April 2012 Archives - Real: The Kitchen and Beyond

Legos – The Best Babysitter

April 30, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

Ok, before you jump all over me for leaving my kids home alone with Legos, that’s not what I mean. You know the whole “tv as a babysitter” thing? Substitute that with Legos and that was the best $17 I ever spent on a sitter. The kids – ALL THREE – have been working together building a Lego police station for the last two days. It was pretty amazing last night, with a police speedboat, docked to one corner, snow mobile thing and truck, to add to the many roomed station. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture before they started changing it – making it bigger and better. How it could be better than what it was is beyond me.

Thank you Legos for creating a new world of imagination for my children.

Maybe someday I will have a picture to add…I was going to take a picture of their station but they destroyed it too soon.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Review: Delicious by Orange Sherbet

April 27, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

Let me start out by saying I love music. I love many kinds of music. If you were outside my house you might hear Enya one second and Kutless a minute later. My taste varies greatly BUT one of the few music genres I never got into is jazz. It takes a really superbly done piece of jazz to get me to tune in. It’s just not my thing.

However, the kids and I were sent a FREE copy of Delicious by Orange Sherbet to review, and you know me…..if it’s free….and surprise…I LOVE IT! The first notes are definitely jazzy, with a flare of jazz throughout and an eclectic hodge podge of musical stylings that combine and just (miraculously) work. Opera meets zydeco? Yeah.

Another huge plus is that it’s kids’ music. I can only handle listening to the same thing so many times and we don’t have many “kid” cds. Kieran, 6, especially loves this cd because, well, it’s about FOOD. This boy loves his food. Even more so up his alley is the fact that it’s about fresh foods. He has this thing about boxed/processed foods. he just doesn’t like them. What kid doesn’t like Kraft mac and cheese??!!

It’s a great cd to pop in when the kids have too much energy on a rainy day or for a car ride that inevitably ~~ends~~ starts with fighting. So much peace to be had when you play music kids are interested in. As I said, Delicious is all about food – eating fresh, eating local. Ok, so I know some of you are thinking ‘political message”. It really wasn’t. I promise. What it is is a fun cd of music all about yummy deliciousness that is sure to get kids moving…and maybe even a little hungry for some of those green veggies they never heard of before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Photo credit goes to Nick Fynn.

Orange Sherbet has been featured in Parenting magazine, San Francisco magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, DailyCandy Kids, SF Weekly, Zooglobble, and more. The band’s award-winning body of work includes the CDs Jackson’s Lullaby (2001), Ridin’ (2003), Big Brother, Big Sister (2005), and Campfire Singalong (2007; recorded with the band Hot Buttered Rum and featuring special guest Dan Zanes on an Orange Sherbet song written especially for him).

Where can YOU get Delicious by Orange Sherbet? Delicious by Orange Sherbet, and produced by Elephant Red Records, will be available starting May 15 at www.orangesherbet.org, Amazon.com, cdbaby.com, and ITunes. In the meantime you can check out their website for more background behind the cd and other fun things.

Cost?

38 minutes of music – $15 CD, $10 Download.

38 minutes of sanity – PRICELESS

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: kids music, orsnge sherbet

Play Group Granola Bars

April 25, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

It isn’t original to me, nor is the name very original but it seems to be the craze right now. I changed mine up a bit and it was a little drier than the ones I have had but also more “breakfasty”, which is good, since it was breakfast. I think it’s because I completely skipped the brown sugar AND used stone ground whole wheat.

The original recipe is on Allrecipes(if you want to use it). I tweaked it a bit to this -

4 cups oats
2/3 cup flax seed meal
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cup stone ground whole wheat, fine
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup coconut oil/olive oil
3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels

Take 2 – I will actually tell you how much sugar I used this time. Sorry about that.

Instead of flax meal – I used wheat bran

add 1/2 cup raw sugar and 1/4 cup molasses (I’m a black strap molasses kind of girl) or 3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped prunes instead of cranberries

Mix it all together.

Press into a baking dish (one size larger than a 9 x 13).

Bake at 350 until the edges are brown (approximately 30 minutes).

Let cool 10 minutes, then cut before they get too hard.

A friend made hers with dates. I think I will try that next time. I also am going to do half honey, half black strap molasses next time.

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: granola bars

The Toilet is My Throne

April 25, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

I’m the only one who feels this way, aren’t I? There is no privacy in my house. Occasionally when my husband is home he will ask why I didn’t shut the door (it’s hit or miss). “Well honey, I honestly didn’t think of it because no matter how many times I shut the door someone always opens it.” “Well, why didn’t you lock it?” “Um yeah, that’s even worse.”

Like today…..SIX times. In the space of a few minutes the door was opened SIX times.

Sure, lock the door….so they can bang on it and scream and bang on it some more. If that floats your boat be my guest but we rent and rental doors are cheap. There have been times I wondered if the door would be intact in just the few minutes I was locked in.

This is why mothers have perfected the art of using the bathroom in 30 seconds or less. it’s called necessity.

Someday my kids will give me peace while I am in the bathroom. For now, the toilet shall be my throne.

I could even buy my own throne toilet but it’s a bit masculine for me….why can’t they have anything frilly and pink? And does anyone REALLY pay that much????!!!

Filed Under: Kids

What Color is Your World?

April 24, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

You don’t realize just how much color is in your world until you live with a (partially) color blind child.

To be honest, I’m still changing my world. I was reminded of that today when I sent my 8 year old to find greenish file folders. Last minute I remembered he won’t find them. I amended my directions to find greenish or brown file folders.

It all started when he was 6 and the pediatrician had this little book with circles of color and shapes and numbers within them. He did great for the first few pages and that was it. The rest were solid color to him.

