Week 11 Recipe: Garlic brown sugar chicken

Recipe is HERE

This was really tasty. And easy! You can't beat 4 ingredients- chicken, olive oil, garlic and brown sugar. That's it! We had it with brown rice and broccoli. This one will be repeated for sure.

Week 11 Activity: Fruit Loop Rainbow

As much as I wish I could say that this is our finished product- it is SO NOT! This activity did not work with Reese at all. All she wanted to do was eat the Fruit Loops :) She is so cute.
I think she is just too little still. Or maybe too hungry :) We will try some more gluing activities maybe at a time that she won't want to eat any of the ingredients. Well, Happy St. Patrick's Day anyways!

Week 10 Activity: throwing a ball

Ok I know- that sounds lame right? Well first of all, I did not do a new activity with Reese this week because she stayed with my parents while we were on vacation. Second, there is a cute video to go with this so I'm going to use it.

Reese was playing with my dad with a tennis ball and was having a hard time throwing it without her fingers getting in the way. So, smart girl  that she is, she started putting the ball on half on a plastic Easter egg. That way she could throw it easier. New game!

Week 10 Recipe: Shape pancakes

Got the idea HERE

We made these Saturday morning for Reese as a surprise. I used hot pink food coloring instead of red and she loved it. Spence went in to get her out of bed and brought her into the kitchen. Her first word was 'pancake' and then she shouted 'PINK!'

We will be doing purple and green ones with stars for her Buzz Lightyear birthday party this week. (yes, my 2 year old girl is having a Buzz Lightyear party.)

The food coloring did not make them taste weird at all, in case you are wondering.

Week 9 recipe: spicey creamy chicken pasta

Recipe is HERE


This was really good. What I was looking for was a copy-cat recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's southwest chicken chipottle pasta. This was not it- but it was delicious. I loved that I hardly had to buy anything for this- just the half and half and cheese. But I had a ton of leftover veggies in my fridge so that was nice. Several things I will do next time:

1. Make less sauce. We had way too much and like most pasta dishes this just wasn't as good as a leftover.

2. Have more good stuff and less noodles

3. Make it spicier.

But yes- totally delicious and will be added to our meal rotation for sure. Enjoy!

Blanket Time

You may notice in the post about pipe cleaners that Reese is sitting on a blanket and there is a white timer next to her. Reese is doing Blanket Time.

My child is extremely active and will not sit still. But I felt it was important for her to begin learning how to sit and focus her energy and attention on one activity, instead of running from toy to toy. So at about a year old, we began blanket time.

On this particular day, she wanted to use my yoga mat instead of her blanket

 At first I always used the same blanket so that she knows what is going to happen when I get it out. I started with just one activity at a time, but usually something new so it would hold her attention. I would tell her "Ok, it's time for blanket time!" I spread out the blanket and put her on it and explain to her "we are going to play with this toy until the bell rings." I started just setting the timer for 2-3 minutes. I would stay and play with her to keep her engaged. When she would try to get up and leave, I would tell her "no- we are going to stay and play with this toy until the bell rings."

Eventually, she has learned. I can now do 4 activities, each for 5 minutes. We set the timer between each one and when it goes off, she has the choice to either keep playing for a few extra minutes or to help clean up for the next activity. My goal is for her eventually to be able to sit and do blanket time on her own, but for right now I'm still there interacting with her. But it's been so good for her to be able to focus on one thing, even if it's not her very favorite activity.

This is also where I try to do the more educational things like talking about letters and colors.

A couple of notes- if your child has not heard the timer before, it may startle them. Let them hear is go off a couple of times. Let them hold it and make it go off them self so they can get used to it.

Our earliest version- Reese in the laundry basket with some toys

Is your child a little too young for blanket time? Well before Reese was ready, we would do Pack and Play time. This one is a lot easier- I would set up her pack and play in her room and select a few toys and books to go in it (preferably ones that she has not been playing with recently so she will be more interested.) I would tell her "it's pack and play time!" and set her in there. I would set the timer and tell her "ok, have fun until the timer goes off."

