Race You to the Castle

     My poor little neglected blog needs a bit of an update.  I've been busily finishing out the last bit of Nursing school, and as a result I've been adjusting to the life of a "real nurse".  The schedule is not the typical 9-5 I've been used to, with twelve  hour days 3-4 times a week, and it's taken some getting used to.  Poor J has had a time trying to navigate this blog for various recipes, and I've had one too many nights where I've come home to a disaster in the kitchen with a note on the table saying, "The kitchen's a mess; don't judge me".  It's all a learning experience though, and I think we will make it out of nursing school alive after all... I hope.

     In my down time I've still been cooking as always, and of course I have a recipe in store for y'all, but in the meantime I am super excited to announce that my sister and I will be participating in the  2016 Glass Slipper Challenge :-D  This is a runDisney event that consists of the Disney Princess Enchanted 10K and the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Ultimately it's a Disney fanatic/insane runner's dream come true, and I'm going !    

     This is coming at a good time because the heat has me needing some motivation to run.  I've recently begun a weight training program by Jamie Eason, but I miss running.  With school ending soon, I'll have fewer excuses to not get out there.  Now I get to have fun picking which princess I want to be for a day :-)  

     Now I think I owe y'all at least two recipes since this poor blog has been so neglected lately. 

     

Baked Oatmeal

Adapted from The 36th Avenue

3 cups old fashioned oats  

1½ cups brown sugar 

5½ cups milk 

½ cup peanut butter 

3 eggs, beaten 

1 cup walnuts 
1 cup dark chocolate chips 

In a large pot, combine oats, milk, brown sugar, peanut butter, and eggs. Mix well and simmer over medium heat, stirring regularly, 20 minutes or until thickened. Once mixture is thick, stir in raisins. Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan and top with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until oatmeal is set. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve warm; top with milk or additional brown sugar if desired.

This made for a yummy breakfast for dinner meal.  That is, for everyone except Monkey, who has found peanut butter personally offensive for some reason.  Oh well, you can't please everyone.  This next one had a much better reception from all parties.   

Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry with Asparagus 

From Cooking Classy

1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into 1-inch pieces

• 4 1/2 tsp canola oil, divided
• 1 lb asparagus, end portions trimmed and remainder diced into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced into thin strips
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced*
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, then more for garnish if desired
• 1 Tbsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• In a 12-inch non-stick wok (or large and deep non-stick skillet), heat 1 1/2 tsp canola oil over moderately high heat. Once oil is hot, add diced chicken and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked through, tossing occasionally, about 6 to 7 minutes. Pour chicken onto a large plate and set aside.
• Return wok to burner, reduce to medium-high heat, add remaining 1 Tbsp canola oil. Once oil is hot, add asparagus, yellow onion and mushrooms, and red pepper flakes and sauté until tender-crisp, about 4 - 5 minutes, adding in garlic and ginger during the last 1 minute of sautéing. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl (or in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup) whisk together chicken broth, soy sauce, honey and cornstarch until well blended. 
• Pour chicken broth mixture into skillet with veggies, season with salt and pepper to taste, and bring mixture to a light boil, stirring constantly. Allow mixture to gently boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Toss chicken into mixture and serve warm over white or brown rice, sprinkled with additional red pepper flakes if desired (note that this is best served immediately as the liquids from the veggies will begin to break down and thin the sauce).

    

If You Give A Dad A Donut

     Happy Father's Day to all you amazing daddies out there :-)  Monkey and I had planned to sneak out while we let her daddy sleep in to get donuts, but he was wide awake at 0600 with us, so he just came along for the ride. We came home with donuts, and Monkey presented him with a book we put together on Shutterfly. 

     I was inspired by the book "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" by Laura Numeroff, which was one of Monkey's favorite bedtime stories for a long time. Each line in our story is enhanced with a picture of J. He absolutely loved the book, choosing to read it aloud to us while we ate our donuts.

     

      This afternoon we'll spoil him a little more by taking him to see a movie. I thought I was going to play it smart by telling him he had a choice. He could come with Monkey and me to see the new animated movie, Inside Out, or he could go see Insidious 3 solo while I take Monkey to Inside Out. Now, that may sound like a trap, but J knows I HATE scary moves. I also know that J loves scary movies, so I thought this way he'd get to watch it, and I'd be off the hook. I forgot, though, that J is a bit sick and twisted in that he loves making me watch scary movies too. So he chose to come with us for the family movie, and promised to save the scary one for a night we can rent it at home and see it together.  Yay....

