Recipe of the week

Instead of listing only one recipe this week I wanted to share a wonderful FREE resource for recipes and kitchen/cooking tips.

I just received my Spring 2008 issue of Kraft's Food and Family Magazine and as always it has some easy, family friendly and tasty recipes. The magazine comes 5 times a year (winter, spring, summer, fall & holiday) and I'm sure you will find many great recipes to add to your repertoire!

Get your free subscription by going online to kraftfoods.com/share or by calling 800-521-4403 and giving them your mailing info.

Craft Time with Kids

One thing parents tend to shy away from is crafts with their kids. While crafts can be messy, they can be lots of fun! By preparing supplies ahead of time for spur of the moment ideas, you and your kids can have a great time being creative. Preschool Activities Everyday has some great activities to do with your young children plus a craft checklist to keep items on hand so you can do a craft at any time. Family Fun also has some great crafts to choose from. Try not to be too stringent over messes so your children can enjoy the experience and not stress. It is important to allow them to get dirty, explore materials, and discover how things work together. Start planning your supply box so when those long summer days roll around, you will be prepared!

Easter Egg Hunts

Although Easter was last Sunday and my kids are still wanting to hunt for eggs! In fact, we did four hunts on Sunday, three on Monday and one today. And while it's a pain to hide the eggs over and over again, at least they are having fun and are outside running around!

Just wondering how long this will last?!?!

Easter Craft Idea

Happy Easter!! Can't believe that it's on Sunday. Where has the time gone?!?!

Here is a super cute Easter craft idea to do with your kiddos!

Recipe of the week

Tasty Chili

1 1/2 pounds ground round or beef
29 oz can tomato sauce
2, 16 oz can chili beans (pinto beans in chili sauce)
1 cup onion, diced
1-2 celery stalks, diced
2, 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1, 27 oz can dark kidney beans, undrained
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder (or more for spicy)
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt

Brown beef in large pot until cooked and crumbly - drain oil if needed.
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer over low-med heat.
Simmer for 2-3 hours; stirring frequently.

Serve with rice, corn chips, cheese, sour cream, mustard and any toppings you like!

Math Question For Fifth Graders! You try it!

I received this math question at work this week. It is suppose to be a question for fifth graders. You will see it is challenging, but doable. Post your answers if you dare!

There are 7 girls on a bus.
Each of the 7 girls has 7 backpacks.
In each pack there are 7 big cats.
For every big cat there are 7 smaller cats.

How many legs are on the bus (there is not a driver on the bus).

Having a question of the week makes for good conversations starters. At the end of the week, discuss your answers and see how they came up with the answer. You are challenging each other and making your children think!

St. Patrick's Day Craft

Here is a cute craft idea I found that would be fun to do with kids of all ages!!

Clay Pot Leprechaun

Recipe of the Week

This is a great casserole that you can prepare the night before, pop in the oven in the morning and enjoy the leftovers that are easy to reheat in the microwave!

Breakfast Casserole

1 bag shredded hash brown potatoes (Simply Potatoes is the brand I use)
1 1/2 pounds sausage (Jimmy Dean is the brand I use) You can do hot, med, mild or a mix.
1/2 onion, diced
9 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded SHARP cheddar cheese

Brown onions and sausage.
Stir eggs with milk.
In a baking dish layer your potatoes, sausage mixture, egg mixture and cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Serve and enjoy!!

Go to the Park

One thing most communities have is a park of some kind. Take advantage of the free entertainment for your children, especially as the weather improves. Parks offer great ways to explore, to exercise, and to interact with other children that are new friends. They are also great for parental interaction and some mommy or daddy time.

If you don't have a park nearby, it may be a worthwhile day trip to travel to the next closest city with a park. We have a city within an hour and a half that is actually a water park- for free. The city maintains a great location for kids to splash in the water. It is a bit of a drive, but it is free and hours of entertainment!

Find a park in your area and go exploring!

