My sweet baby girl is 6 years old now. She turned 6 on Thursday, and we celebrated with family and friends yesterday. She had a Rainbow/Art Party this year, although for a while there I thought we'd end up doing a Frozen shindig. She changed her mind at the last second when she realized an Art Party would involve actual paint. We had fun stocking up on goodies at Michael's for the event. They had canvases on sale, so I grabbed a few packages. I also bought a pair of easels, and the kids took turns using them to paint their masterpieces.
While a couple of kids were working on their paintings, I'd take another aside to paint his or her face. I found this awesome face paint kit on Amazon (you can also find it at Michael's). It comes with a book of instructions, but they're pretty ornate, so I just found some simple designs on Pinterest. I did balloons for the boys and rainbows for the girls. It was fun for me to have something to do other than play hostess.
As far as decorating went this year, I really phoned it in a bit. My sister made the adorable banner that hung over the gift table.
I printed a couple of pretty images and framed them to decorate the same table.
I threw up a few streamers in basic colors by the food table, and called it a day.
The food was much more fun. First I made sugar cookies using this recipe, and I cut them out to look like little painter's palettes (I used an Easter egg shape to cut out the main shape, and then a small circle to cut out the hole).
Next I used cookie icing to dab little blots of "paint" onto each palette. After that, I made "paintbrushes" out of pretzels rods dipped into white chocolate that I had tinted different colors. Then I popped popcorn and had Monkey help me assemble little cones out of construction paper and labeled them "Pop Art".
Then I put together a fruit tray, making sure to include every color of the rainbow. I used red apples, oranges, pineapple, green apples, blueberries, and red/purple grapes. I loved this because you could interchange so many fruit for the colors. You could do green grapes or kiwi for green. You could substitute strawberries or raspberries for red, and so on.
I kept it simple with "Van Gogh's Veggies" by simply purchasing a vegetable tray.
I meant to have "Paint Chips and Dip", but I forgot to put them out :-/ Oh well. Finally, for the punch, I froze Koolaid into ice cubes in every color of the Rainbow. I placed the ice cubes in my big drink dispenser, and I poured Sprite over the top of it. It looked pretty cool, but I was worried as it melted it would make an ugly brown or blackish color, but I actually got more of a purple, which wasn't too bad.
I found these cute rainbow swirl lollipops at Walmart and used them as party favors.
Lastly, I went the easy route and bought a cake at Walmart. Although there are some really cute ideas on my Pinterest board.
All in all this birthday felt a tad simpler, but it was very pleasant. Monkey seemed to enjoy herself immensely! She has been playing with all of her new toys and crafts. In fact, as I'm typing she's making clay figures with a clay craft pack she received from one of our guests. I can't believe she's six. I know I go through this every year, but 6 is just older. She's a little girl; she's in school. She wants to play at the park with her friends more than hang out with me and her daddy. She's got her own personality and opinions, and they're not always in line with mine. She's so confident and vivacious. She's her own person, and she's not ashamed to be herself. I admire and love that about her. I hope as the years pass she doesn't lose that ability to be herself, 100%!
Yesterday was Dr. Seuss' birthday, and in celebration of that day, my daughter's school encouraged kids to dress up as their favorite book character. Initially Monkey wanted to be Elsa or Ana (of course), but I tried to emphasize book characters. Yes, I realize there are book versions of the movie now, but I really wanted to encourage something that was at least a book before it was a movie. After many suggestions and vetoes we both decided on Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus series. We both agreed on this idea because 1) Monkey LOVES the Magic School Bus 2) the costume would be pretty simple to execute 3) the outfit wouldn't be so outlandish as to be a distraction in class and 4) we actually have a few of these books and have read them before she saw the shows (it's the principle, after all).
