Good Enough

Paper clutter.  Right now it's driving me batty.  You should see the state of my craft table.  No, scratch that.  If you see the state of my craft table you will realize exactly how unorganized and crazy my life is right now.  And I don't have the time or energy to clean it all up the "right way" so there it all sits.  And gets worse.

I had a little "a-ha" moment the other day.  I had pulled out my recipe binder to search for something and as I was paging through the giant stack of recipes we had shoved in there since I set up the binder

(You can find my original blog post about organizing my recipe binder here) for the THIRD time without finding what I was looking for...well, I realized something.  I may not have the time to sit down and type up, format, print, then stick in page protectors all the recipes I want to add to the binder.  But that doesn't mean that they can't join their friends in their categories and make themselves a little easier to find, right?  So right then and there I spread out all the random paper on the counter, sorted it into piles (including some meant for the garbage can - a key to all organization projects, true?), punched holes in one side, and stuck them in the binder.  Took me all of 5 minutes.

It's not perfect and it's not completely finished.  But sometimes good enough is, well...Good Enough! ;)  Now, where else can I apply this new concept???

Pumpkin! (31 Days: Day 7)

(photo from pumpkin carving last year)

Pumpkin!  One of my favorite things about Fall is all the yummy pumpkin recipes - and there seem to be even more than usual this year MMMMMM (see my pinterest boards here and here).  I have been on a bit of a pumpkin kick here the last couple of weeks (the husband might call it obsessed lol) and completely enjoying it.  Pumpkin muffins.  Pumpkin dip (I use it for apples and cinnamon pita chips.  you can find a similar recipe here).  Pumpkin cream cheese for bagels (recipe found here)

Pumpkin Mousse (recipe here).  We tried this the other night after apple picking and I'm in love.  We did it kind of in a trifle version with pieces of soft gingersnap cookies.  They add just the right punch of flavor and texture.
And then last night's exeriment:  sooooo good!
Sam has been wanting to try making his own marshmallows.

I think he used Alton Brown's recipe.  I was suprised at how easy it was (though the KitchenAid got the workout of its life)

Those were made a day ahead of time as they need to set for a while.  They are absolutely worth the wait - lots creamier and more flavorful than store-bought marshmallows.  Though I'm sure we'll still use the store ones most of the time as they are much less expensive and so much faster.

Anyway.  While Sam was working on our project of the weekend (so excited about this one!  It's my bday present, which I hope to show off soon) I decided to try a batch of pumpkin spice syrup.  (recipe here)  We added it to our favorite hot chocolate mix (Stephen's - we searched all over for this after our move and were so excited to finally find it at the base commisary) with the homemade marshmallows.  Oh my - yummy!  I'm not a coffee drinker so I haven't tried the pumpkin spice lattes everyone raves about - and look what I was missing!  I'm glad to have found my own personal substitute.  Any bets on how quickly we use up that bottly of pumpkin syrup? :)

Next:  pumpkin granola or pumpkin waffles...?

Apple Picking! (31 Days: Day 2)

31 Days of Fall Fun, Festivities, and Projects!  Day 2! :)  (insert big pat on the back to myself for being on the ball and getting it posted not too late in the day LOL)  Why don't we focus on one of the fun parts of fall today - family time!  The weather here has been so beautiful the last couple of weeks - blue skies and moderate to chilly temperatures.  I've been loving it and was excited to catch the tail end of apple picking season over the weekend.  Of course that was the day the weather decided to turn overcast and drizzly but we went anyway.

And what fun it was!  The orchard was beautiful and even in the rain we didn't mind the walk out to the field from the parking lot.  I was kind of hoping for big trees with ladders to climb, but these were just short ones that we could all reach easily (and I guess in the scheme of things it's better not to risk the 5 year old falling out of a tree, right?). 

 

It didn't take much time to fill the basket, even with me snapping photos and only picking about two apples myself. Then the kids happily skipped back to the barn/picnic area where they had spotted a few tire swings.

