Join A Kid’s Cooking Challenge!

I announced this on The Naked Hero last week, but must give props again (’cause when props are due, they’re due). My kids ROCK. Here’s one reason why.

One of my sons has celiac disease and is sick and tired of the food he eats (rice, beans, tofu, and myriad combinations). My daughter loves to cook. We all love Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution.

They were talking at dinner one night and all the sudden they dreamed up a challenge–cook, using Jamie Oliver’s recipes, and blog about it to encourage other kids to eat healthy, and to empower other kids with celiac disease. For 100 days… or 6 months… whichever comes first

They’re well into their challenge and still fired up (it certainly helps that Jamie Oliver himself has Direct Messaged them on Twitter and is now following THEM!  Yes, Chef Jamie Oliver is following my kids and their challenge and how cool is that?). Plus we just found out they’re going to be in his monthly newsletter AND he commented on their blog!

And let me tell you, Jared and Sophie are regular kids who float through life like the next kid. But they’re not floating this time. They’re motivated, loving the blog, are thrilled every time someone subscribes or follows the blog, and in their minds, are loving their 15 minutes of fame.

They’ve made some great things including Classic Tomato Spaghetti and Chocolate Pudding Bake (SO good!).

They totally think they’re going to meet Jamie Oliver… or at least they really want to! (They were actually invited to come to a Jamie Cooking Project in the UK.  Small problem… we don’t live in the UK.)

We have no small dreams in this household!

This is their dream and they’re doing good for themselves, our family, and anybody who happens across their blog and is inspired by the fact that two kids are cooking healthy and gluten free. And if two kids can do it, surely you can, too.

I’m so proud of them! Please help them by spreading the word about Jared and Sophie and their Kid’s Cooking Challenge!  And join the challenge!

**You don’t have to eat gluten free! Jamie’s recipes aren’t, but we are adapting them, showing both ways.

The Best Money You’ll Never Spend

Before I begin, I must give a disclaimer that this isn’t a commercial. I wasn’t paid to write this post. I’m not a spokesperson for any company.

But, I might as well be a spokesperson for Aldi Grocery Stores. And I’ve never been happier than the day I saw one being  built near my house in Arlington.

*cue choirs of angels* HALELUJAH!

There are so many great reasons to shop at Aldi that I just don’t know where to begin. But, in case you don’t know what Aldi is, please allow me to explain: Aldi is grocery store that sells its own brand of products.  It’s a lot like Trader Joe’s, but with not as much organic stuff but plenty of low low prices. Aldi sells most everything that a person would need on a typical grocery run, but in order to keep prices low, they do some things a little differently. For example, they don’t accept credit cards or checks for payment (cash and debit cards only – maybe food stamps too, I’m not sure – to avoid the fees associated with these types of payment). They don’t bag the groceries nor do they provide the bags for free – paper bags can be purchased for 5 cents and plastic for 10 cents – but they always welcome customers to bring their own bags. Aldi doesn’t carry products in dozens of different varieties and sizes. They don’t carry every product imaginable, but I do think they carry a lot of things you wouldn’t expect. For example, they have soy milk but not lactose-free milk. They carry self-rising flour, but not whole wheat flour. They carry chicken noodle soup as well as tomato, cream of mushroom, and vegetable beef, but not french onion soup.  Also, they don’t take coupons. And, really? That’s a blessing in disguise. Any reason I can find to stop keeping track of teensy pieces of paper barely bigger than a postage stamp, with expiration dates, is okey-dokey with me.

So, you’re wondering, what’s the savings? Really? Well, I just happened to go buy groceries for my family of 7 today. My checkout toal: Just over $120. Not bad, I’d say. Milk was $1.69. Yes, really. Eggs were 75 cents. Bread was 69  cents. Granola bars: $1.69. Iceberg lettuce: 89 cents. Cheese Pizza: $2.29. 6-pack microwave popcorn: $1.49. And, in case you’re thinking, “Yeah, but what does it taste like?” I’ll tell you, sub-par groceries are no bargain. What’s the point in saving money on food that no one wants to eat? And Aldi products are, in my opinion, just as good as national-brand products. Their products are made by many national-brand manufacturers, but with the Aldi label. Now, I’m not going to say that I’ve never been disappointed. There have been a couple of items that didn’t taste as good as their national brand counterparts. But I was able to take the item back to the store, receive a different product of equal price, and also a refund of my money. That’s what their “Double Your Money Back” guarantee is all about. Now THAT is a company who stands behind their product, wouldn’t you say? Their products are made by many national-brand manufacturers, but with the Aldi label.