Most of Miss Frizzle's outfits are collared dresses with outlandish patterns, so I decided to start simple and add on. I began with a simple navy blue, collared dress I found at Gymboree for $10. (You can buy them online from Old Navy Kids for less, but I didn't have time to wait for shipping.) I found some fun solar system fabricat Hobby Lobby and a couple packs of yellow star buttons at Hancock Fabric.
My haul
I cut out individual planets from the fabric, pinned them in place, and sewed them to the dress.
I swear I'm studying
Pinning it all in place
I literally had to dust my poor sewing machine off before I could use it.
Next I added the buttons by hand stitching them in place. Here's the finished product:
Front
Back
Something seemed to be missing, so I gave Monkey her own "Liz" to keep her company, by attaching her Beanie Baby "Rainbow" to her shoulder using safety pins. I made sure to warn Monkey not to rip Rainbow/Liz off her shoulder or it would make big holes in the dress and/or the stuffed animal. I also made sure to let her teacher know how I attached it so she could remove him if the stuffed animal became a problem in class. It's a good thing I did, because when I got home from clinical, I found this note from Monkey's teacher. It's a good thing Monkey was in the other room, because I got the giggles after reading it.
Finally to round out the look, I twisted Monkey's hair the night before while it was still wet so that it would be good and frizzy curly the next morning. J pulled it all up into a loose clip yesterday morning while I was at school with strict instructions to snap multiple pictures for me. He, unfortunately, did not get the memo, so I don't have any pictures of the full ensemble. (You had one job, J!) Oh, well. I may just snap a couple myself next time she decides to play dress up.
Monkey and I had a lot of fun hunting for the perfect dress, finding the add-ons together, and even giggling while I did her hair. It's really fun having a little girl, especially when she lets you in on the dress up game. She got many compliments at school about her outfit, and she really enjoyed the extra attention. Now she's telling me she wants to be Miss Frizzle for Halloween and Daddy can be Liz. We shall see if he's up for that, but lucky for him she has plenty of time to change her mind!
Also to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, I made this special lunch for Monkey:
I made the Cat in the Hat's hat by coloring red stripes on a white cheese stick. Then I made green eggs and ham by dying an egg like you would an Easter egg, and threading a bit of rolled up ham on a toothpick. I added in half of a banana, a GoGurt, and a bit of trail mix made up of Cheerios, cranberries, and yogurt-covered raisins.
I had a lot of fun putting together all of this stuff so Monkey's usual Monday would be a tad more fun. Now I'll leave you with these wonderful words of wisdom from Miss Frizzle herself :-)
Lately Nursing school has been taking up more and more of my time, which means my amazing husband has found himself filling in my shoes more often than not. He's been wonderful about it, and I've really been impressed with just how quickly he willingly took on my share of the load so that I could devote more time to my studies. That being said, there's definitely been a huge learning curve, for both of us, and what would this blog be without a funny story or two (or more) of my sweet husband navigating his way through this new uncharted territory?
