The Daily Grind of a Work @ Home Mom...

(Un)Virtuous

2009-11-16T20:45:01-05:00

So I walk (reluctantly) into the gym this morning, about five minutes before my weekly "boot-camp" session is about to begin. I meet up with the trainer who has been leading these hourly sessions now for about 8 months.

"Jill!" He is genuinely psyched to see me. He's really into the good of collective fitness and the bigger the group, the better.

"You look good," he says. "Did you lose a few pounds?"

Normally, I'd be totally thrilled if someone noticed a few pound weight loss. But today, I felt weird about it.

"It's stress," I say. "All stress."

Truth is, I've sort of been eating my feelings lately and somehow none of it is sticking. This should tickle me, but somehow without actually feeling the pain of it, I don't feel like I'm deserving of any accolades. Because if my hard-core fitness instructor actually knew what I'd been ingesting of late, he'd probably quit me for good.

I'm chalking the non-weight-gain to one of two things:

1) Either someone up there is looking out for me, feeling sorry for me and ensuring that I don't become obese while I deal with a touch of chaos,

2) Some anxiety-induced hormone or chemical in my body is burning off the crap I'm putting into it as quickly as I'm ingesting it.

And normally, a compliment as small as "you look like you've lost a few" would be enough to keep me going for at least the rest of the day, combined with a salad or a small chicken breast. But instead I added more greasy fuel to my boot-camped bod in the form of McD's and Chef Boyardee. (and no, I'm not five).

C'mon, let's say it together - EW.

I'll just chalk it up to a comfort food binge and hope that tomorrow, maybe a salad will give me love in the way that french fries do.

Good luck. I know.

Am I Doing This Wrong?

2009-11-13T09:58:49-05:00

I dropped A off at pre-school this morning and was greeted at the door by her teacher (whom I love, btw). In keeping with my request that she tell me even the embarrassing things my 3-and-a-half year old spews out of her 3-and-a-half year old mouth, the drop-off went something like this:

Me: G'morning!

Teacher: Hi, Jill. Oh, I have to tell you what happened yesterday.

Uh, oh. My mind starts racing. Did my typically gentle child push someone on the playground? Get pushed? Or more likely, recite the entire periodic table of the elements?

Just kidding...

Me: Oh God, what happened?

Teacher: So, A told me she had to go to the bathroom and I told her 'just a sec' because I was holding something and needed to put it down.

I nod.

Teacher: So she tells me that she can't wait because her dr. said she shouldn't wait to pee or she'll get a boo boo in her tussy.

Uh, something like that...

Teacher: So I take her to the bathroom and she sits down and starts telling me that her daddy doesn't pee sitting down, he pees standing up.

Oh. My. God. Now I'm not sure if this is a cute story or if I'm in trouble or what but I do know that I asked to hear the embarrassing things she says and well, here they come!

Her teacher smiles, puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "isn't that cute?"

Cute. So cute. All this talk of anatomy and bathroom rituals rolled up into one small girl who has the vocabulary to communicate if aliens had entered her room overnight and kidnapped her favorite teddy bear.

Am I even doing this right??

'Tis the Season...

2009-11-11T13:16:51-05:00

...to save money..."

...to get creative..."

...to be... how does it go - jolly??"

Last week I learned how to accomplish all these things (and more!) in a mere 2 hours at a lovely luncheon put on by the wonderful folks at Stop and Shop. In the year since I was introduced to the money-saving and customer-oriented culture of Stop and Shop, I have had the opportunity to learn many great things about their stores, and the fact is, they have won me over. My favorite though, is their Scan It! program which allows customers to scan, bag, and pay for their groceries all without speaking a word to another living soul. Socially inept as I may sound, this does allow for quick shopping and money-savings opportunities I might not otherwise have.

And now I come bearing some new ideas from Stop and Shop's own Consumer Adviser, Andrea Astrachan, that might help the cash-poor but richly creatively gift-giver get by on not much more than a few dollars and a few minutes this holiday season.

Seriously, I want you to know about the grocery giant's Holiday Rewards program which essentially allows you to earn up to 20% off a grocery order of your choice until December 25th (think turkey! think apps! think desserts!). But I also want to share some of their awesome gift-giving ideas that will simplify, and cheapify (is that a word?) your holiday season so that you can actually relax and enjoy it.