May the Fourth be With You

     This may come as a shock to some of you, but growing up I was a complete nerd.  (I know, right?!) I loved reading and learning so much; school was my favorite.  I made A's all my life.  (Until Nursing school, of course.)  In primary and middle school I was teased mercilessly for not being cool or popular.  I remember being called names, bullied, and even tripped in the hallways between classes.  At recess I would hide in the library, where I'd research anything from ancient civilizations to American history.  But that didn't always work, and some nights I'd come home very upset, and I'd cry to my stuffed animals.  On nights like those I remember being cheered up by the adventures of Bilbo Baggins as he went off in search of dragons and treasure.  On other occasions when I was made to feel bad, I'd perk up while watching Luke Skywalker use the Force to conquer the Dark Side with my daddy and big sister.  Sometimes, just daydreaming about what it would feel like to have superpowers, like the X-men, would make all the worries go away.  I didn't always like being a nerd, though.  I tried not to be one for a while, and I was miserable.  I wanted to be popular in middle school, but that would have meant giving up all the things that made me happy.  For a while I tried, but it didn't work.  It just made the misery worse.  Finally in high school I found people who liked me just as I was, no pretending, and no sacrificing the things I was passionate about, but I was still hesitant to let my inner nerd truly fly, having been made to suffer for it all my life.
     It's odd how paradoxical life can be.  As bad as I wanted to fit in while in grade school, that's how badly I want my daughter to stand out.  Even after all the torment I went through as a nerd, I'd love to see my daughter be one too.  And here's why: nerds, geeks, dorks, whatever you call them have one thing in common: passion.  They are incredibly passionate about the things that make them happy, whether that's science, technology, comic books, novels, Halo, Magic the Gathering, Dr. Who, Harry Potter, LOTR, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.   It doesn't matter what ignites their excitement, once a geek likes something, they let everyone know about it, and they pursue it for life.  I want my daughter to be passionate about life, and I want her to find joy in even something as trivial as a card game.  That's why I encourage her when she shows an interest in something to go all out with it.  You like superheros?  Superhero books!  Superhero coloring pages! Super hero costumes!  Oh, you're into Pokemon now?  Cool.  I'll buy two decks, and then we can play together.  What's that?  You were playing Star Wars at school with a friend?  Sweet!  Let's watch the movies, so you can accurately imitate a strong female character like Princess Leia.
     Being a nerd is something that I thought brought me great strife as a child, but now I realize that's only because I didn't embrace it at the time.  I hope my child enjoys her nerdiness, and embraces the fact that you can get really excited about a movie, or a scientific fact, or even a new trading card, and that's OKAY!  That's more than okay in my book; that's pretty cool :-)
    Coincidentally, this monologue is being brought to you on none other than May the Fourth (if you don't get the reference, you're excused).  You know...Star Wars Day?  And since the theme of the evening is revel in your nerdiness, allow me to share with you the epic lunch I sent Monkey to school with.  This is the lunch my sister deemed, "The most epic and nerdy thing you've ever concocted" (and that's saying something).

     This marvelous Star Wars masterpiece was so much fun to make.  I created Princess Leia by drawing a cartoonish version of her onto a sandwich bun using a food marker.  The Storm Trooper was made by simply drawing on a boiled egg with the same food maker.  Yoda was created by cutting a green apple in half; I then cut one of the halves in half again, and I soaked those three parts (the half and two quarters) in a bowl of water with a few tablespoons of lemon juice for about 5 minutes to keep it from browning before lunch.  I arranged Yoda's ears and face by using green grapes to keep everything in place.  Next I used the tip of a grape as a nose by securing it with a toothpick, and I added a pair of candy eyes using a couple of dabs of Nutella.  I threw in a handful of Wheat Thin Chips for good measure, and I sent Monkey off to school.  But, wait, there's more....

     I had to add this fun little note to the lid of Monkey's lunch box.

     Today was also Monkey's day to bring snacks to school, and I had a LOT of fun putting these together.

     I found Star Wars themed Teddy Grahams, although you could also use the chocolate Teddy Grahams as Ewoks, and I placed those in one snack bag per child.  Then I dipped pretzel sticks in white chocolate that I had dyed blue and red, although, the red turned out pink :-/  Monkey didn't mind though.  She knew which ones were for the Dark Side lol.  I printed out little labels from card stock that said, "Happy Star Wars Day", and I used those to staple the two bags together.

     Next I printed out little labels that said "Jedi Juice".  I let Monkey color the lightsabers before I enlisted J's help to tape the labels onto juice boxes.

     I had a lot fun putting all these together for Monkey, and she informed me that her classmates enjoyed playing with the mini lightsabers before devouring them.  Yay for organized nerdiness!

Happy Star Wars Day!  May the Fourth be With You! :-)

Every Child is an Artist

     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%!

Miss Frizzle Goes to Kindergarten

     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 fabric at 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 :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

     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.