Just about every pay day, y'all have read my stories of misadventures to the commissary, and you've heard (and ignored) my pleas to remind me to not bring my husband to the store with me in the future. Well the other night, I decided to be smart and send my husband to the store by himself. He asked me to go with him, but I declined because Monkey needed help finishing her homework, and I still had some homework of my own to take care of, so off he went to the store alone. Five minutes after he left I got a phone call. It was J, telling me that the commissary was closed (it was Monday, of course) and that he'd be headed to Walmart instead. I thanked him for the head's up (as this would mean he'd be gone longer than expected) and hung up the phone. About three minutes later my phone rang again. It was J again, asking if Rouse's would be better than Walmart. I told him it really didn't matter to me. Rouse's is a tad more pricey, but it's locally-owned so I let him decide, and got off the phone in order to help Monkey with her homework. Another 5 minutes went by and my phone rang yet again. It was J. He wanted to tell me he chose Rouse's and what would I like for dinner? I told him I'd leave it up to him since he was cooking. I told him I really needed to concentrate on my homework now that Monkey was finished with hers. I reassured him that I trusted him to make these choices alone, and then I got off the phone. Ten minutes later, it rang again. Guess who? J wanted to know if I wanted tacos for dinner. He'd just grab some ground beef, since we had most of the other ingredients at home. At this point I should have said "yes that's fine dear" and left it at that, but I was trying to finish up some stuff on my computer and I was not thinking clearly, so I said something bout having a burrito for lunch and not really wanting Mexican food again. Then J started asking about various types of meat I may be interested in, and I lost my patience, asked him to figure it out, and got of the phone hastily. At this point I realized I wouldn't get much studying accomplished, as Monkey was finished with her chores and getting bored, so as I got out the craft supplies, I called my sister because she had asked me to call her earlier that day. As I'm filling her in on my husband's antics, I hear a beeping noise on the line. J again! I put my sister on hold only to have my husband ask me if I preferred flaky biscuits or the Grands. Apparently he had settled on breakfast for dinner, and just wanted to hear my voice telling him that was a good idea. I told him to stop calling me and just come home and start cooking. I hung up, switched back to talking to my sister, and decided I would never send him to the store alone again. That notion was only confirmed when 5 minutes later there was another beeping sound in my ear. I didn't answer that time, and he finally stopped calling. I think he missed me, because he came come with a King Cake and a bag of Hershey's Kisses with Almonds :-)
As much as I pick on him, I am going to miss my husband this weekend. He's going to his mom's so that Monkey can enjoy the Mardi Gras parades. I stayed behind to study for my OB/Peds final exam. The house is very quiet without them here. Of course, this means my husband is getting out of Valentine's Day. Somehow he manages to do that every year. Oh well, it really isn't that important of a holiday in my opinion. If it were my birthday or an anniversary, I may be more upset. I was really more upset that I wouldn't be able to make special snacks and crafts with Monkey than anything else. I did make up for that a bit, though, with these cute lunches and by helping her make some special goodies bags for her Valentine's Day party at school.
Heart Chef's Salad (Kinda)
Okay this one didn't quite come out the way I wanted it, but it was still a yummy lunch, so I'm including it. I laid out a couple of slices of ham, topped that with a layer of sliced Monterrey Jack cheese, and finished it off with a layer of salami. I log-rolled the whole thing, and sliced it into little rounds. I positioned two rounds each on a toothpick. They were supposed to look like hearts when I did this, but I didn't quite get it to work at 0530. Unless you turn your head and squint, that is. I shrugged it off and placed the toothpicks on a bed of lettuce and spinach and added a few diced tomatoes and slivered almonds. I included a bit of Italian dressing, some strawberries, a few Wheat Thins, and a NutriGrain bar.
Cupid's Lunchbox
For this lunch, I simply cut two slices of bread and a couple slices of ham using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to form the sandwich. I added a cheese stick with a sweet message written in permanent marker on the wrapper. Next I threw in some celery sticks and a few crackers. The final touch was a pair of Cupid's arrows that I made by threading blueberries, orange wedges, and strawberries onto a wooden kabob.
DIY Lunchable: Valentine's Version
I know I use this idea a ton, but it's just so versatile. I cut two types of cheese (Colby Jack and Monterrey Jack) into heart shapes. Next I cut turkey pepperoni slices into hearts. I added a bit of blueberries and strawberries I had cut to look like hearts. I also included some Ritz crackers (not pictured) for Monkey to make cracker sandwiches with.
DIY Mini Pizzas: Valentine's Version
This is another one I've done before, but by cutting the pepperonis into heart shapes it makes it a special Valentine's lunch. Included in this box was an English muffin cut in half, shredded Mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperonis cut into hearts, homemade pizza sauce, Wheat Thins, blueberries, and strawberry cut into hearts.
I love making these special lunches for Monkey, and I hope one day she looks back fondly on the memories and sees that her Mommy just wanted to do something a little extra to make each day special for her. Speaking of little somethings to make someone's day special, let me show you the little goodies she packed for her Valentine's Day party at school yesterday.
