Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation

Time to get off the computer and CRAFT!!!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

A while back, Tasra Dawson posted a little challenge on her blog. Simply take a short quiz to see how addicted to blogging you are. As it turns out, I am far too addicted to blogging for my own good. I guess I spend more time talking about crafting than I actually do crafting.

About a week later Tasra announced that I had tied with one other blogger for the highest score. Yikes! Not only do I spend way too much time on blogs and on the computer in general I’m sure, but I also spend more time than anyone else who took the quiz. So, when I sent her my mailing address to claim my prize I promised her I would use the supplies she sent to create something fun and would share the results with her.

Since I love you guys so much I’m giving you a chance to help me decide what to make. Here is a list of the goodies she sent me:

* A Real Women Scrap pin
* A Real Women Scrap mini-notebook (for writing ideas of stuff to blog on later? )
* Zots adhesive dots
* UHU refillable glue roller and an extra refill
* UHUstic glue stick
* UHU crafts glue
* Summer Memories ribbon
* American Crafts Elements ribbon
* Deluxe Designs Freeze Frames slide mounts
* 2 card kits
* Deluxe Titles “Imagine/ation”
* The Li’l Book of Big Ideas

So many fun things, that I just don’t know where to start. What would you make? Whatever I make, I’m sure it will have to involve my two girls who always try to do whatever momma is doing. Leave me a comment with your suggestion.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Why Small Children Need Snacks

Are you worried about your child’s current eating habits? Instead of worrying about it, plan a routine for feeding your little one. If you are unsure about how to plan your child’s diet regime, follow the tips below:

· Well-timed snacks can help in balancing out an uneven diet and will surely help your baby be happier and healthier!
· If your children are being difficult when you are trying to feed them, then the best option is to engage them in conversation during this time, preferably by sitting together and eating as a family.
· Cook more than one dish, so that your child has a few options to choose from. Also try to make the dishes look tempting.
· Don’t force your child to eat a large portion of a food item. Allow them to eat a small portion if that is what they want.

Children can be finicky eaters sometimes. They like something one day and a few days later they simply detest it. Also, sometimes they don’t like to eat too much at one time and prefer to eat at regular, but frequent, intervals. For this reason, snacks form a very important part in a child’s diet.

It is very essential that you take charge of your child’s diet now, otherwise it will be too difficult to monitor their eating habits when they are older. Since they are still dependent on you and can’t run to the nearest store to get food for themselves, they rely solely on what you serve. So, now is the best time to take advantage of this fact. Choose the most nutritious food you can. Give them foods with higher content of proteins, nutrients, minerals etc.

It is a known fact that with a proper routine, children eventually develop good eating habits. If you start serving your kids healthy snacks at regular intervals from an early age, they will get accustomed to it and prefer these healthier foods to junk food.

Now let us see why small children need snacks?

Young children have small appetites and they need adequate nutrients for healthy growth and development. So nutrient rich snacks through the day, will provide all the necessary nutrients their bodies need, ensuring proper development.

Many children decline certain foods at certain times. By offering small snacks frequently will make your child happy and at the same time, fulfill their dietary requirements. With healthy snacks, your child can be prevented from over eating as well as under eating, helping to maintain a good balance.

Healthful snacks are imperative in providing essential nutrients and energy. Avoid giving heavy snacks too close to mealtimes. Giving nutritious snacks will ensure maximum energy in the young kids. To give them appeal, make the snacks as interesting as possible. Some popular, yet healthy, snack ideas would be fresh fruits, cheese, peanut butter, raisin bread, fruit loaf, muffins, biscuits, vegetable sticks, etc. Treat your baby with something new each day. They will simply love it!

Article by:

Looking for new snack ideas? www.snacksfortoddlers.com offers healthy snack ideas for busy children to help get them through their day.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

And the Winner of the Most Helpful Cookbook is …..

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the “Cookbook That Helped You the Most When You Learned to Cook” blog contest. The contest brought back some fond memories for many of you. It was difficult choosing just one entry.

The Watkins Vanilla Classics Recipes Cookbook and Watkins Vanilla goes to Rebecca, who submitted this entry about the cookbooks that influenced her the most when she was learning to cook:

“The Five Roses Cookbook was a source of great mystery to me. My grandmother used it to cook, and so too did my mother. On nights when Mom was undecided, she’d pull it out and flip through the pages as though it were a food magazine. Her favorites were well stained and creased, and my grandmother occasionally had to call my mother as her copy was missing many pages. I learned the basics of cooking from that book and have never seen its like since (I now own my mother’s very used copy).