On the drive home we kept coming up with more and more fall recipes we wanted to try with our new apples and pumpkin (even though we skipped the hayride to the pumpkin patch this time - there is only so much rain one can take).  Stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch just contributed to our enthusiasm.  They had a photo of their pumpkin musse with gingersnaps, which we didn't try there but promptly looked up recipes for on the way home.  My husband took charge of making the mousse, while I whipped up a batch of pumpkin dip for the apples and put a pot of apple cider on the stove to warm up.  What drizzly apple picking day would be complete without warm apple cider?
And the "recipe" I use is very simple - simmer apple juice/cider with little bit of orange juice, some brown sugar, and a few whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, etc - just remember to fish them out before drinking).

Such fun!  This is for sure something we will add to our fall traditions next year!

Recipe Binder

I am constantly trying to figure out ways to simplify/make my life easier. And one of my big concerns (this applies to most moms I'm sure) is dinner planning and prep. Every. Single. Day. Right? I always have my eyes open for new recipes I think we may like, new meal strategies for my picky eaters, and any ideas I may find or come up with that help streamline meal planning and cooking.
A few years ago I created a recipe binder as a place to corral all of our most loved and well used recipes instead of having to flip through our collection of recipe books and stack of random recipes torn from magazines or printed from the computer or jotted down on paper scraps. I spent a good amount of time typing up recipes and getting it all put together and was happy with it. But over the months as we collected new recipes and our lives evolved and of course I once again ended up with of a collection of random pieces of paper all shoved in among the original typed recipes. Another organizing session was long overdue and I've been slowly working on typing up and printing out the newer recipes (or ones I forgot the first time!) over the past few weeks. And this week - success! I finally sat down and put the whole thing together, including the part where I make it all organized and cute :)

This was my original binder, which I still love. I didn't do a thing to the binder or the cover (it's just a 3 ring binder from the office supply store that has the pockets on the front so you can customize it). I couldn't find the same type of divided page protectors as I had been using before, so I ordered a big box of 100 from Amazon (divided page protectors with two 5x7 pockets per page) and switched those out.
Once the recipes were all in page protectors and categorized I was left wondering what to do about divider tabs. I had a few on hand but they were either pink floral (not gonna go with my black and red color scheme - ick!) or those cheezy slide in ones (those have their place - in my idea binders where I don't care what things look like. Yes I'm OCD like that :) ). Yuck. I just couldn't do that to my binder after all that work. And I wanted it done NOW, not after the 1 1/2 hour round trip to Walmart I would have to work into my schedule if I wanted new ones and no guarantee that they would have some that would work. Then inspiration struck.

I pulled out a stack of used manila file folders and chopped them in half. Then I spray painted the tabbed side black.

And then I made them all cute (strips of patterned paper, vinyl lettering with the Silhouette, and printed on address labels for the tabs)

And finally - a fully functional recipe binder! In addition to the recipe categories I have a tab at the end for menus, etc. For now all that I have under that tab is a list of items my kids will eat, which I hope will help meal planning easier as I can quickly glance at it and see which of their favs I can work into the mix. I plan to add another list of meal ideas (categorized by style like italian, mexican, slowcooker, etc as that is how I plan my menus for the week) and maybe work up some meal plans. But for now, I'm happy to have it done to this point. Happy dance!

How do you organize your recipes and plans your meals for the week?


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Lunchbox Ideas

My daughter is a picky eater. And she's going to be in school all day this year. Which means we have a problem. Lunch.

Now, I know I used to have to eat whatever the caffeteria was serving that day but I'm afraid trying that would just be a waste of money in this case. And that means we're going to have to pack a lunch for her. Every. Single. Day. So we may as well make it enjoyable for both of us, right? That's why I've been keeping my eyes open for any and all ideas and products to make packing a lunchbox easier and more fun.

