Comfort food!

I have become a fan of cooking over the last couple of years.  It is just way more easier (and more enjoyable)  to eat at home then try and drag young kids out!  When school started, last fall, I started making a monthly menu.  This works like a charm!  We don’t eat out as much and we have more quality time at home around the table. 

The picture above is a comfort food meal.  It comes from my high school years.  I spent A LOT of time with my friend Kim and her family.  Her mom was a great cook!  She always had something yummy brewing in the kitchen. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, my mom is an awesome cook as well!  So, this is how it worked: My mom would make a meal and we would eat between 5-6 p.m.  I would eat at home, then I would head to Kim’s house and eat with her family!  They were late eaters between 7-8 p.m.  Worked perfect when I had a metabolism for it!  Can’t say I could do that now! 

One of my favorite meals Miss Sally made was chicken casserole!  I was for sure to be there the nights she made this yummy meal!

  What’s best is I have the recipe and can make it whenever I want! 

When I do make it, I always think back to the comfort meals from my childhood.  What meals were yummy, like chicken casserole, and what meals I dislike, to this day, like  MEATLOAF.

I made chicken casserole last week and thought about blogging about it.  Not because it is super yummy, but because it brings back a part of my life that was fun!  And every time I make it, I think of all the fun!

Thank you, Sally, for opening your house all those years ago!  To this day, this is one yummy meal!  I know Kim and I gave you many fits in your kitchen, but they are all memorable treasures!

Do you have a favorite childhood recipe?

Bird Houses

Over spring break, Kevin and the kids worked on their bird houses.  Kevin built the bird houses which turned out awesome.  Jayden and Josie went to work painting!  They had fun decorating and painting them just how they wanted them to look. 

 

We have an awesome tree line and creek in the back of our house that makes it great for wild life!  We get to see the typical squirrels and birds!  What is more fun, this time of year, the ducks come back and have babies around the creek!  Something we look forward to every year.  They are fun to watch. 

Today the kids and their dad found the perfect spot for their new houses.  They had to be beside each other so the birds can be “neighbors".  So fun!  Hopefully we get some birds to inhabit them soon!

Leprechaun Village

I was in need of a new sensory table idea.  It had been empty for a few weeks, but I finally found something I thought was fun!

“Pink and Green Mama” has a really fun St. Patrick’s Day theme idea.  http://pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com/2011/03/peg-doll-leprechauns-st-patricks-day.html 

  Like always, I am NOT as crafty as that Mama, but I did my best to make it fun for the kids. 

We decided to call it a Leprechaun Village.  We had to do some explaining to them about leprechauns, St. Patrick’s Day, etc.  It was a fun little lesson for them. 

Here is what I came up with!

Items included: green rice, wood rainbows. foam shaped shamrocks, “emeralds", coins, pots, and a couple houses.

And here our the Leprechauns!  And I never said I was artistic!

I made a couple little houses for the Leprechauns to live in.  I used plastic flower pots from the Dollar Tree that came in a 10 pack.  And a pack of fake moss that I hot glued to the outside of the pot! 

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM! WE LOVE YOU!

Muffin Tin Meal

If you want to make your child’s meal more fun and exciting, try using a muffin tin!  Muffin Tin Mom is where I got this fun idea! http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/muffin-tin-monday.html

She calls it Muffin Tin Monday and encourages people to post a picture of their muffin tin meal on her website.  I have not done that yet. 

I think this would be a good tool to use when you want to introduce a new food.  The other night we were having couscous.  None of us have ever had it. I thought it would be fun to get out the muffin tins to introduce this new food to the kids.

Here is what are muffin tin meal looked like:

Grapes, ketchup, strawberries, fish sticks, couscous, and green beans!

The kids totally loved this!  Jayden said we should do this every night!  They were not fans of the couscous, but both kids actually tried it!  I am curious to know if they would have tried it on a normal plate.  (I wasn’t a big fan of it either)

If you roam around on Muffin Tin Mom, you will find many cool ideas that people have come up with.  Some people are quite creative with food!  This summer, I plan on getting into it a bit more.  Both kids will be home all day and we’ll have more time to get creative!  I’m going to be keeping my eye out on cheap cupcake holders and other fun gadgets that would fit in the tin circles!

By the way, Dollar Tree has muffin tins!  I bought a couple just for meals! 

Try your next meal in a muffin tin!  I’m sure it will be a hit!  Check out Muffin Tin Mom! http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/muffin-tin-monday.html

Some Of My Favorites

I was looking back at some pictures today for something I was going to make.  I got sidetracked by looking at pictures of the kids and some of the fun things we have done.  I don’t think I have posted any of these because I didn’t start blogging until after we had done them. 

I love doing things with my kids!  I love keeping them busy!  I love getting messy!  So here are some activities we have done that were definitely fun!

Painted houses out of appliance boxes.

Painted stools!  We used them at our craft table.  Now, we use them at the kitchen table.

Shaving cream and wooden masks.

Peg boards – we actually just got these out again.  Just as fun as the first time we made them!

Pirate Ship!

Spikey ball painting.  Totally fun and I will be doing this one again shortly.

Potato painting and fly swatter painting.

Santa’s Workshop

Tree houses

Minnisville!  Our village made out of birdhouses!

Window painting – with our old windows from our house!  I kept a couple so the kids could paint on them!

It is fun to look back at how much fun we have had.  I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!