYS ARE LONG THE YEARS ARE SHORT they said. They are. Until they enter high school. Every tick of the clock is a reminder that they will soon be leaving. Suddenly the days and years are screaming by at breakneck speed with all the memories swirling around you like the tornado scene from The Wizard of Oz and you are desperately reaching out to grab every memory and cling to it in hopes that somehow it will slow it all down just for a brief second. It doesn’t, of course, so you are left with a painful feeling I have dubbed sorjoy. Equal parts knife cutting sorrow of their impending departure and an all consuming bubbling joy of pride at the beautiful person you’ve raised and they’ve become.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT they said. I didn’t. Some of those moments sucked. The lack of sleep, the ER visits, the worry, the stress, the teacher conferences to remind you that they can’t sit still or they don’t try hard enough, the incessant sibling rivalry that every book promised, if I just parented better, I could make stop. Those books lie. So no, I didn’t enjoy every minute. I enjoyed the wonderful ones and look back on the awful moments like battle scars with a fondness only a mother could understand. Those scars strengthened our mother-son bond. We were one against the world as we figured out how to fix the problems, heal the wounds and overcome teachers who didn’t understand that some boys just don’t sit still. Everyone of those scars tells a story and I wear them like a badge of honor. 

SLEEP WHEN THEY SLEEP they said. When they were babies I rarely slept. I was either staring in wonder at their beautiful faces or worrying, one eye open, one closed, waiting for any sound that meant I needed to go running to them. The middle years I slept. They were down the hall, they were mine to control in the safety of my environment, protected by my love. I slept. The teen years I slept even less than the first year I brought them home. If I wasn’t waiting up for them on the sofa I was awake at night worrying over something that, at the time I felt, might forever alter their path in life. Sometimes warranted, mostly not. I wish I could have found a way to sleep more over the years, but I don’t regret not having slept. Add it to my list of scars.

IT’S JUST A PHASE they said.  People tell you this when you need a reprieve from whatever bad behavior phase your children are currently residing in. Those phases are crap, no way around it, only through it. Truth is though, this whole getting to parent your kids thing? It’s all just a phase. An 18 year phase. I don’t want this phase to end. I want to start over. Redo this entire phase. Every single scarred moment. If only, I could just be that mom, bringing that boy home and starting out on our adventure of “this phase” together. I would redo every single moment. Even the scarring ones.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS they said. It shall and it has. Gone are those tiny little fingers that clung to me when they were scared or reached up to me to be picked up as they were too little to see the giant world from their vantage point. Now they tower over this world. A clear view of their path in front of them and all they want just waiting to be found. It is no longer my job to hold them up so they can see the world. My new job requires me to let go, trust in what I gave them, allow them to fly. This too passed. 

IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING SET IT FREE they said. I step aside, slowly releasing each finger of my grip so they can go begin their own journey. This is perhaps the biggest scar of all. Sorjoy.

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I have spent my life looking like the town drunk. Rosy red cheeks and redness along the sides of my face near my ears has been my life long struggle. “Ooooooh,” the woman at the cash register will say, “someone forgot their sunblock.” I used to defend myself passionately. Exhausted from hearing myself time after time, I gave up. Now I just laugh and shake my head, “Yep,” I say. 

While I am not going to put a ton of makeup on daily because I hate the way it feels and it breaks my skin out, when I go out for a fun evening with girls or my husband or have events it would be super cool to not look like I showed up two sheets to the wind because of my rosy red cheeks. Nina got ahold of my skin and worked some magic. Bye-bye town drunk, hello normal looking skin. 

Stefanie

Summer will be here before you know it and the one thing we have learned over the years is that a summer contract is a game changer. Kids need to know what is expected of them. Rules need to be signed off on so that you don’t have to argue all summer. Put this summer contract in place and if arguments arise refer to it. Make sure you offer tons of positive reinforcement when they are getting it right!!

CHECK OUT THIS SUMMER CONTRACT FOR TEENS AND THIS ONE FOR TWEENS! 

Sometimes you splurge and when you do, go big. This is seriously one of the most delicious things I have ever made. It is perfect for all of your summer barbecues. Potato salad is so 1950. Tater Tot Casserole? So right now. 

Thaw out frozen round potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry bacon until lightly crispy. Pat the grease off and chop.
Chop onion. Saute chopped onion in bacon grease until softened and lightly browned. 
Empty the can of cream of chicken into a bowl. Then fill the can halfway with heavy whipping cream. Dump into the bowl with cream of chicken soup and stir until completely mixed. Lightly spray 9 x 13 casserole dish. Put a small layer of chicken soup mixture in bottom of casserole dish.
Layer 1/2 of the potato rounds. Layer 1/2 of remaining soup mix, onion, chopped bacon and half of the cheddar cheese.
The first layer will look like this. Repeat all layers except cheese.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
Cook in 350 degree oven for one hour or until cheese is lightly browned. Enjoy.

1. Bring tissue. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, besides birthing my kids, is letting them go. It isn’t easy to cut the cord on 18 years of work, sweat and love. I cried the hour long drive to the airport and had to take myself out of the security line three separate times because I was such a blubbering idiot and I was afraid the people around me, on top of being scarred for life, were going to call security. It’s ok to cry. It hurts more than a little. I call it sorjoy, a combination of sorrow and joy. However, do your best to save the big tears for after you drive off. No matter how brave they act, they are petrified, and they need your strength.

2. The goodbye moment is awkward. Don’t expect the big goodbye to be filled with birds singing and everyone hugging and Adele’s, Make You Feel My Love, playing in the background. It’s the exact opposite of that. Everyone is a mess. They are scared but don’t want you to know that. They are TERRIFIED you are going to sob uncontrollably and want to just hug you and push you out the door so it can all be over and they can get started on their new life. I swore I wouldn’t cry. The final image Keenan had of me was me doing the call me symbol with my pinky and thumb up to my ear while gasping for air as the tears puddled down my face. It was UGLY. When it’s time to say goodbye, do it quick and then RUN. Do NOT look back. The saddest moment ever in my life was watching him walk away. 

3. They are ready. The hardest part is wondering how they will do. Will they be sad? Yes. Will they feel lonely? Yes. Will there be hardships? Yes. Will they miss you so much at times it hurts? Yes. For 18 years we have protected them from as much pain as possible. As much as we would love to continue the trend, it’s time for them to lick their own wounds, find their strength outside of us and become the adults we have parented them to be. They will and you will be so very proud of them and yourself for parenting them in a way that allowed them to do it.

4. Get them to respond. They get busy,  and they are doing this whole becoming their own individual without mom and dad thing, so calling you is not a top priority. It shouldn’t be. That said, when you’ve had enough, and you are in desperate need of hearing their voice instead of seeing their texts, text them this: “I’m having trouble transferring money into your account. Give me a call when you have a second.” Your phone will ring faster than they can type “send cash”.

5. Gaining an appreciation. Those pesky teenage years nearly did us parents in. We felt about as appreciated as a post-it note with no sticky on it’s back. Learning to budget, eating crappy food and doing their own laundry (hopefully more than twice a year) will help them gain a healthy appreciation for all that we do and did. Gratitude will be their middle name. At least for the first couple of weeks after they return every summer. Then they revert back to being a todleen, a combination of a teen and a toddler. Enjoy it while it lasts! 

6. It’s over before you know it. Rejoice in the knowledge that it goes by so fast. Truly I can’t believe in two weeks my son will be leaving for his senior year. I feel like it was just a month ago that I scarred all of those poor people in the security line. Now he is threatening to move back in with us in less than a year. Be careful what you wish for.

You and they can do this! It hurts like a mofo, but you will all get through it!