Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Take Your Kids to Work


As a stay-at-home mom, I like to think of every day as "take your kid to work" day. I used to spend a bunch of time trying to figure out craft activities or find the perfect educational music/videos to both entertain and educate my kiddos. I came to the realization quickly after having my second son that I was spending more time trying to find stuff to do than just doing. Each little thing that I do during the day from washing laundry to grocery shopping to cooking is a chance for my kids to learn. For example: if I am at the grocery store I point out and name things for the 1.5 year old and then ask my 3 year old to find and fetch things for me. I can ask him for 2 oranges and he will get me 2 oranges. When I'm cooking, I like to show L the difference between raw and cooked meat, show him how and why he has to wash his hands after touching it, and tell him about bacteria and how it will make you sick. I have him taste-test things and ask him what spices he thinks we should add.


L salting the eggs for breakfast.

D says cheese as soon as he sees the camera :)

L practices flipping eggs! Having him help doesn't necessarily make him want to eat our food more, but it sure will lay the groundwork for him making his own food (or mine!!!) later. He broke the yolk, but I'm sure he'll master it soon :)

 Pictured below are our breakfast plates. We had sausage, eggs, leftover tomato/avocado salad and blueberries for the boys. D ate everything and L ate his sausage, some egg and all of his blueberries. Sometimes if the kids don't clean their plates, I will leave them out until lunch and they will grab food as they take mini-breaks from playing. Usually all of the food disappears. The photos of the kids are a little fuzzy because they were both "dancing" to ACDC. We had a rock and roll breakfast today.




This is the pork roast that I have in the oven right now. It smells soooooo delicious and is a really easy recipe. I can't wait to try it out! You can find the recipe here at Nom Nom Paleo's awesome website. My pork shoulder had no skin, so I scored the fat and did let it sit over night after I rubbed it with Chili Con Carne seasoning and salt. I find more and more that having these meals that I start in the morning makes me alot less stressed at meal time which makes me alot less likely to grab something not-so-good for me or just say to hell with it and get takeout.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Kale Chip Fail

I decided to try kale chips for the first time last night since everyone in the Paleo community raves about them being a great substitute for the salty crunchiness you get from potato chips. Now let me tell you the story of how kale chips went over in my house:

Kale chips before going in the oven, then after. Everything looking good and I'm super excited........

J not terribly impressed with the look of the kale chips (I think he's afraid after the many things I have experimented on him with). But, he's willing to give it a try.

In his professional opinion: "needs more oil and salt." Ah, that face is one only a mother could love - I mean his wife wasn't loving him at the moment for the harsh shut down of her culinary skills. 

D thinks Daddy is funny for making weird faces. Look at how sweet, innocent and unsuspecting he is.. GUINEA PIG TIME!!!

You'd think I had just handed him some poop to eat. Actually, I think he has eaten poop with more gusto than he mustered for this kale chip. FAIL. <I have 2 dogs and with him being a second child I can't protect him from everything.......>

            

D deciding this was not what he wanted to consume at dinner time.

Trying to scrape all the kale chip off of his tongue and put it on the table. Good luck buddy!












L took a bite....... then spit it right back out on the table.


My impressions: I thought the kale chips were ok. They were more the consistency of like tissue paper that you use in present wrapping than a crunchy potato chip. I thought the taste was ok. Kind of like eating broccoli-flavored tissue paper that disintegrated in your mouth... Also, word to the wise: watch your gas after eating these babies.. your sweetheart may not want to snuggle too close that night.


D loved to play with the kale chips after he decided they were no good for consumption! YAY!! Make sure to clean them up right after dinner or they will cake and dry and make your cleaning life hell.