Idea #1:

Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels:

What you'll need -

A bag of long pretzel rods
Chocolate chips for melting
Decorations such as sprinkles, cookie crumbs, crushed candy canes.

Melt the chocolate in a pot. Dip the pretzel rod into the chocolate (use a knife to help apply it if the chocolate is not deep). Roll the pretzel in your decoration of choice. Let them cool, then place them gently in a cellophane bag and add ribbon and a gift tag.

Idea #2:

Cookies in a Jar:

What you'll need -

The makings for whatever cookies you choose (chocolate chip, oatmeal...)
A mason jar
Ribbon
Recipe card

Layer all ingredients in the jar, separating by color. Be sure to pack down ingredients so they fit! Close the lid and decorate the jar with ribbon or whatever you choose. Attach the recipe card (which should include the wet ingredients recipient will add themselves).

How easy is that?

We want to help you buy your holiday treats! The Daily Grind along with the wonderful peeps of 360PR and Stop and Shop are offering one lucky reader the gift of food - a $100 gift card at Stop and Shop! To enter, simply comment below with your favorite aspect of the store. The winner will be selected on Saturday, November 14th at midnight. Only one entry per person.

Luncheon, gift-idea samples, parking and gift card were provided by Stop and Shop. All views and opinions reflected on this blog are my own and were in no way influenced by any outside party.

Chocolate Bread Pudding Anyone?

2009-11-09T15:06:26-05:00

So last week I attended a really fun event at Upstairs on the Square for Stop and Shop. I'd never been there and let me just say everything they served was really delicious. But the real piece de resistance came in the form of dessert - bread pudding served with cinnamon ice cream.

It was so good that it somehow overshadowed some of the other points of the day (which I'll get to in a different post).

So one of the things that I am somewhat known for (ahem) are my yummy desserts. My theory is - I like to eat 'em so I like to bake 'em. And even though I got scolded by my mom for sharing some trusted recipes here (sorry, Mom), I'm going to share my recipe for my chocolate bread pudding because it is sooooo good. Here goes:

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

1/2C butter
3 cups cubed bread (day old works best)
4 eggs
1Tbsp vanilla
1/2C sugar
1C light cream
Walnuts (to your liking)
4.5oz's milk chocolate (or semi-sweet, to your taste), chopped

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a saute pan. Add bread until it absorbs the butter and gets brown. In a bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, sugar and cream. Mix well. Add the bread. Mix. Add the chocolate and nuts. Set for one hour.

Grease the bottom of a 10"pan. Pour mixture in. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top of a bit brown. I'll add a picture next time I make it.

ENJOY!

Staples: A "Staple" for Your Business & Tech Needs.

2009-11-02T13:31:35-05:00

I own a home business. That said, I'm always needing something or other since there's no one to outfit the "supply closet" (ahem) other than me. So it's no surprise that I have the nearest Staples address stored in my GPS.

I shop at Staples for the following reasons:

It has literally everything I need to run my business, from the little (hard-to-find) desk-calendar that I like, to the heavy stock printer paper I use, to the snacks I need to keep me fortified throughout the day. ;)
It's close to home. And as the world's largest office supply retail store, it's likely that there's one close to your home too.
They offer UPS shipping services, which is my shipper of choice.
It has reasonable prices and a selection that covers pretty much all kinds of quality, from inexpensive to awesomely fancy.

While Staples is known for its fabulous array of office supplies, many folks don't realize that the mega-retailer also specializes in electronics and technology. My family purchased a digital camera at Staples a few years ago. (And extra memory for it, of course.) If you are a camcorder freak like I am, you'll love their offering of mini-recorders. If you're not sure which one to choose, visit the Staples website and select the ones that interest you, and you will see a detailed side-by-side-comparison and your choices (COOL!). Of course, visiting the store guarantees that one of their well-trained staff will help guide you as well.

Recently, I attended an event and walked away the proud winner of a Staples $100 gift card and an
HP Photosmart Premium Printer. (I know - cool, right???!!!) While this is not a review for the printer, let me just say how much I absolutely LOVE my new HP. I actually replaced an HP All-in-one Officejet (more expensive) but was woo'd by the fantastic photo printing feature which delivers photo-lab quality photos. It doesn't have a fax, but my sacrifice was well worth it. I've spent hours making photo calendars, cards, and printing pictures already. Besides, I'm thinking the scan and email can replace the fax for the rare times I need it.