Once upon a time, I thought Aldi was a grocery store strictly for people who were low-income. I think that misconception has kept other shoppers away, steering them toward higher-priced specialty stores. And, truth? I love Central Market. The whole experience of shopping there is sensational. But so is my bill. There is a price to pay for specialty groceries, and the last time I looked, my toddler didn’t care where her whole-wheat spaghetti came from. It ended up on the floor anyway.

Aldi is opening 27 new stores this spring all around the DFW Metroplex. For a full list of locations, click here. And, happy shopping!

How to Make Your Children BEG for Vegetables

I have admitted repeatedly (hoping confession is good for the soul) that I am not the world’s best cook.

Or even the world’s second best cook.

Really, the world screams “uncle” when I cook.

Aware of my one fault, I have attempted to make up for it in other ways so my family isn’t completely malnourished.

I watch what the boys have for snacks.

I pack healthy lunches.

I do what I can.

The boys like all those little packets of drink mix that you add to water bottles. As a treat once in awhile we choose a flavor…peach tea, pink lemonade, grape, etc. and shake, shake, shake for fun.

I was happy to find pink lemonade with added protein made by Special K that the boys drink with gusto. A little extra protein mid-morning seems to help dispositions.

I then found a drink with a full serving of vegetables! It is called “Veggies To Go”!

Be still my malnourished heart. What could be better than that? The boys are always a little light on the vegetables.

So we added it to the water.

We stirred.

And stirred.

And stirred.

It tastes as bad as it looks.

Using a goldfish glass might have been a little pond-water foreshadowing…

Easy Cheesy Chicken Muffins

These are so yummy and even great eaten cold!

Ingredients:

• 1 can Pillsbury dough (I used the kind that you have to cut- you can use Crescent Rolls or Puff Pastry as well)
• 1-2 cups Shredded Chicken (I used an already cooked rotisserie chicken)
• 3/4 cup Cream Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Dried or Fresh Chopped Onion (optional)
• 1/2 Finely Diced Red Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Milk
• 1/4 tsp Dried Thyme
• Salt & Pepper to Taste
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl.
3. Cut dough into squares and place in muffin tin that has been covered with cooking spray.
4. Put a large spoonful of mixture inside and seal by twisting the top shut.
5. Spray or brush with butter sprinkle parmesan cheese and thyme on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.

Homemade Butter

Cold and rainy days mean staying indoors. Unfortunately, that makes some of us a little stir crazy. So I’m always on the lookout for fun activities for my little ones that might just happen to also provide a little teaching along the way. Recently we made homemade butter. Stuart looked at me funny when I told him this. “You did what?” Yep, homemade butter.

I talked to Nicholas a little bit about how butter is made. I explained that basically you start with heavy cream and mix it up until it becomes butter. The cream is full of little fat globules but they are all separate and lonely. Once the mixing starts, fat globule Bob bumps into fat globule Joe and they become friends so they stick together. As more mixing happens, they bump into fat globule Mike and fat globule Tom and they all decide to stick together. The little group of friends keep bumping into more fat globules until everyone is stuck together and they have a big party. And then you have butter. Nicholas loved the story and couldn’t wait to start mixing up some cream.

We do have this cool antique churn that we could have used.

But it just sits on top of our kitchen cabinets. It’s gotten a bit dirty and dusty over the years and I don’t really know if I could ever clean those wooden paddles enough to feel good about eating anything made with them. However, it was neat to be able to show this to Nicholas and explain how it was used in olden days.

Our project was a bit different. All we used were some clean baby food jars, a few glass marbles, heavy whipping cream, music, and manpower.

Nicholas started with filling the jars about 3/4 full of cream.

He added two marbles to help with mixing and put the lid on. I double checked to make sure that the lid was on REALLY tight. Then we put on some fun music and we danced around while we shaking the jars. It doesn’t really matter how you shake them or how hard you shake them but you need to keep them moving.

It’s best to do this with two people so you can trade off and let your arm rest. After 5 minutes, he had a nice whipped topping.

Then around 10 minutes, we could hear a more distinct “thud” sound as a ball of butter was now shaking around in the jar. There was still a lot of liquid that we drained off but in the end we had real butter. It tasted fine right out of the jar but we added a pinch of salt just to make it better.