For Moms Needing A Laugh

I know this is not the typical post on the blog, but I just couldn't resist. Sometimes as moms, we just need a good laugh! So I hope you enjoy this and also realize just how much you do!!

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES
Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks. Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes. There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time. Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent
Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done. The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernailspolished and eyebrows groomed. During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties. They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up. The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if....he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

Recipe of the Week

Marshmallow Delight

Super easy – Super quick – Super tasty!

2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup flaked coconut
2 (11oz) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (20oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (8oz) carton low-fat or fat-free sour cream
1 (8oz) carton fat-free yogurt
½ cup (4oz) maraschino cherries, drained and chopped

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; cover and chill.
ENJOY!!

Online Activities- Virtual Frog Dissection

As the saying on this site goes, "Save A Frog- Do a Virtual Dissection Instead!"

I Am Bored.com has a lot of fun activities, but one I like the best is the virtual frog dissection.

You literally dissect the frog, just like in biology class.

Just try it to see.

I Am Bored has some great sites, but some are questionable for kids, so do not give them free reign. Plus the google ads may be a bit revealing. Make sure you stay by for the full dissection and then go on to another site!

Fun Learning Project

I found this cool educational project in the December '07 Family Fun Magazine.

Make a Ping-Pong Ball Jump
Using just your breath, can you move a Ping-Pong ball from one cup to another?

The setup:
Line up two short cups in front of you, one right after the other. (Small cups work best-just remember to hold them steady.) Drop a Ping-Pong ball into the cup nearest you.

The Trick:
Take a deep breath! Now blow down the side of the Ping-Pong ball closest to you. Watch the ball jump up and into the other cup.

Why It Works:
Blowing down the side of the ball creates a stream of compressed air. This stream of air pushes the ball up, forward, and into the second cup.

Recipe of the Week

Easy Cuban Steak

This is a recipe from my mother-in-law. It is fabulous and reheats well for leftovers!

1 ½ pounds thinkly sliced steak – skirt steak, flank steak or something thin and similar.
Garlic powder, salt & pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 orange pepper, thinly sliced

Season steak with salt, pepper & garlic powder.
Heat oil in cast iron skillet (one with a lid preferably) or covered pan if you don’t have a cast iron skillet; add and sauté garlic about 1 minute.
Add onion and peppers; sauté until soft (about 5 minutes) – remove from skillet.
Add more oil if needed and add beef to skillet. Sauté covered until cooked (about 5-6 min); turning as needed. Don’t over cook or meat will be tough and chewy.

Optional - Remove meat and add ¼- ½ cup water if gravy is desired. Thicken with a little cornstarch (¼ tsp).

Add meat, onions and pepper back in; cover and simmer until ready to serve.

Serve with yellow rice, black bean, baby green peas and Cuban bread ~ I know the baby green peas usually throws people off but it is a great combination!

Explore Local "Tourist" Attractions

How often do we skip out on local activities and locations because we think of them as "tourist" attractions?

We had that instance yesterday. We were invited to a group occasion at a local vineyard. Since we are not wine drinkers, we never saw a reason to go out to the farm.

It will now be a frequent occurrence! We got to feed the chickens cheerios, pick our own strawberries, and see quiet a few animals we do not see around the neighborhood, especially the pot bellied pig! It was a wonderful day that we would not have had if we had not been invited.

Check out local "tourist" attractions in your home town and surrounding communities. You may be surprised of how much fun being a tourist can be!

Open Lines Of Communication With Your Kids

A friend of mine has been giving me some of her magazines and I have truly been enjoying reading them. I recently came across an article that I thought everyone might enjoy. It's from the Nov. '07 issue of Family Fun Magazine.

It's entitled, "Daddy Letters" and shares how one dad decided that he wanted to learn about what his kids really wanted to do with him. He shares how he had always spent personal one and one time with his three kids, but was curious if their preferences had changed over the years.

