(i am) nuts

there is something really awesome about starting your day with a breakfast of homemade bread toasted and topped with vietnamese cinnamon and homemade almond butter.  yummmm

why am i telling you this?  because not only is it delicious, but also because i made almond butter for the first time yesterday and it was so quick and easy that it took me more time to clean the food processor.

so if you're interested, go get 2 cups of almonds (or whatever nut you like best) and put them in your food processor--like this:

then turn on the food processor for a minute or two and you'll get this:

scrape down the sides and let it run for another minute or two and then go ahead and put it in an airtight container (like so...):

i think we can all agree on two things--1, i'm obviously not a photographer, and 2--that's super simple.  right??!

i will add that i would use raw almonds next time--i used dry roasted with salt and it's a bit salty for my taste but that's all i had in the house.

so go ahead and grab your nuts and make something delicious...;)

valentine's day, how i heart you

this COULD be a ranting post about how it's absolutely ridiculous that numerous people feel the need to give my kids candy and chocolate just because it's a "special" day.  this COULD be a ranting post about how i think it's really awful that my kid goes to gymnastics, which i thought was a place that promoted healthy living, from 5:30pm-6:30pm (i.e. dinner time) and upon leaving is presented with not one, not two, but FIVE junk food items (including cookies, donuts and rice krispies treats) right before dinner.  this COULD be a ranting post about how it's not really fair for my five year old to have to make the decision about whether she should eat that crap before she's had her dinner (or at all for that matter).  this COULD be a ranting post about how kids don't need to get a "treat" for every little "holiday" or even "just because"--but that if someone DOES feel the need to treat my kid, perhaps a sticker, or a pencil, or a fun eraser or ANYTHING other than food (a term i use rather loosely as many of these "treats" can hardly be considered food) would be a much more acceptable option.

this COULD be a post about all of those things, but it's not.

it's a fairy tale post.  about how i brought in fruit to a school party for M's class, and when the kids were told they could choose two things from items such as two kinds of cupcakes and cookies, and fruit, THEY CHOSE FRUIT!!!!  

maybe it's because the fruit looked like this:

because, let's face it--that's damn cute, ain't it??!  but no matter--i made extras and they were ALL gone!  and there were cupcakes and cookies still left over!  and i even saw kids--who were told that yes, they could go up for seconds--get up and get seconds...OF FRUIT!!

seriously, it was like a dream come true.  because i admit that i was a little nervous that i was going to be seen as "that" mom--you know, the one who brings fruit to party on a day that's "supposed" to be filled with chocolate and candies made red with chemical dyes.  but those kids chose the naturally red colored food i brought and i swear my heart grew like the grinch's.

and they all lived happily (and naturally) ever after...;)

and as a ps, here's a gift i made for my cheese/valentine's day-loving husband:

that's right, folks--no chocolate for my man--that's a box of cheese.  and for the other cheese lovers out there, please know that no cheeses were harmed (i.e. wasted) in the making of this box--any and all scraps were saved for cheese loving man.

happy valentine's day, everyone :)

avocados--they're not just for guac anymore

ok, i know i said i'd regale you with tales of a candy-free valentine's day, but first i need to share two awesome avocado recipes that i tried tonight.

this one is a favorite in our house--and goes perfectly with homemade pasta :)  i use lime juice instead of lemon (personal preference), and less than the recipe calls for (more like a couple squeezes instead of the whole 1/2).  plus i hate anything with zest so i leave that out.  i leave out the basil, too, unless i have some in the house.  tonight i tossed it with homemade pasta, roasted cherry tomatoes, and crumbled goat cheese--so yummy!

and this--oh my!  first, don't adjust any settings--the page you get to by clicking on that link really is for chocolate AVOCADO pudding.  second, if you don't have any avocados in your house, go out and get some.  yes, it's that good.  i'll admit that M took a few bites and decided she didn't like it, but she doesn't like much so unless she DOES like something, i don't count her vote ;)  (incidentally, she ate every strand of homemade spaghetti, so clearly i'm a whiz at pasta making ;) ).  B gobbled every bit and asked for some in her lunch for school tomorrow.  i thought it was delish, and it was super easy to throw together.  so i'm considering it a success--and you should try it :)

so go get some avocados, with which you can enjoy both dinner and dessert--and then we'll talk about how valentine's day can be fun even without added sugar and chemical dyes, k?

absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?!

soooo, it's been a while.