When I moved away for the first time, cooking went from being an occasional luxury to a necessity. I was living with 4 other students, and on my night to cook I found myself recreating the recipes I learned from the Five Roses Cookbook. I called my Mother many times during that first year; sometimes to chat under the guise of talking about how long to cook a potato, and sometimes to clarify just how much garlic a casserole required.

That Christmas my mother gave me a soft-bound copy of the Joy of Cooking. Within a month I found myself sitting at the kitchen table, perusing the Joy as if it were a magazine — trying to figure out what I could cook with what I had on-hand. My copy of the Joy is now heavily held together by duct tape. The pages that have fallen out are carefully taped in place.

These are the books from which I learned to cook. Although I moved on to other books (like How to Cook Everything, numerous diet cookbooks, cooking light magazines, and now websites and blogs), I still go back to the Joy and Five Roses to recapture warm memories and the simple recipes that I grew up on.”

Rebecca, please email me at eleisiawhitney@watkinsonline.com with your complete name and address so that I can send your prize.

Thanks again, everyone who told us about your most helpful cookbook. Check back with us often for other contests.

Don’t miss any of our great giveaways and contests - sign up for our Contests Announcement List by emailing twomomscontests-subscribe@yahoogroups.com!

Wishing you many dog-eared and ingredient-stained pages in your cooking quest!

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Impressed by a 7 year old

The other day my 7 year old daughter wanted to make a cake. I was in the middle of doing something else. I had planned to help her, but ended up having to take on another task. So…my 7 year old daughter with the “help” of my 5 year old son, made this cake mostly all by themselves.

The recipe was so easy and so good I thought I would share it today.
We got the recipe from this book, The Joy of Hospitality Cookbook compiled and edited by Barbara Ball and Vonette Bright. The recipe can be found on page 353.

Sour Cream Cake
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons cocoa (We used Homemade Gourmet Chocolate Mocha Mix 3 tablespoons. )
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla (Be sure to use Eleisia’s Watkins Vanilla )
1 egg
1 cup of sour cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients at once; bake in a greased 8 inch pan for 40 minutes.

To make this cake is super easy. I helped pour it into the 8 x 8 dish. My children volunteered to lick the bowl and the scraper. How thoughtful and kind.
They were so excited to taste their creation and so proud of it as well. We enjoyed it. It was moist and tasty. Definitely a good recipe.
Please let me know if you have tried a sour cream cake before or if you have a great cake recipe. I would love to hear about it.

————————————————————————————–
Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Friday Feast #16

Today’s Friday Feast is prepared for you by Stacey.

Appetizer
Who is the easiest person for you to talk to?
*My husband. *

Soup
If you could live in any ancient city during the height of the quality of its society and culture, which one would you choose?
*Part of me wants to live in Egypt, so that I can see how the pyramids were built. Another part of me wants to live when King Solomon was reigning to hear all the knowledge and wisdom that God had given him.*

Salad
What is the most exciting event you’ve ever witnessed?
*I have been apart of some cool events, but I don’t remember witnessing (watching) an exciting event. Some exciting events I have participated in are my wedding and the births of my children. The most exciting of the four births were the two middle ones. My son was born in 15 minutes at home unexpectedly. He is the second born. My daughter, third born, planned birth at home was born in about an hour. These were both very exciting.*

I thought of one more I had to post. I was in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area–the one that happened during the World Series Game. I was at home with my brother and sister. It was the longest earthquake I have ever been in. My hot chocolate literally jumped out of my mug.

Main Course
If you were a celebrity, what would you do for a publicity stunt?
*If I were a celebrity, I would want to hide. I don’t want my stuff pasted all over for everyone to read and know about. My publicity stunt would be taking care of my family and being a respectable person and citizen. This is guaranteed to get NO publicity.*

Dessert
What do you consider the ideal age to have a first child?
*I don’t think a person is ever ready to have a child. I think that only God can determine when a person is ready.*

Thanks for coming to my feast. Please leave a comment and let me know what you liked or tell me where your feast is. I am looking forward to dining at your table.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Slow Cooking Thursday #4

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. The other ladies in this group serve up some awesome slow cooker dishes!

This slow cooker recipe is prepared for you by Eleisia.

Cheese Steak Sandwiches

2 lbs. boneless beef round steak or cube steak
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 medium onions, sliced
1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon beef soup base
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
4 French rolls
4 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese

Slice round steak in thin strips. If using cube steak, cut across the grain so meat will be tender. Partially frozen meat is easier to slice. Sprinkle meat with garlic salt. Melt two tablespoons of butter or margarine in a skillet. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic to skillet and cook slightly. Place in bottom of slow cooker. Add two tablespoons of butter or margarine to hot skillet and add meat in a single layer. Brown on one side; then turn and brown on other side.