To pull out his kids "deep thoughts" he decided to mail them each a survey and ask them very specific questions:
* What one thing have you wanted to do with me but never have?
* What one thing would you really like me to teach you or tell you that I never have?
* What have you done with me in the past that you really enjoyed but don't get to do often enough?
* What one thing is really on your mind that you want me to know about?

The results he received were eye opening and helpful. He not only learned what was important to his kids, but also how he could relate to them better on an individual basis.

While this concept may not work for your toddlers, it's certainly a great way to learn more about your slightly older kids.

I will keep this idea in mind for a few years down the road! And kudos to the author ( Dan Schaeffer) for taking such an active role in his kids lives!!

Recipe of the Week

Okay. This is one of those recipes I saw Paula Deen make it on her Food Network Show over 3 years ago and I knew it would be a family fave. You have GOT to try this, especially if you like banana pudding!

My hubby’s b-day is this week and he requested this as his cake – it’s that tasty!

And, I have multiple copies of it in my recipe box that I’ve printed because so many people ask for the recipe after tasting it. This is a winner!

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding - Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.
In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer.
Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth.
Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended.
Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This is even better if made a day ahead. The pudding firms up and the cookies soften a bit.

Episode#: PA1A08 - Copyright © 2006 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved

Family Educational Fun

Family fun can include educational activities, especially if your family homeschools or is of the left brained genes. Math games and challenges can be fun too. Not only will this help your children that are not artistically inclined to participate, it will help your kids learn to think, a skill that is quite important.

There are many sites for great challenge activities for all ages. You may be surprised how challenging they can be. If you have children that are in many different ages, choose a question of the week for each age group. If they are close in age, choose one question for the whole family. Have the answers "due" on Saturday, post a new question Sunday. Make a chart of who got their question correct and reward those who made the effort. Even if you are not a "math person," your kids may be. So give it a shot!

Here are some sites to use:
Figure This has fun challenges and a lot of helpful information.
White House for Kids has a question of the week, plus achieved questions for many grade levels.
Newton's Math challenge has a few "excursions" for your family

Have fun computing!

Crafts for Valentine's Day!

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I must admit I haven't done the first craft with my kids. So today I was looking through one of my favorite magazines,Family Fun, and decided to go online for more ideas.

I found one craft that reminded me of my childhood and just wanted to share!!





Your child can assemble this cute card carrier in a heartbeat using common household and craft materials.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
2 paper plates
Stapler
Scissors
Hole punch
Glue
Colored paper
Ribbon

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Fold 2 paper plates in half, then tuck one inside the other to form a heart. Staple them together.

2. Round the top edges with scissors. Punch matching holes in the center front and back of the pocket. Glue on colored paper hearts.

3. To finish, add a strap by threading a length of ribbon through the holes and securing the ends with a knot on the inside or outside of the pocket.

Click here for even more ideas!!

Recipe of the week

This is a tasty meal that I fix often for our family! Hope you enjoy it.

Pork Medallions in Mustard Sauce

Pork:
1-2 pounds pork tenderloin
2-3 Tbsp coarse-grain mustard
1 Tbsp olive oil
Place above in zip-lock back and let marinate for up to 24 hours (sometimes I remember to do this, sometimes I don't).
Put pork tenderloin in a baking dish and bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and back another 15 minutes or until meat themometer registers 160 degrees F.
Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with mustard sauce, yellow rice and steamed veggies! *note - I use a rice cooker with a steamer and then the meal is practically a "set-it & forget-it" meal.

Mustard Sauce:
16 oz (2 cups) whipping cream
1/3 cup coarse-grain mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Cook cream in a saucepan over med-high head for 20 minutes or until reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Do not boil! Stir in remaining ingredients and cook for 1 minute. Serve warm or put in the fridge to chill and thicken. It's good both ways so save some for leftovers! You could always make this the morning of and have it cooling/thickening for dinner.

Enjoy!