Aren't these goodie bags cute?
First I found some cute goodie bags at Walmart. Monkey picked out her favorite design. We brought them home and filled them with the following goodies:
First I printed off some hearts that said, "You are all 'write' Valentine!" on white card stock. I let Monkey decorate the hearts while I punched two holes in the hearts to thread a cute Valentine's Day pencil through it.
Next I printed off labels that said, "Your friendship blows me away, Valentine!" on white card stock. I cut two slits in the label, and Monkey helped me thread Blow Pops through the labels.
Then, I printed out these cute Valentine's Tic Tac Toe boards onto card stock, cut them out, and placed them inside snack-sized Ziplocs with ten Red Velvet M&Ms, five of each color. Lastly, I added a label for each of her classmates to the outside of the bag. You can skip this to make it easier on the teacher, but Monkey has a crush on one of the little boys in her class, so she wanted to make sure he got a specific bag.
The baggies were fun to put together because Monkey was very involved, coloring, organizing, placing, and making sure each of her friends got a personal little Valentine from her. The time we got to spend together making them almost make up for the fact that I won't get to spend time with her at the Mardi Gras parades....almost.
I'm in time out. Well, more of a self-imposed exile, actually. You see, tonight my loving husband decided he would save me the trouble of cooking by preparing dinner without any help from me. He and Monkey have been in the kitchen since 4:30, and I've been sitting here waiting on my food. I'm starting to think I may have to eat the dog if it isn't ready soon. At least J bought chips and salsa for the meantime.
I was passing the time on Pinterest, pinning all kinds of yummy foods, but that didn't help my situation (go figure, huh?). Then it dawned on me that I haven't blogged since the beginning of the month. So that's why I'm here. And because I have no food. You know, cause blogging about food when you're starving makes perfect sense.....yeah.....
Let me start by sharing a few more fun lunches I've been making for Monkey. Over the Christmas break she told me she wanted to start eating cafeteria food. I told her that was fine with me, but J piped up that she wouldn't get any say in what they feed her at school. She quickly decided she preferred Mommy's lunches. That didn't last long at all!
Monday: DIY Tacos
We've done DIY Lunchables and DIY Pizzas, so we kicked it up a notch for this lunch.
Using a circle cookie-cutter, I cut circles out of 2 burrito-sized flour torillas. I brushed the front and back of each tortilla with oil and sprinkle a little bit of salt over each. Next I fitted the tortilla rounds into a mini-muffin tin and baked them in the oven at 350 for about 8 minutes.
I chopped up some leftover chicken into tiny cubes. I then added a bit of shredded cheese. You can throw in some shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes too, but I just added a bit of leftover salad from the night before.
Tuesday: Hello Kitty Sandwich
I know I've mentioned these cute sandwich cutters before, and I know I've even used the kitty one before and shared it, but that just goes to show how versatile this one set of lunch gadgets can be. I cut the bread and meat out with the cutter, and then I indented the top piece of bread with the kitty face stamp. I used my food markers to color in the indentions. I added some grape tomatoes, a bunch of grapes, and a cheese stick with a little message written in permanent marker on the wrapper.
One of the things I love about packing Monkey's lunch is that I can slip little notes into the lunch box. It's even more fun when it's on her food :-)
Wednesday: Ham, Cheese and Spinach Pinwheels
As you can tell, tortillas are a staple in this house. They last a while, so when we've devoured all the bread, there's usually still some tortillas on the shelf, so they make for a quick lunch. For this one, I rolled a couple of sliced of ham, some cheddar cheese, and a bit of spinach into a log, and then I sliced the roll into pinwheels. I also used a fun butterfly cutter to cut the cucumbers. I added those, some grapes, and a granola bar (not pictured) to Monkey's lunchbox.