I outfitted her with a cute lunchbox (had to be Hello Kitty - her collection just keeps growing and growing and growing...), containers, and an ice pack (really cute flower one, that I forgot to pull out of the freezer for the photo). I was happy to find some sandwich cutters in Target's dollar section. I have a bunch of fun cookie cutters that I use on sandwiches too, but I like how the sandwich cutters are designed to cover most of the slice of bread so very little goes to waste.


Then came the collecting of ideas. First, the food. I've become a little obsessed with food the last week or so - menus, lists, how to get the entire family to eat healthier and with more variety... I even made it the focus of our Book of the Week activities - more on that when we've finished them.

My list so far looks like this:
-peanut butter sandwich
-turkey slices (rolled up on toothpicks) with crackers and cheese (if I can find a portable kind Kate likes) or a tortilla
-breasticks and sauce
-yogurt and yogurt parfait (with granola and fruit)
-bagel and cream cheese
-chili
-chicken noodle soup
-muffins
-waffles
-celery and peanut butter
-add a veggie option: snow peas, carros, cucubers and dip
-add a fruit - thank goodness she likes pretty much any fruit
-nuts/trail mix
I've been told they have access to a microwave so that may open up some options too. I would have to make up some little Cheat Sheets so that she would know how to reheat different things.
And when things get boring and I need more ideas I want to explore the myriad creative combinations for Muffin Tin Meals and Bento Boxes. Wouldn't it also be fun to do a theme once in a while? Like everything is a certain color, or they all start with "C", shapes, holidays, etc.

Any other suggestions you have had success with that I should add to the list? Please share!

I have also found a TON of cute things to slip in the lunchbox to make it a little more fun.
-notes from home. These can be as cute or as quick at you want them to be. I found some really cute printable ones here and at other sites (I could kick myself every time I use something and don't write down where I found it). Some have preprinted sayings, some you fill in yourself. And there are some adorable "fruit labels" at Skiptomylou.org with sayings like "you are the apple of my eye" that you can print on sticker paper and stick onto fruit.
-riddles and jokes
-mazes, word searches. Could even do a running game of hangman or tic-tac-toe
-cute drawings or clipart
-a photo from home (of family or maybe of the child doing something fun or silly that they will enjoy sharing with friends)
-fun napkins
-cute toothpicks - to use instead of utensils or as mini-kebabs for fruit or cold cuts
-fun muffin liners (to dress up containers for a little color), unique containers and baggies

I took some time the other day and printed out a bunch of things to get me started - notes (blank and preprinted), riddles (found these at familyfun.com), mini-quizes (found them here), games, clipart (mostly Dutin Pike freebies). I gathered a few stickers too, and stuck them all in a manila envelope that I will keep in the pantry so I can grab them once or twice a week.





So I guess we're all set. Wish me luck! :)

*Update 8/25/10
We're 2 days into the new school year and lunches are going great! Kaitlyn was so excited to pack her lunch all by herself first thing in the morning. And she ate every crumb! I was so happy!
One thing I did want to add: My best lunch idea yet was having Kate sit down and help me make up a lunch menu for the first week of school. I had her concentrate on including items from 3-4 of the food groups so that she got a good variety. And I have to say, this makes packing the lunch SO easy. Just a quick check of the list, grab everything and go. I also made sure I checked the list before shopping for groceries on Saturday so that I knew we would have everything on hand when the time came. Easy!

St. Patrick's Day Ideas and Plans

I'm an idea collector. I don't collect coins, or dolls, or stamps or anything. But I have files and files of photos and internet links for anything and everything that strikes my fancy - crafts, parties, holidays, creative things to do with the kids...
And the past week or so I've had such fun seeing all the fun St. Pat's Day crafts, traditions, and ideas popping up on my favorite blogs. My mom took Tyler for an hour or so this morning while Kaitlyn was in school and I decided to play Leprechaun. So fun! I love all the magic and happy surprises that go along with being young.