And I would leave the room. It is important for your baby to not be able to see you- you are trying to teach them to sit and focus on their own and to be able to entertain them self without you. Reese cried a lot the first couple times. But as I was consistent with it, she learned what to expect and would do quite well. We started with just a couple minutes, but worked up to 20 minutes where she could sit in her pack and play and be quite happy and content.

Reese playing in her Pack and Play while we helped with a service project. We were able to help because she knew how to play by herself and keep herself entertained (at least for a little while.)

Anyway- just some ideas and a little explanation about how I did things. The concepts from this came from Babywise and Toddlerwise- my favorite series of parenting books (for this stage of life anyway.) Hope it helped! Leave a comment if you have any ideas, thoughts or questions. Thanks!

Week 8 Activity: pipe cleaners

 Ok, I'm cheating a little. This is not a brand new activity- we have been doing it since December. But it was new then, so it still counts :) Reese has really enjoyed this, and is getting so much better at it. It sounds so silly and simple- I just give her my plastic strainer and a pile of pipe cleaners. But we all know how much kids like to stick things in other things, so this is a perfect way to encourage that.

 This activity helps develop those fine motor skills by working the finger muscles as well as hand-eye coordination. Reese needed help the first couple times, but she got the hang of it. We also use this as yet another opportunity to talk about colors.

Other things we have done with pipe cleaners include- making bracelets, making glasses, and putting them in empty water bottles. I have a few more ideas of things to do with them, but I'll save it for another post.

Week 8 Recipe: Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Cauliflower

Recipe is HERE

Um, this was very tastey. I like broccoli a lot, but I don't really love cauliflower. This was a vary easy and delicious way to make it. Spence and Reese liked it to. However, I used thicker shredded Parmesan cheese and it did not work very well. It melts, but not really so you end up with big clumps of cheese and it doesn't mix in or coat. So I think next time I'll buy some powdered Parmesan cheese and try that. But this one is a winner!

Week 7 Activity: Heart Hunt

In honor of Valentine's Day Reese and I did a heart hunt. During her nap, I cut out a bunch of hearts from pink and red construction paper and taped them up around our apartment. When she woke up, I showed her one and gave her a bucket to collect them. She loved running around the house to find them. It was so cute. This is definitely one I will do again with a different spin: maybe Easter eggs, paper apples, a certain shape or letter. Really, you could do this with almost anything.

Here is a video of Reese hunting for hearts. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

Week 7 Recipes: Cilantro Thai Chicken and Ginger Sesame Broccoli

Chicken recipe is HERE

This chicken was ok. I went a little overboard on the cilantro (what!? is that even possible? yes it is.) I think it would have been really good with some rice but alas, Spence and I are doing phase 1 of South Beach so for the next 2 weeks we are carb free.

 

Broccoli recipe is HERE

This was tastey. I always wondered how Panda Express and other Asian restaurants got their broccoli to taste so good. This is how! It was a little too soy saucey for me, so may reduce that next time. But I ate a lot of broccoli tonight and it was delicious.

Week 7 Recipe: Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Find the recipe HERE

So yeah- these are super good. My friend Beth made them at our book club last week and I think I ate like half the bowl. They are so easy AND healthy AND gluten free (which I am not, but still good to know) AND I can eat them on phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. For those of you who have done SB- it sucks but it works so well. Phase one is the hardest and I really miss the spicy crunchy that I get from potato chips and snacks like that. Bu this will TOTALLY be replacing that for me. DELICIOUS!

Actually- I think I'll try this same idea with some different flavors. Maybe use powdered Ranch dressing? Maybe like a taco flavored one? I'll let you know how it goes :)

Week 6: Pom pom fun

This has been a total hit. It was easy- just cut come holes in the top of an old cashew canister (obviously this picture is not mine.) Reese loves to push the pom poms through the holes. We try to say the colors as we go, we have been working on learning them.

