Three of the funny bunnies Easter Sunday, 2011
1.
2. 
3.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Perspective
I don't actually have a recipe to post today.
Instead, I:
1. Cleaned my house. Well, thoroughly vacuumed all three floors. And took a good inch of dust off the horizontal wood-type surfaces. I wouldn't stop by and use the bathrooms just yet.
2. Put away the obstacle course of toys that was our basement.
3. #2 was promptly undone within 10 minutes of the bus arriving.
4. I helped my daughter pack away her room and find all the clothes for her Daisy doll.
5. I used my amazing new spray mop to clean my kitchen floor
6. I did not use my panini press.
7. I did converse with other parents at the bus stop concerning the absurdly cold temperatures this morning.
8. I composed what I trust was an intelligent reply to a request for local food information.
9. I made the post-school gaggle of kids hot chocolate with marshmallows and fed them ice box cookies.
10. I questioned why I bothered cleaning the house.
11. At all
12. I had a power lunch with the wee man
13. I talked to my sister approximately 5 times.
14. I attempted to return our neighbour's wandering Scottie dogs.
15. I finally folded yesterday's laundry. It still smelled like the outdoors.
16. I responded to approximately 3,546 requests for assistance from the small people in my world.
17. I changed wee man's diaper 5 times. Something is not right with that boy.
18. I discovered bird poop in the side of my laundry basket.
19. I entered contests, replied to Twitter feeds, and commented on Facebook posts
20. I am now going to throw something frozen in the oven and watch some mindless television in my comfy warm house whilst wearing my comfy warm John Deere PJs, remembering that there are a whole lot of people out there who are not nearly as blessed as I am.
Thank you, and good night 1. 2.
3.
Instead, I:
1. Cleaned my house. Well, thoroughly vacuumed all three floors. And took a good inch of dust off the horizontal wood-type surfaces. I wouldn't stop by and use the bathrooms just yet.
2. Put away the obstacle course of toys that was our basement.
3. #2 was promptly undone within 10 minutes of the bus arriving.
4. I helped my daughter pack away her room and find all the clothes for her Daisy doll.
5. I used my amazing new spray mop to clean my kitchen floor
6. I did not use my panini press.
7. I did converse with other parents at the bus stop concerning the absurdly cold temperatures this morning.
8. I composed what I trust was an intelligent reply to a request for local food information.
9. I made the post-school gaggle of kids hot chocolate with marshmallows and fed them ice box cookies.
10. I questioned why I bothered cleaning the house.
11. At all
12. I had a power lunch with the wee man
14. I attempted to return our neighbour's wandering Scottie dogs.
15. I finally folded yesterday's laundry. It still smelled like the outdoors.
16. I responded to approximately 3,546 requests for assistance from the small people in my world.
17. I changed wee man's diaper 5 times. Something is not right with that boy.
18. I discovered bird poop in the side of my laundry basket.
19. I entered contests, replied to Twitter feeds, and commented on Facebook posts
20. I am now going to throw something frozen in the oven and watch some mindless television in my comfy warm house whilst wearing my comfy warm John Deere PJs, remembering that there are a whole lot of people out there who are not nearly as blessed as I am.
Thank you, and good night 1. 2.
3.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tidbit Thursday - Mastering Your Mornings
I don't get morning people. Never have, never will.
My daughter is a morning person. I hope this will have no bearing on the future of our mother-daughter relationship.
I am willing to do almost anything that will cut down the amount of time I have to be up in the morning before my children turn into hungry, ravenous wolves.
Leaving out the milk and cereal is problematic. Sure, you can sweep up cereal. But have you tried cleaning up sour spilled milk? Or the upchuck that is likely to result from the milk having sat out all night in the middle of the summer?
I knew a guy who used to go so far as to pour milk on his boxed cereal, cover it in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until morning, but that would test the limits of even Chex, I would think.
My grandparents used to entirely set the table the evening before to cut down on morning activities.
The authorities frown on allowing 5 year olds to use the stove unsupervised, so bacon and eggs are clearly out.
Ditto with sharp knives, even grapefruit knives.
They leave me no choice but to roll my sorry self out of bed in the morning and feed the little rascals. At least the kitchen is also where the coffee maker is stored.
I am not a huge fan of toaster pastries, pre-fab pancakes, or frozen waffles. Our budget is really, really not a fan. Solution? Make them myself.
It takes almost no extra effort and very little extra time to make extra French toast, waffles, or pancakes, while you are already at it.
You can even use your handy dandy panini press!
The one on the right may or may not be the victim of a child-based distraction. Let them cool on a plate in as close to a single layer as is practical.
To keep them from sticking to one another inside the zip top bag, put them in one layer at a time and freeze them, before adding another layer. This will actually give the other pieces more time to fully cool and even dry out a bit, since they may have steamed from being at the bottom of the pile.
I suppose you could use wax or parchment paper between the layers, but that's a whole other step.
Then you'll need one or both of these.
In your toaster oven, preheat to 400 F and cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on how many you cram in there.
*Sidenote: I keep my toaster oven tray covered in foil. Cuts down on clean up. That and I have never quite figured out how to adequately clean that little thing.