Sounds good, right? Well, Staples is offering all you readers the chance to win a $100 gift card to their stores. You can put it toward a new photo printer or digital camera! A few steps to entering this one:

Simply comment below and let us know what you would buy.
Follow @StaplesTweets.
Re-tweet (or cut & paste): Win a $100 Staples gift card from @alexcaseybaby! http://tinyurl.com/y9rcz5sThx @StaplesTweets! #staples100

This contest will run until Friday, November 6th at midnight. Only one entry per person please!

So this is somewhat off topic but...

2009-10-29T15:25:25-04:00

I just found out Eric Dane has a "sex tape." In case you've been living under a rock, Eric Dane is Grey's Anatomy's McSteamy and one seriously hot piece of guy. He is hot in the way that he oozes sex and you just want to meet him somewhere dirty and get naked and then return him to his rightful owner. Not like McDreamy, who you might just want to cuddle with after.

Look:

YUM.

So, I know I'm late to the game, but I just heard about this so-called "sex tape" so in my spare time (ha), I googled Eric Dane Sex Tape. What I found was basically an intimate evening at home with hot-man himself, his cute wife, Rebecca Gayheart, and some no-name former beauty queen. They get high, hang out in a tub not big enough for three, and chat. While naked. No sex. Boobs and wieners, but no sex.

So now that I watched my #1 man (k, #2, after all I am married) strut around with his wanker hanging out, with no hot scrubs or lab coat to make me wonder what's hiding under there, I feel like I've just unwrapped a gift I *really* wanted, just to find out I may not have wanted it so much after all.

I guess there's something about mystery that is intoxicating but once mystery is exposed to the cruel light of day, eh... Whatever...

PS... It's entirely possible that this post contains material inappropriate for a married woman & mom, but hey, a girl's gotta live!!

To Vaccinate, or Not to Vaccinate, That is the Question.

2009-10-28T09:51:17-04:00

So everywhere you turn there is information being thrown at us regarding the H1N1 Flu and the vaccine. And at every turn is a parent asking, "are you vaccinating?"

We did. On Monday, both my kids opened their nostrils real wide to accept the H1N1 vaccine. And while this was ultimately my decision, it was not a decision I came to lightly.

I am not a person who buys into media hype. I n fact, as the public becomes increasingly panicked about any particular media-induced issue, I tend to become more cynical. Maybe it's the journalist in me, but I don't trust "frenzy."

Bu I do trust facts from people in the know.

I asked doctors their opinion. And I asked more doctors. Then, just to be sure, I asked again. Every single solitary doctor I asked- from an Internist to a GI specialist to an ER doctor and a Pediatrician - every last one of them not only assured me the H1N1 vaccine is safe, but urged me to vaccinate my children.

Every last one of them.

They told me that the H1N1 vaccine is prepared no differently than any other flu shot I've given my children and that the hype over the pandemic is what separates it from the regular flu. As a matter of fact, the H1N1 strain of flu has been included in your regular seasonal flu vaccine each year since 1977, but since this is a new strain, a separate vaccine is being administered.

And yes, people in the high risk groups should get both the H1N1 vaccine as well as the flu shot. While my instinct was not to administer both the vaccines simultaneously, many doctors do (if they have it - there's a supply and demand issue with both vaccines right now).

I was reluctant to accept a "new" vaccine for my kids. But after doing the research, asking health care professionals, finding out how the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine are similar and different, my reluctance was to wait to vaccinate. And now that I have, I feel like my children are protected from what I understand to be a horrible, complicated illness.

No matter what you decide is best for your family, there are ways to protect against getting sick - make sure your family washes their hands constantly. We've been going through that anti-bacterial stuff like crazy around here. At the very least, you'll be teaching your kids good hygiene, right?

Did Someone Say Cupcakes?

2009-10-26T15:27:21-04:00

It was my younger daughter's birthday this weekend and because I didn't throw her an all-out extravaganza (for reasons that are too many too mention), I thought I would make up for it with home-baked treats. And I think I hit the mark - I made Magnolia cupcakes, Yo Gabba Gabba-style. Check them out:

They were fun to make (just ask my 3-year-old), delicious, and nice to look at. Though I had no means of direct comparison, I thought they tasted pretty close to what I remember Magnolia cupcakes tasting like. Try them for yourself - here is the recipe:

CUPCAKES

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At the bakery we ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream.