Place browned meat in slow cooker on top of vegetables. Sprinkle with beef soup base. Pour Worcestershire sauce over meat. Stir meat and vegetables to mix.

Cover; cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours.

When ready to serve, lightly butter halved French rolls and place on cookie sheet. Place under broiler until golden brown. Remove top half of each roll. With slotted spoon, place meat on other half of each roll. Top with slice of cheese. Broil 2 to 3 inches from heat until cheese is melted. Place top halves over cheese and cut in half. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Sandwiches can be served with a small dish of the juices from the slow cooker, au jus, which means “to serve with cooking juices.”

I use Watkins Garlic Salt and Beef Soup Base in this recipe.

While you are here enter our In the Kitchen Blog Contest to win a cookbook and bottle of Watkins Vanilla. The winner will be chosen August 31st.

Thanks for stopping by our kitchen,

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Friday Feast #15

This Friday Feast is prepared for you by Eleisia.

Appetizer
Say there’s a book written about your life. Who would you want to narrate the audio version?

If a book were written about my life I’d like the audio version to be narrated by Julie Andrews because she has a dignified voice.

Soup
Take the letters from your favorite kind of nut and write a sentence. (Example: Perhaps every avenue needs understanding today.)

Consistency and saving help everyone win.

Salad
If you could go back in time and spend one week in another decade, which decade would you choose?

I’d choose the 80’s because both of my parents would be alive.

Main Course
Name a song that brings back memories for you.

Proud Mary by Credance Clearwater Revival or Tina Turner.

Dessert
Do you prefer to wash your hands in cold water or warm water?

I prefer to wash my hands in warm water but I feel guilty sometimes wasting water while waiting for the water to get warm. I like to preserve our natural resources.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

In the Kitchen Blog Contest - The Cookbook That Helped You the Most When You Learned to Cook

Even though recipes are in abundance these days, with printed cookbooks about any food you can think of, television cooking shows with celebrity chefs, and internet recipe web sites where recipes are just a few clicks away, you’ll want to add this cookbook of tried-and-true recipes to your collection.

Here is how this contest works. Tell us the name of the cookbook that was most helpful to you when you learned to cook. If you didn’t use a cookbook then how did you learn to cook? If you have any interesting stories about your cooking successes or mishaps include those in your answer. We want to hear it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly! Enter your answer in the comments section below between now and August 30.

Then, on August 31, come back to In the Kitchen and we will post the winner. The prize is a Watkins Vanilla Classics Recipes Cookbook and a bottle of award-winning Watkins Double-Strength Vanilla. This illustrated cookbook includes brunch delights, best-loved cakes, fabulous pie and tarts, irresistible cookies and bars, and extraordinary desserts.

So, post your most useful cook book and cooking story below as a comment, and come back on August 31 to see if you are the winner!

Eleisia Whitney is a Watkins Independent Associate who cooks healthy meals using Watkins extracts, herbs, spices and other gourmet ingredients. She lives in northern California with her family. She works with other associates on her team to build profitable home-based businesses.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Slow Cooking Thursday #3

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

This slow cooker recipe is prepared for you by Stacey.
Today’s tasty meal is Hawaiian Chicken.

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 pounds) or use pork
4 Tablespoons BLT Dip Mix
1 cup pineapple juice
1 gallon sized zip top bag

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS**Place all ingredients into the freezer bag. Seal the bag and smoosh the ingredients around. Before freezing, label as Hawaiian Chicken and list cooking instructions on the bag.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: If raw–place contents in slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. If Frozen–Empty the contents of bag in slow cooker. Cook on low for about 8 hours. For easy clean up, use a slow cooker bag.

Serve your Hawaiian Chicken over rice with sliced pineapples.
Left Over Meal Solution:
Shred your chicken or pork and blend with mayonnaise, drained diced pineapple chunks, and almond slivers for a wonderful chicken or pork salad. Serve in a croissant or on top of a bed of lettuce. Yummy!
(Recipe taken from the 4 Meals in 4 Minutes(TM) Meal Planner)

What would you do with the left overs of your Hawaiian Chicken? Tell me in a comment.

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

It’s Back…Back to School Again…Woooah I’m gonna go…

Back to school.
I loved the movie Grease and the songs that they had.
I was singing the song as I wrote this post. How could I not?
Speaking of Back to School–We are talking about Back to School LUNCHES!!!
Woo Hoo!!