Another thing we do with the pom poms is color sorting. I bought a cheap divided serving tray with three sections. I give her a bowl of pom poms with three different colors and she will separate them by color into the different tray sections.

Idea number three. We took an empty cardboard milk carton with the plastic spout. I cut a little door in the side. Reese likes to put them in the open spout and then open the door to take them back out.

Next time we play with the last one, I'll get a picture. But Reese loves the pom poms! 

Week 6 Recipe: Garlic Ginger Chicken

Actual recipe is HERE

So I loved the sound of this- garlic and ginger, can't go wrong! But when I pulled up the recipe it called for some ingredients I had never heard of. Apparently this website is a primal diet like the early humans- meat, legume, fruits etc. So I altered the recipe like- a lot.

It ended up like this- combine 1/4 soy sauce, 2-3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 Tbsp ground ginger, and a squirt of lime juice in a bowl. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan and throw in the chicken. Pour the sauce over it and keep flipping the chicken until it's done.

It was pretty good. I'm not going to make it every single week but easy enough to put together with stuff I had on hand. Enjoy!

Week 5 Recipe: Southwest wraps

 Find the recipe HERE

So if you haven't heard- I love cilantro. And black beans. And cheese. And anything that requires taco seasoning. This recipe does not require taco seasoning, but it's definitely in that delicious SW family. Plus these kinds of recipes are great for using up your left overs (I had rice, black beans, and 2 half bell peppers already in my fridge. Oh and cilantro of course.)

These were really good. I did make a few changes from the recipe. First- I used shredded pork instead of chicken because I had some on hand. I used red and green belle pepper (the recipe says one or the other) and I added some onion. I sauteed my peppers and onion for a few minutes before adding everything else to it. And I did not use sour cream because I don't like it. But these turned our really good. I even have a bunch left over so I'm going to freeze the rest of the filling for later.

For those of you with picky kid eaters, Reese actually loved this one. I did hers more like a quesadilla (that is not spelled right I'm sure of it!) instead of a wrap and used my pizza cutter to make smaller bites. She even asked for more!

Week 5 Activity: Glow in the dark fun

So lately Reese has been obsessed with turning the lights off. It doesn't matter what we are doing, we often end up doing it in the dark. Well tonight she kept turning them off so we got out the flashlights. She loves to carry them around and play with them in her tent. I remembered I had bough a tube of glow sticks for $1 at Target. So we got 6 of them out and made them into rings. She wore them on her wrist for awhile. We also had a dark dance party. But we ended up playing a game of glow-in-the-dark hide and seek which was super fun. Spence would take Reese into her room and I would "hide" the 6 rings around the house. They would count to 10 and yell "ready of not, here we come." Then Reese would find all the rings and we would count them with her. She wanted to do it again and again. She was really entertained. So this activity was fun, cheap and impromptu.

I will be trying this with hiding other items and seeing if she can find them. We are going to be doing a little Mommy school unit on apples and I think I'll hide different paper cut outs of apples around the house and let her collect them in a basket. I'll let you know if she thinks it is fun with the lights on :)

Another activity side note- We have also used the glow sticks in the bath tub for a glow-in-the-dark bath which was super fun.

Week 4 Recipe: Red Velvet Rice Krispies

I know, I know. Rice Krispies again? Well I had plans for a delicious dinner this week but Spence has been working really late so I didn't want to make it just for myself. Maybe this weekend.

But my cute friend Jenna is pregnant and a week over due! Poor thing. Well we went over to their place for dinner and I was in charge of dessert. She loves Red Velvet cake, so I tried these. They were SO GOOD! I ate half the pan myself I think. You can find the recipe here. So easy- great for Valentine's Day too. Enjoy!

Week 4 Activity: Shaving cream painting

 This was pretty fun. I found this idea on Pinterest. The lady who did it used food coloring to dye her shaving cream, but several people commented that it stained their tub and made their kids look like they were all bruised up. So I opted to use Crayola washable paint. I just put a little bit in and mixed it up and it worked great.