I remember it well. There was no devastation. It was very matter of fact. Ok, so he can’t see all his colors. The ensuing trip to the eye doctor didn’t really clarify anything. With his age they didn’t want to label him.

We kind of let it go and except for the odd moments it hasn’t really affected life. See, give him a red crayon and it is red. Show him green and it’s green. When you get into olive shades it gets a little funny. It is all in the shading for him. His eyes just don’t separate the colors when they are mixed together.He can see a rainbow, he can’t see the green check mark high lighted in blue.

Recently he had his sight and hearing test for school. I didn’t think about it until they called me back to talk about his sight and asked me if I knew he was color blind. It really made it seem so final. This is something he is stuck with forever. He can’t be “whatever he wants to be”. There’s no cure, no fix. He will always be somewhat limited. His world lacks some of the subtle “oomph” shading adds to our world.

The other day I caught myself yelling at him for “not seeing what’s right in front of his face”. I feel bad. Sometimes he really can’t. Sometimes I get so frustrated when I send him for something and it was in plain sight….to me. To him, sometimes those colors blend together and he really can’t see it. He doesn’t know what he is missing but I do and it makes me sad sometimes.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: color blindness

What’s on the Menu (4/23)

April 24, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

Monday – In Hurry Pasta Casserole

Tuesday – Potato and Leek Soup (crock pot)

Wednesday – venison chops,mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts w/bacon and onion

Thursday – Woot! It’s my birthday…well, I don’t know that I care so much since I am turning 30 but this means dinner out

Friday – Dave has something planned – not sure what

Filed Under: Uncategorized, What's on the Menu

Kids and Motivation!

April 21, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

Sitting in my living room I feel like a hoarder. Really, it just isn’t my week. With laundry piling up (dirty and clean), my hallway is full(dirty)and my couch is piled high(clean). Don’t come to my house. Top it off with a corner/wall of our living room is the school room which needs help, the living room floor is the playroom, and another corner of the living room is the coat/shoe area, which needs “de-winterized” still….

(Maybe you are envisioning a huge space. Don’t. It’s approximately ~~18 x 17~~. Never mind, I just measured – 15 x 14.)

Back to my living room and motivation. I can’t do it all. Between homeschooling, cooking, cleaning houses, blogging for 2 blogs, picking a little boy up from the bus sometimes, and keeping up the housekeeping, I just can’t do it all. Novel thing to come out of a mom’s mouth I know but I did say I’m all about keeping it real.

Today I was at a yard sale and they had bags of legos or $1-$4 each. The whole lot came to around $26. We worked it to $17 and I walked away with them in a black bag – purely accidental but genius.

I got in the car and wondered what was wrong with me. I am tired of legos in my kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom, car…..TIRED OF FINDING THEM anywhere, but really really tired of them in strange places.

I told they have to earn them…..and it all is starting with getting the living room cleaned up. Once the floor is completely cleaned up they will get to SEE what I bought. It’s a great motivator. They are working hard.

Filed Under: Kids Tagged With: how to get kids to clean up

Finding Contentment

April 17, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

If only I had…..

I think at one point in life most of us has said this about something, or more realistically, multiple times?

It can be hard to be content with what I have. I admit it. I’m just going to be personal here. Talking in third person gets old and stilted and doesn’t flow so easy for me so let’s be real. It’s hard.

My husband works 48+ hours a week, commuting 45 minutes – 1 hour, 5 days a week. Not so fun for a family that thrives on family time. But I am choosing to not focus on those hours. It’s hard for us. It really is. Occasionally he gets umpteen million calls from me in one day just because it is hard for me. I’m grateful – grateful he doesn’t travel for work, grateful we have excellent health insurance. grateful we have a second vehicle, grateful he HAS a job – a job he enjoys.

We live in a small house. 954 square feet of house for a family with 3 growing children, space needed for homeschooling, space needed for all my kitchen gadgets since we cook/bake so much from scratch…it isn’t much space. I choose to be grateful that we have an affordable home, that we have good landlords.

We live 30-45 minutes away from most everything we do – church, both our work, my family (my babysitters). It’s hard. It’s really hard to travel all the time. It gets old having to leave for everything super early and losing time in the day with driving. It sucks to have really late nights because it isn’t so easy as a few minute ride home. I choose to be grateful for time spent with friends, I choose to be grateful for family closer than 6 hours away, I choose to be glad my car runs pretty well. I choose to be really really grateful for the radio, loud music, and the dvd player in the car.

It can be hard to have a kid with food allergies and another with asthma. The asthma – THAT can be really really really hard, especially this time of year when he feels such a mess he is miserable. I choose to be grateful that my kids are more healthy than not. I choose to be grateful that they have manageable health issues, not life threatening illnesses. I choose to be grateful that they can yell and whine and fight rather than be deaf, mute, or blind.

No matter where I am it can be hard. It can be really hard to be me, but I choose to be grateful. I choose to see my blessings and move past the “hard”. The only thing stopping me is me.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: contentment

Egg in the Nest

April 17, 2012 by Heather · Leave a Comment

Toad in a Hole…..

Whatever you call it it’s a super easy breakfast for lazy mornings.

Bread
Eggs
Butter
Salt and/or pepper
Frying pan

Heat your frying pan.
Butter your bread, tearing or cutting a hole out of the center.
Put the bread on your heated frying pan and put an egg into the hole.
Add salt and pepper and fry on both sides.
I add a lid to help the egg cook through better but you can do scrambled, runny, or hard eggs this way.

Make sure you fry the center of the bread to add for dipping egg or eating.

My mom occasionally made these for us when we were growing up. I’m not sure why I have never made them for my kids before.

I made myself a grilled swiss cheese sandwich. Hey, if you can have breakfast for dinner, why not lunch for breakfast?

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: egg in the nest, fried eggs, one dish breakfast