Do you all need a bit more variety in your child’s lunch?
Are you tired of the same old same old?
Does your child want more then the average Lunchable?
Does you want to send something in your child’s lunch that will make him say, “Woo Hoo!”

Great and healthy lunches are hard to find. All children seem to like Peanut Butter and Jelly or Peanut Butter and Honey (for my kids.) But not all children can eat these items due to allergies or a picky palette.

Here are a few suggestions for all children.
We will start with FRUITS and VEGGIES.
1. Fresh fruit or Dried fruit
–Fruit choices or ideas: Bananas, Apples, Oranges, Grapes, Strawberries, Watermelon, Blueberries, Blackberries, Pears, Plums, Nectarines, Raisins, Dried Apricots, Dried Apples, Banana Chips (dried bananas).
2. Fresh veggies
–Veggie choices or ideas: Carrots, Celery, Sliced Bell Peppers (Orange, Yellow, Red, or Green), Broccoli (cut up), Cauliflower (cut up), Sliced Cucumbers, or Sliced Zucchini.

Add some type of dipping sauce if your child is leary of eating these fruits and veggies by themselves. For fruit dipping sauce, use yogurt with sprinkles. For veggie dipping sauce, use ranch dressing.

Now for Strong Bones.
Yogurt or Cheese is a great way to get something in the lunch for strong and healthy bones.
There are several options out there.

3. Let’s start with YOGURT.
There are yogurts in individual cup containers, drinkable yogurt, and squeezable yogurt.
Yoplait has the squeezable option–Gogurt(a hand held yogurt that comes in a long tube. The child squeezes it out with his hand. No utensils are needed.)
There are also drinkable yogurts specifically for kids by Dannon and Yoplait. Keep in mind that the sugar content on these yogurts may be high. You may want to shop around for one with less sugar. These are a great way to get some calcium in your child’s diet.

4. Cheese
You can by individual packages of cheese that come in bags in the cheese section of the grocery store. This helps with making your child’s lunch easier in that you grab the cheese and put it in the bag. If you are a penny pincher, you may want to buy a pound of cheese and slice it for your child. Put the cheese in a baggie and send it to school with your child. This may be more cost effective. Decide which is best for you.

Individual cheeses: String Cheese, Small chuncks of cheddar cheese, Cheddar cheese shapped like string cheese.

Now lets take about the “meat” of the lunch or the “entree” so to speak.
Here are a few ideas for you to choose from.

5. Dinner Left Overs
Do you have some left over chicken from last nights dinner?
Cut it into chunks and send it in a baggie or your child’s favorite Tupperware container for lunch. You can do this with beef or any other meat as well. Give the student a fork or a toothpick to eat it with.
6. Sandwich
The sandwich can get boring after a while, especially if it is the same one day in and day out. Yet some children are fine with that. Other children need more variety.

Here are some sandwich ideas for you.
* Peanut butter and honey
* Peanut butter and jelly
* Peanut butter grated raw carrots
* Peanut butter topped with applesauce
* Peanut butter topped with Baco’s plus honey
* Peanut butter banana slices

* Chopped egg, cheese, and bacon
* Cottage Cheese with grated pineapple
* Cottage Cheese topped with sliced hard cooked egg
(Taken from Feed Me I’m Yours by Vicki Lansky)

* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and pickle relish
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and sliced cucumbers
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and sunflower seeds
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and sprouts
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and sliced egg
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and sliced avocado
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and grated carrot
* Tuna Fish, mayonnaise and chopped celery

* Cream cheese with marmalade or jam
* Cream cheese with raisins–whole or ground
* Cream cheese with bacon bits and crushed pineapple
* Cream cheese with chopped nuts
* Cream cheese with luncheon meats
* Cream cheese with peanut butter
* Cream cheese with sliced egg
* Cream cheese with sliced cucumber

(From The Taming of The CANDY MONSTER by Vicki Lansky)

These are just a few ideas to add a bit of variety to your child’s lunch menu. Please share any and all lunch ideas that have worked for your child. Please post it as a comment.
————————————————————————————–
Stacey Walker has a Homemade Gourmet Home Business. She uses her Homemade Gourmet products regularly for cooking fast and easy to prepare meals. She is currently using Homemade Gourmet in her meal planning and when teaching her children to cook. Visit her website at www.4minutemeals.com

, ,

Looking For Affordable Advertising? Join Our Banner Rotation - ONLY 3 SPACES LEFT!

Next Page »