If you have a frozen pastry setting on your toaster, fantastic! If you have a toaster that is not equipped with such advanced technology, set it to a higher than normal toast.
This trick works with pancakes as well. For re-heating those, I would recommend sticking with a toaster oven, as the pancakes tend to flop over and get stuck in the regular toaster.
And that's it. My ultra-secret technique for making mornings a little easier.
What kinds of tips and tricks do you use? 1. 2.
3.
My daughter is a morning person. I hope this will have no bearing on the future of our mother-daughter relationship.
I am willing to do almost anything that will cut down the amount of time I have to be up in the morning before my children turn into hungry, ravenous wolves.
Leaving out the milk and cereal is problematic. Sure, you can sweep up cereal. But have you tried cleaning up sour spilled milk? Or the upchuck that is likely to result from the milk having sat out all night in the middle of the summer?
I knew a guy who used to go so far as to pour milk on his boxed cereal, cover it in plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until morning, but that would test the limits of even Chex, I would think.
My grandparents used to entirely set the table the evening before to cut down on morning activities.
The authorities frown on allowing 5 year olds to use the stove unsupervised, so bacon and eggs are clearly out.
Ditto with sharp knives, even grapefruit knives.
They leave me no choice but to roll my sorry self out of bed in the morning and feed the little rascals. At least the kitchen is also where the coffee maker is stored.
I am not a huge fan of toaster pastries, pre-fab pancakes, or frozen waffles. Our budget is really, really not a fan. Solution? Make them myself.
It takes almost no extra effort and very little extra time to make extra French toast, waffles, or pancakes, while you are already at it.
You can even use your handy dandy panini press!
I suppose you could use wax or parchment paper between the layers, but that's a whole other step.
In your toaster oven, preheat to 400 F and cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on how many you cram in there.
*Sidenote: I keep my toaster oven tray covered in foil. Cuts down on clean up. That and I have never quite figured out how to adequately clean that little thing.
If you have a frozen pastry setting on your toaster, fantastic! If you have a toaster that is not equipped with such advanced technology, set it to a higher than normal toast.
This trick works with pancakes as well. For re-heating those, I would recommend sticking with a toaster oven, as the pancakes tend to flop over and get stuck in the regular toaster.
And that's it. My ultra-secret technique for making mornings a little easier.
What kinds of tips and tricks do you use? 1. 2.
3.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
NHL Players in the Making
(Alternate title: How I plan to retire rich and early)
Ahem.
Not so very long ago, E1's school sent home an innocent little note. It stated that all the wee ones would be going skating. To go, they needed skates. But if they didn't have skates, they could probably borrow some from school.
They also needed a sports helmet of some sort (bicycle, etc). But if they didn't have one, to make sure they put the hoods up on their winter jackets.
They also needed gloves and snow pants. They didn't offer an alternative for that one. Guess they are very serious about this safety measure
At any rate, one of our friends gave E1 a pair of skates their son had outgrown. We were a little anxious, however, because E1 is not too fond of the unknown.
Our neighbourhood is still under construction. The lot behind us is a good 6 feet lower in elevation than the lots around it. A nice little pond has formed there, perfect for the budding NHL players in the area.
Goose had the snow shoveled off a few times. Then, after one particularly large dumping of snow, another neighbourhood dad got serious about the whole thing and got out his snowblower. Now that took care of matters.
E3 and I stood inside as cheerleaders for the crew and watched them practise their new skills.
Some of the neighbours joined E1 and E2. They, too, were anxious to learn to skate. Their mother, too, was anxious to stay inside and stay warm.
The upright adult to child ratio was a little off. Assistance was needed.
Out with the folding chair! This improved things tremendously.
Sometimes, they took turns with the chair, even if they didn't have the skates on.
Soon, some of them took to the hills. Or at least the slope that has been formed by the adjoining finished lot.
Eventually, they were all on sleds, their frozen toes and noses forcing them to abandon the ice skating for the day.
In the end, they all returned for hot chocolate and basic household destruction. And I didn't have to leave my kitchen.
1.
2. Ahem.
Not so very long ago, E1's school sent home an innocent little note. It stated that all the wee ones would be going skating. To go, they needed skates. But if they didn't have skates, they could probably borrow some from school.
They also needed a sports helmet of some sort (bicycle, etc). But if they didn't have one, to make sure they put the hoods up on their winter jackets.
They also needed gloves and snow pants. They didn't offer an alternative for that one. Guess they are very serious about this safety measure
At any rate, one of our friends gave E1 a pair of skates their son had outgrown. We were a little anxious, however, because E1 is not too fond of the unknown.
Our neighbourhood is still under construction. The lot behind us is a good 6 feet lower in elevation than the lots around it. A nice little pond has formed there, perfect for the budding NHL players in the area.
Goose had the snow shoveled off a few times. Then, after one particularly large dumping of snow, another neighbourhood dad got serious about the whole thing and got out his snowblower. Now that took care of matters.
E3 and I stood inside as cheerleaders for the crew and watched them practise their new skills.