Icing

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I followed these directions perfectly and they were delicious. I'd love to know how yours come out!

Cook Up Some Fun with Lollipop Rascals' Baking Sets!

2009-10-23T15:04:03-04:00

We love to cook in our house. Or I should say, I have passed down my love for cooking to my oldest daughter, who offers help to Mom for anything kitchen-related. This includes stirring my morning coffee, shaking the salad dressing, and even pouring her own milk. So the prospect of baking her very own cookies from start to finish excited her to no end, and well, even Mom took pride in her enthusiasm for anything culinary-related.

The baking kit came to us courtesy of Lollipop Rascals, a wonderful web-store which offers the highest quality in educational toys and gifts. And by educational, I don't mean flash cards and numbers games. I'm talking fabulous book sets (It's Me! is one of our favorite nighttime reads), award-winning puzzles, themed-based toys and accessories, and excellent costumes.

But we really liked the baking set.

In fact, we are in favor of all things cooking and baking-related so the fact that Lollipop Rascals features an entire Rascal Chefs section is more than just a little bit awesome. Introduce your child to baking in a gentle, fun way, while still producing a delicious finished product with any one of these baking kits. Have a budding paleontologist? Check out the Green Dinosaur Cookie Kit. Have a princess on your hands? Then the Fairy Princess Cookie Kit is for her. There's so many ways to incorporate cooking into your child's life, and Lollipop Rascals will give you many insightful ideas. Also, many of the baking kits are now up to 45% off - so there's really no risk!

In honor of Halloween, we are happy to give away a set of Witch Pop Up Cinnamon Spice Pumpkin Cookies (beware - these are DELICIOUS!!), and Paint-Your-Own Ghost Cookies to one lucky reader. Simply visit Lollipop Rascals, and tell us what you like best about their site. Contest will run through Wednesday, October 28th at midnight. Open to US residents only.

All products reviewed were provide to me at no cost by Lollipop Rascals. All views and opinions reflected on this blog are my own and were in no way influenced by any outside party.

You can take the girl out of Canada...

2009-10-18T19:19:23-04:00

Hubby and I went to a wedding this weekend. It was that of a co-worker at his office, and it was about 30 miles from home, in the town of Westford, Ma. The ceremony was at 2pm, the reception at 4. Between getting out of the church and driving to the inn where the reception was being held, we'd have about an hour, maybe more, to spare. We didn't know how we'd spend that time, but friends of my husband's took care of it.

They set up a tailgate party in the parking lot at the inn.

Yup, you read it here - A tailgate. At a wedding. In a parking lot at an inn.

For those of you unfamiliar with the phenomenon commonly referred to as a tailgate party, Wikipedia defines it:

In the United States, a tailgate party is a social event held on or around the open tailgate of a vehicle. Tailgating often involves consuming beverages and grilling food. Tailgate parties usually occur in the parking lots at stadiums and arenas before and occasionally after or during sporting events and rock concerts.

There were beverages being consumed (ever hear of a strawpedo? Neither had I). There was food (deli sandwiches, chips, salsa), and there was an open tailgate. Only thing missing was the sporting event. Or rock concert.

Now, I'm not bashing the tailgate party. Not at all. But as a reminder: we were at a wedding. In the parking lot. Tailgating.

The Canadian in me was shocked (the term "tailgating" in Canada typically refers to driving up someone's ass on the highway). The wedding-goer in me was in awe. But the most shocking part of it all was that I seemed to be the only one marveling in my shock and awe. Others casually stopped by on their way from their cars to the reception and grabbed a quick beer or bite. No one seemed more than mildly amused that our friends had thought to set-up shop. In the parking lot. At the inn. Even I took a break from my shock and awe long enough to indulge in a veggie wrap and cup (or three) of warm spiked cider during the intermission between events. But even as I drank (purely to raise my body temperature as it was maybe 45 degrees out - ok fine, it was delicious...), I was still shocked. And awed.

I guess you can take the girl out of Canada, but you can't take the Canada outta the girl.