Here's my plan:
-the kids will be getting new shirts (Old Navy) from myself and Sam. We have to make sure they have green to wear on the big day, right? Though Katy's shirt only has a touch of green because in general she doesn't really like green. On the other hand, Ty's favorite color is green. Anyway - so this is the little presentation they will find on the kitchen table that morning. I also made Kaitlyn a hairbow to go along with it.

I made the little baggie to slip into Sam's bag next week - he's going to be out of town. Inside it is a handful of Rolos and a little "Kiss me I'm Irish" pin* I whipped up Super Fast, (I can't remember what cartoon that phrase is from but there's a little singsong voice that pops into my head every time I say it lol) which he may or may not decide to wear. I don't know if that's acceptible with the uniforms or if guys are into that :)
- And this is what the leprechaun is going to hide. I'm thinking it will be somewhere out of sight, with either tiny shamrocks or footprints or maybe a path of yarn leading to it.

A peek at what's inside: Lucky Charms (for breakfast), green bubble bath, green foaming bath soap, green tub tabs, tiny juice boxes, a little toy for each, and of course Rolos for the "gold." It looks like a lot of stuff. But I got most of it at the dollar store or the $1 section in Target so it was probably all under $10. The pot is what I use to hold the candy for Halloween.

-the leprechaun will also be turning things green and getting into a big of mischief. I'm sure he'll find the milk and maybe the toilet water with the food coloring, at the very least.
-breakfast will be the Lucky Charms with the green milk
-lunch will be green smoothies and leprechaun sandwiches. Or maybe smoothies and green MacNCheese. This recipe for smoothies uses bananas, peaches, yogurt, milk, ice and spinach and I'm excited to try it out on the kids. Yes I said SPINACH. I would love to find another way to work veggies into their diet and supposedly you can't taste it in the smoothie. (Having such picky eaters worries me sometimes.) Be sure to click on that link. She has ideas for all kinds of green food that sound like a lot of fun.
-still deciding on if I want to stop there or if I will have the energy for green themed dinner and dessert.

*I found the printable links for the pin and the tags on the shirts here. It's also where I found the link for these pillow boxes that the leprechaun put the cars and Pet Shop fish in before hiding them in the pot. I also printed off some little leprechaun clipart that is meant to be stuck on toothpicks and inserted in food. She has gathered lots of fun stuff at that site.

Other things that inspired me but didn't make the cut
-rainbow cupcakes from FamilyFun.com. They also have a recipe on how to make any old cupcake into a 3-leaf-clover shape that was cute.
-http://www.tipjunkie.com/ Always a great source of inspiration. There's more than one post about parties and crafty decor.
-I loved this post (yes it's Secrets of a Super Mommy again - I love that site!) on fun ideas for St. Patrick's Day
-and my friend Dari had a really cute idea too. Every year she has her boys make a "leprechaun trap" (I just love that they get to use their imagination on this one) the day before. Then at some point on St Patrick's Day she sets off the trap (not always first thing in the morning) and leaves a chocolate coin or something small for the boys. She also wants to teach them stuff about Ireland and make them cabbage for dinner. That one's beyond me - I rarely go for the educational! lol
-I've been thinking about making a "lucky" sign (a board painted green with each letter cut out of different kinds of green patterned paper) too. But that always seems to be a project for another day so it's probably going to wait until next year.


And tacking this on at the end because I don't feel like it needs its own post.
Kaitlyn is in LOVE with Hello Kitty. She was given these cute earrings but lost one at the pool the VERY FIRST day she wore them. So sad. The single earring sat there all by itself for weeks until I was looking at hairbows and thought "hey! that would be a good way to use it." So while I had the glue gun out I whipped out a fabric flower and added Kitty to the center. Then I slipped it in Kaitlyn's mailbox for her to find when she got home from school. I just love surprises! :)