In the end, they all returned for hot chocolate and basic household destruction. And I didn't have to leave my kitchen.
3.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Dinner and the Tub
These are two totally unrelated topics, I know But they both happened on the same day, so here they are.
My eldest requested waffles for his birthday. Oblivious of other time constraints, or the surefire recipe I keep in my handy dandy little black book, I chose to go in search of something more exotic. Five year old taste buds are very sophisticated, you know.
And that is when I found a recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes. Oh, scrum! Delicious, if not a little disconcerting, due to their excessively bubbly nature. And so, I ploughed ahead. The bowl looked something like this:
It's hard to see from here, but the batter bubbles up considerably. Not to worry, it's supposed to do that
The end result is scrumdillyicious:
Further reading perusal led to a recipe for Buttermilk sauce. Oh, shezam! It can be stored in the fridge and then re-heated to a pourable consistency as needed. If there are leftovers at all. Again, the mid-point looks a little scary:
And with any good waffle meal comes sausage. Of course.
Such a messy meal necessitated a trip to the tub.
Is this where I insert the 'good clean fun' line?
E3 especially loves the water. And bubbles And anything that involved E1 and E2. This is pretty much nirvana for him.
Here, just a final parting shot. They are all pretty much perfect, don't you think?
⅔ c Brown Sugar
2 whole Large Eggs, Yolks And Whites Separated
1-½ c Buttermilk (or regular milk soured with vinegar)
½ c Molasses
6 T Butter
2 c Flour
3 t Baking Powder
1 t Baking Soda
2 t Ground Ginger
1-½ t Ground Cinnamon
½ t Salt
¼ t Ground Cloves
¼ t Ground Nutmeg
¼ t Ground Cardamom My eldest requested waffles for his birthday. Oblivious of other time constraints, or the surefire recipe I keep in my handy dandy little black book, I chose to go in search of something more exotic. Five year old taste buds are very sophisticated, you know.
And that is when I found a recipe for Gingerbread Pancakes. Oh, scrum! Delicious, if not a little disconcerting, due to their excessively bubbly nature. And so, I ploughed ahead. The bowl looked something like this:
It's hard to see from here, but the batter bubbles up considerably. Not to worry, it's supposed to do that
The end result is scrumdillyicious:
Further reading perusal led to a recipe for Buttermilk sauce. Oh, shezam! It can be stored in the fridge and then re-heated to a pourable consistency as needed. If there are leftovers at all. Again, the mid-point looks a little scary:
And with any good waffle meal comes sausage. Of course.
Such a messy meal necessitated a trip to the tub.
Is this where I insert the 'good clean fun' line?
E3 especially loves the water. And bubbles And anything that involved E1 and E2. This is pretty much nirvana for him.
Here, just a final parting shot. They are all pretty much perfect, don't you think?
Gingerbread Waffles
⅔ c Brown Sugar
2 whole Large Eggs, Yolks And Whites Separated
1-½ c Buttermilk (or regular milk soured with vinegar)
½ c Molasses
6 T Butter
2 c Flour
3 t Baking Powder
1 t Baking Soda
2 t Ground Ginger
1-½ t Ground Cinnamon
½ t Salt
¼ t Ground Cloves
¼ t Ground Nutmeg
Preparation Instructions
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and egg yolks until smooth and creamy. Stir in buttermilk, molasses, and butter.
Into a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.
In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks have formed.
Add liquid mixture into sifted dry ingredients and stir together. Fold in egg whites.
And the credit goes to: Emily of One Lovely Life
Essential Buttermilk Syrup
1 c Sugar
½ c Buttermilk
1 T White Corn Syrup
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Vanilla
Preparation Instructions
In a LARGE pot, combine butter, sugar, buttermilk, and Karo syrup, and bring to a boil for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz to TWICE THE SIZE or more, so make sure you use a good-sized pot! Set it aside to thicken while stirring occasionally. Pour over waffles, pancakes, and French toast to make them oh. so. much. better!And the credit goes to: Liza's Kitchen
3.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Hallowe'en
Not to be fooled. E3 did have a costume. Only he outgrew it. Outgrew it so fast, in fact, we don't have any photos of him wearing it. It was that painful for him.
Clearly, no one could. This is the haul from our street alone. Please keep in mind that all the houses are not here yet.
3.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Quick but Chilly
I have been promising my girl for a few days now that I would take her to the park. Today, when it is a mere 11 C outside, we went. I bundled the two of them up and away we went. Across the crazy busy road. To the park that boasts exactly one slide, one dirty little play house, one teeter totter, two swings, and one weird little dinosaur thingy. And lots of dirty, wet sandy underneath.
They had a blast
When they started huddling together for warmth (after about 10 minutes) I made an executive decision to head home. And make hot chocolate. With marshmallows.
And thus, mama has kept her word. And her sanity. 1. 2.
3.
They had a blast
First, we went on the one of two swings that are there
E3 loved it
Here he is, contemplating his options at this wee park.
E2 loves the slide. She picks out her own outfits, yes. Why do you ask?
And thus, mama has kept her word. And her sanity. 1. 2.
3.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