Thursday: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons Lunch
As most of y'all know from Facebook, Monkey entered her school Reading Fair with a project on the book, "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons". She got 1st place at the school fair, and then again at the district fair. To celebrate, I packed this extra special lunch just for her.
Using a round cookie cutter, I cut four circles from a burrito-sized tortilla. I colored each one with food markers to look like four buttons of varying colors. I then thinly sliced some turkey pepperoni (you could also used diced chicken like the mini tacos), diced a bit of tomato, shredded some lettuce, and added a bit of cheese. The idea was she could make her own little soft tacos with the "button" tortillas. I added some fruit and veggie sides, and sent her on her way. She loved this one!
Friday: BLT Wrap---Bacon, Love, Tomato
For this wrap, I layered a slice of ham, a couple of slices of cooked turkey bacon, a sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, and a bit of Ranch onto a tortilla and rolled it up. I added a special message with my food markers. Then I threw in some colorful Goldfish, a bunch of grapes, and a bit of broccoli and called it a day.
Update: My husband finally fed me, and it was delicious! Well worth the wait. I would post his recipe, but I was too hungry to take pictures. I should have though, because he says that was so much work he's not sure he'll be doing it again any time soon :-/ Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Since I don't have pictures of tonight's feast, let me share a recipe that doesn't take 2 1/2 hours to cook.
Taco Soup
1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
3 cans sliced olives
1 package taco seasoning or 2 TBS homemade (recipe below)
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
Shredded cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional) *We substitute plain Greek yogurt. It tastes the same and is bester for you.
Brown ground turkey (or beef). Add taco seasoning and the amount of water listed on package (if using homemade add 1/2 cup water). Cook until 1/3 of water is left. Dump in all the canned foods. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and/or sour cream, if desired.
Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
This doesn't make a ton, so I typically double or triple it when I make a batch. Then when I see I'm getting low I'll add some more.
Okay guys, I know I post a ton of recipes onto this blog, but I've never really considered myself a chef. "Cook" or "Foodie" seem much more appropriate to describe my dabbling in the kitchen. Yesterday, however, I felt like a real chef for a bit.
Years ago, I read the novel Julie and Julia and although I heartily enjoyed the story, I had no desire to master the art of French cooking myself. Yet, when I found this link on Pinterest, my interest was most definitely piqued. Upon seeing my pin, my sister commented, "Once you master this, blog it with a recipe, then I'll try ;-)". I laughed it off, and the pin got lost in the sea of other food I wanted to try. This past week as I was going through my Main Dishes board on Pinterest I rediscovered the pin, and, curious, I finally clicked on it. I was taken to a site in which the first thing I noticed was the following video. Before reading anything else I watched video, and I was hooked. Pepin made deboning a chicken look so easy with his fluid movements and his simple explanations. After the second viewing, which J watched with me, I decided I would do this. This statement was met with apathy from J, and a comment of, "okay, but no spinach". I didn't care; I was going to debone a chicken, stuff it with deliciousness, and serve it for Sunday dinner. It would be an epic challenge with glorious results that the muses would one day sing about!
As it got closer to the day I decided to invite some friends over to revel in the glory that is good food. Then the day actually arrived, and I set to work early in the morning in order to make sure everything was perfect. I viewed the video once again before getting started. Confidence oozed out of me as I danced around my kitchen to Alicia Keys' "I am Super Woman" setting out my cutting board, knifes, a pot for all the bones to make stock, my computer so I could reference the video, a kitchen towel, and the garbage can (just in case). Finally, I was ready to begin.