It was yummy on crackers for an after school snack. Nicholas suggested that we should have repeated our homemade cracker project so we could have had homemade butter AND homemade crackers. Great idea but I recall that I wasn’t too impressed with our homemade crackers. I think I’ll stick with store bought crackers but the homemade butter is a winner.

Snails Cute Enough To Eat

Today was my day to bring snacks for Nicholas’ class. I always have fun making special snacks for the class. This time I made little breadstick snails.

I used a package of refrigerated breadstick dough and unrolled them as usual. I brushed them with melted butter then rolled up one end so that it made the spiral of the shell then I tucked the other end under to make the head. Then I took some slivers from a carrot to use for antennae. I also included some marinara sauce for dipping.

The kids loved it.

They had fun playing with their snails. Did you know that snails can talk? Apparently these can! What I like best is that they all got a healthy dose of vegetables from the marinara sauce and they didn’t even know it was good for them!

The Cost of Convenience

I love the idea of making my own baby food for Rachel. It doesn’t sound like a lot of work. Just cook some foods, blend them up into a puree, and freeze them until I need them. I can control what goes into them (and what doesn’t) and I can be sure to use organic produce on those few items that I feel it’s important to spend the extra money. It all sounds wonderful.

Except for the fact that I’m already stressed to a breaking point trying to do more than I have time for each day.

Not only am I doing well to just get both kids fed some mornings, I rarely have time to eat breakfast myself because I’m juggling too many other things and putting out fires here and there. So the idea of adding one more thing on my “to do” list like making my own baby food just doesn’t sound like a good idea at this time. So Gerber baby food it is…

I go to the grocery store every few days for something. Not big shopping trips but we always run out of something like milk or bread or baby food between the big shopping trips so I end up going several times a week. I always try to buy a few more jars of baby food each time I go since we go through about 6-8 jars a day. It’s not always easy taking two little children shopping though. As a matter of fact, it can really make the trip rather exhausting. So I’ve avoided going for a few days knowing we would be fine without this or that for another day or two. But this weekend completely ran out of baby food. I didn’t need anything else so I decided to stock up on it so I wouldn’t have to go back in a few days to buy more.

I came home with a nice stock of baby food. But instead of working a few jars here and there into my grocery budget, I saw just how much baby food by itself really costs. Can you believe this trip for just baby food cost me $43.00?! Wow, that’s a lot of money for about a gallon of pureed food. With all that I manage to get done each day, I really like having a few conveniences that I don’t have to worry about like little baby food jars that are already prepared, that I can just pop open and feed to Rachel as needed.

But as I take a look at how much this convenience is costing us, maybe I need to reconsider pureeing my own food for her. Now if only I could find a way to add an extra hour to every day…

Spaghetti and Eyeballs…Oops, I Mean Meatballs

I made spaghetti and eyeballs for dinner. Take your basic meatball recipe and add pimento-stuffed olives for eyeballs before baking.

Arrange on a plate and add a sliver of carrot for a tongue. Shriek!!

Spaghetti and meatballs has always been one of Nicholas’ most favorite foods so he had lots of fun eating this

Fee Fi Fo Fum!

They said it couldn’t be done. They said they were perfect as they were. How can you improve upon perfection? But Frito-Lay did it. They have created a giant and he’s on the loose. Fee Fi Fo Fum! I smell some cheesiness and I want some!

What am I talking about?? GIANT CHEETOS!!

We love our “salty snacks”. Yes, that’s the politically correct term in the snack food world, not Junk Food as I’ve always called them. Either way, we love them. And it’s super neat when Stuart brings home surprises like this from the company store because they often get these goodies before they are readily available in grocery stores. Go out and get ya some!

Reindeer Food

Sprinkle on the lawn at night

The moon will make it sparkle bright

Santa’s reindeer fly and roam

This will guide them to your home.

Last year one of Ryan’s friends sent home reindeer food as a gift to classmates.  I thought it was a really creative and fun gift.

The reindeer food was packaged in little baggies tied with ribbon.  Each bag had this little poem, and a mixture of raw rolled oats and glitter.

When Christmas eve arrived we chose what we thought to be the best place to land reindeer in our yard.  It turned out to be below the boys’ bedroom window.  The boys vowed to stay up all night and watch for Santa’s landing…

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