the last time i was here i started writing a post about halloween--but i never finished it because it was mostly just me bitching about how halloween becomes a free-for-all for people to shower my children with junk food.  and now i find myself bitching about valentine's day so i thought i'd start another, hopefully less snarky, post ;)

i'll use this post to bring you all (bueller?  bueller?) up to date on what i've been up to, and then i'll post another one ranting about valentine's day ;)

so first of all, back around halloween i decided that if people were going to bring food to M's school halloween party, i would provide at least one "real" food option.  so i made these pumpkin muffins and dressed them up like so:

cute, huh?  thanks again, pinterest!

then for thanksgiving (well, pseudo-thanksgiving--my side of the family was going to be in a bunch of different places for real thanksgiving, so we decided to do it early) i used a loaf of the pumpkin bread from above (i had doubled it when i made the muffins) and made this awesome stuffing.

and for the record, i made my own pumpkin puree.  i only mention this because you should all know how incredibly easy this is to do.  this is how easy.  try it--trust me.  i used a less-than-4lb pumpkin and got about 4 cups of puree.  i freeze what i don't use in one cup containers so i can thaw what i need.

and for hanukkah, my wonderful husband got me pasta attachments for our kitchenaid--which, by the way, i had never used in almost 8 years of marriage!  so with my very own hands i made this pasta:

and turned it into this dinner:

which, just to toot my own horn, my husband said was--and i quote--"Honestly the best spaghetti I have ever had"

and i made these raviolis too:

which looked pretty and tasted ok but not great--they're on my list to try again.

so there you have it--a quick snapshot of the goings-on in my kitchen for the last few months.  now stay tuned for how i'm going to piss off 21 kindergartners by serving fruit instead of candy for valentine's day ;)

busy bags part 2

so the busy bags were a hit--for at least a good...10 mins lol!!

actually, although i thought M would appreciate the paint chip matching thing more, B has really been enjoying it.  both enjoyed the popsicle sticks with velcro but neither for very long.  i think they just liked the idea of it more than liking the actual activity.

here are two others i tried:

i took an old greeting card (sort of amusing that it was a christmas card used for quiet time at temple but i used what i had!), glued it to a bunch of popsicle sticks, and then took an exacto knife to cut it apart.

then the girls put them together to finish the puzzle:

M enjoyed this, but was able to finish the puzzle in about 20 seconds.  B found it more entertaining to take the individual popsicle sticks and hand them out to other people in our row (which were thankfully family members and good friends)!

this one i thought would be a huge hit:

foam sheets cut in half--on one half, i made a design by sticking on different foam stickers.  then i put the other half, together with duplicates of all the stickers i used on the first half, in a ziploc--the idea being that they make the design on their half following my pattern.

my girls LOVE sticking these foam stickers on foam sheets!  they can do this for a good, long while.

so i was right that it was a hit--but again, M was too quick for me!!  she had these done in no time.  B had a harder time with it so although i made what i thought were easier ones for her, they probably should have been even more simple.

in the end, despite my best efforts, the flower-bordered paper my girlfriend brought for her daughter was paired with some crayons and had the longest staying power.  and yes, that is hard for me to admit ;)

i'm still proud of my efforts and i feel that one day my children might look back and think i worked hard at my job to keep them happy, quiet, and entertained ;)

busy bags?? yes, please!

i'm more "pinterested" than ever these days--especially now that i found the "explore" button--what a wealth of time-sucking ideas!!!

the "busy bag" is my new favorite--even though i haven't even shared them with my kids yet!  i just know (ok, hope) that they'll be into these ziploc baggies filled with fun little activities--and such perfect timing because we're in the throes of spending lots of time needing to be quietly entertained in temple!

there are so many out there in pinterest, but here are two of my favorites (mostly because they were easy enough for me to do while watching the emmy's!):

a color-matching activity:

how great is this??!  paint chips from lowes plus clothespins topped with a bit of color--remove the clothespins and match them up again!  i can see the girls loving this :)

and this gem:

popsicle sticks (which i actually had thanks to an overzealous craft run at some point last year) and sticky back velcro dots stuck to each end/both sides of the popsicle sticks.  the girls can make letters, or shapes, or whatever they want--over and over again!  i can definitely see them loving this, as they are constantly making shapes and letters whenever they have pretzel sticks for lunch!

i'll try to remember to let you know how they like these busy bags, but in the meantime i wanted to share them either way because i think they're a great idea!

school days...

M is starting kindergarten tomorrow, and i swear i tear up every time i think about it!  it is tough work sending your first child off to "real" school!!

so i figured i'd distract myself and make a new blog post--two birds with one stone :)  i haven't made too many fun lunches this summer--the girls were in camp for several weeks, and then it seems like we were on the go a lot.  but i couldn't let her start her school in career with just a regular sandwich ;)

i hope this helps her remember how much i love her and how proud of her i am :)

good luck to all the kids starting school this week--and especially to all the mommies and daddies out there too!!