I rinsed my chicken and patted it dry. Then I moved it to the cutting board, and (with my non-chicken-y hand) hit play. I followed Pepin flawlessly as he cut the wings and made "ze little lolliPOP" (which I threw in the roasting pan with the rest of the chicken). My confidence wavered slightly as I struggled to remove the wishbone. (He makes it look so easy!) I got it out finally, though, and was read to move on. My ego took another blow as I cut the skin of the back, because my cut was not nearly as flawless nor as easy as his. I blamed his experience and amazing knives and moved onward. Finding the articulation was easy. (Thank you, Nursing school!) Then I heard it, that mocking comment Pepin makes right around the 3 minute mark, "It should not take you but a minute to bone out a chicken"....... I frantically looked at the clock and realized I had already been at it for 15 minutes. (I kept having to call J into the kitchen to pause the video for me.) I began to wonder if this was all a big mistake, and then I envisioned my friends arriving to see my sloppy chicken that somehow managed to be burned on the outside and raw on the inside. I comforted myself with the knowledge that they wouldn't judge, and that there was always Domino's in a pinch. I pressed forward again. (I didn't literally press anything as my hands were full of chicken goo, but J obliged by pressing the play button.) At this point my confidence began to grow again as I started to undress the poor chicken. I had no problems getting the carcass out, and I called jubilantly to J to come feast his eyes on my brilliance. He obliged by glancing my way and nodding, which I took as adoration and praise. Next I removed the fillets, apologizing to Pepin for resorting to the use of my knife. Then Pepin and I scraped the chicken fillet from the sinew. Next I followed Pepin's lead in taking the bones from the legs and wings, only growing slightly frustrated when my bone did not break on the first hit...or the second...or third, but ultimately, the sixth time was the charm, and we pressed on. Finally I had a completely deboned chicken. I celebrated my victory by waving the floppy chicken suit in J's and Monkey's direction while singing, "I deboned a chicken, I deboned a chicken".
I stuffed my bird with a stuffing of my own creation, the recipe for which I will gladly share below. I was inspired by this recipe I found, but I meddled with it quite a bit before I was ready to use it. After stuffing my bird, I tied it up under Pepin's careful guidance. Finally I was done! I was so proud of myself for this epic achievement. All other cooking journeys seem pale in comparison. For one glorious moment, I was a chef! Then I came back down to reality this morning as I woke up exhausted and fed my child cereal. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted :-)
Chicken Galantine with Pork Stuffing
1 large whole chicken, deboned
10 red potatoes, quartered
2 large carrots, sliced
2 lemons
1 garlic pod, separated and ends trimmed off
Baby bella mushrooms (I used 1-1/2 8oz containers of mushrooms)
3-5 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
minced garlic and 1/2 stick butter (if cooking mushrooms separately)
For the stuffing:
1 cup Garlic and Herb bread crumbs
3 small cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion, peeled and quartered
18 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
5 sausages, skins removed ( I used Johnsonville's Sweet Italian Sausage)
1/2 TBS garlic powder
1 tsp Tony's
Debone chicken by watching Pepin's video (above). Cook rice. Combine cooked rice and remaining stuffing ingredients in a food processor until combined. Stuff chicken as shown in the video using half of the stuffing. Once chicken is tied up place in a greased roasting pan. Add potatoes, carrots, and garlic cloves to roasting pan. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into a bowl; add garlic salt and chopped sage leaves. Rub over the chicken. Cut the other lemon in half, and the juice from one of the halves over the carrots and potatoes. Reserve remaining lemon half.
Remove the stems of the baby bella mushrooms and stuff with remaining stuffing. arrange around chicken in roasting pan or bake separately in an 8x8 dish with minced garlic and butter.
Cover roasting pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven; remove and discard foil. Return roasting pan to oven and bake for another 45 minutes. Removed chicken from over, and squeeze juice of the remaining lemon half over the chicken. Return to oven to bake for another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile cover mushrooms with foil and bake at 350 for the entire time the chicken is baking, an hour and a half.
Once chicken is cooked through, removed from oven and transfer to a serving platter.
Slice the chicken and serve. Enjoy!
I am happy to report that all the hard work was well worth it. My friends arrived just as this chicken was finished roasting, and we all enjoyed digging into the scrumptious meal immensely. We had a good night with great food and even better friends.