 Reese had a good time. She is not super into art still, but she loved to be naked :) I did not put any water in the tub because I did not want her to slip. She had fun climbing around painting the walls, tub and eventually herself. I just let her use 2 old basting brushes from my kitchen. (everything was thoroughly sanitized afterwards of course.

Clean up was easy. Just turned on the shower. I needed to clean the tub anyway so I gave it a scrub later that day and there was no staining on the tub or Reese. It must have stuck a note with her because she keeps asking my for paint brushes. Then she carries them around the house 'painting' things. She did it at my parents too. So this one is definitely a winner.

Week 3 Recipe- Chicken Cream Cheese Soup and Parmesan Pull-Aparts

Both are delicious- especially the pull aparts. Those aren't new, we make them regularly because Spence LOVES them. Both are from my friend Sara over at My Sisters' Cucina

Chicken Cream Cheese Soup
1 lb chicken breast
1 onion diced
1-2 Tbsp butter
2 handfuls baby carrots cut up
4-5 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
8 oz pkg. reduced fat cream cheese

Put chicken in pot and cover with water. Boil until cooked. Take chicken out of water but keep the broth. When chicken is cool, shred. Saute onion with butter. put onion in pot and add carrots and potatoes. Add 3-4 cups of broth or enough to cover veggies. Add bouillon cubes for flavor. Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are tender. Mix flour with milk and add to soup. Soften cream cheese in microwave and add to pieces. Stir off and on until cheese is melted. Add chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.




Pull Apart Parmesan Breadsticks
1 pkg Pillsbury refrigerated breadsticks
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp italian seasoning
dash garlic salt
Olive oil

Combine parm cheese, italian seasoning and garlic in a small bowl. Separate breadsticks into strips and put two strips together (one on top of the other). Cut into 1 inch pieces. Roll each in parmesan mixture and place in greased muffin tins (about 5 pieces in each one). Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle parmesan cheese mixture on top. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 7 or eight.

Week 3 Activity- playing in the snow

 So lucky for me, the weather provided my inspiration for this weeks activity- we played in the SNOW! Reese  saw a little snow in Utah back in November, but it was old and crusty. But the last few days we have gotten some glorious and beautiful snow here in the Pacific Northwest. Reese loved it. She will stand at our porch door and say "oh... snowing!"

We took her out Sunday night to play and ran into our cute friend Edgar with his daughters Hannah (4) and Julia (3). Reese loves those girls and they had such fun running down the hill and belly flopping in the snow, throwing snow and eating snow. We let them play on the snowy playground. The slide was iced over and was more like a bobsled run- luckily Spence was there to catch them at the bottom as they shot out. They girls loved it and just laughed. Poor Reese had a frozen little face by the time we were done, but she did not mind one bit.

Today we took her over to my parents' house for some sledding. They have a perfect little hill in the front field and even had a sled buried in the back of the barn. Reese loved it (I say that a lot, don't I?) She even went down by herself on her bum and on her tummy. We each took a turn with her. Then Dad and Spence built a very large snowman. Reese gave him a hug and the ate some of him :) We also made a wall with her sand bucket and some snow blocks.

 So snow play is definitely a hit with the kid. Once thing I will try someday I saw in a magazine: a mom had kids who loved the snow but kept getting too cold. So she put a bunch in some buckets and put it in the bathtub. Her daughters made a castle with buckets and cups and played with their princesses. I thought that was such a fun idea. I'm not going to lug snow up my stairs though, so this idea will wait until we have a house.

Week 2 activity- Painting a birdhouse

So I guess I cheated a little on this weeks activity. Reese has painted before, but never a bird house :) Let me start by sharing what happened the first time I let Reese paint.

The picture says it all, doesn't it? This was not a smart-mommy move. I took Reese to a free art class at the Orange Blossom Society (a place in town where kids can take classes.) We had done a little fingerpainting at home and Reese really hadn't been into it. So I thought this class would be fun. The first thing out of the instructor's mouth was "my only rule is to not touch your kids." She was all about letting the kids  explore etc. I am ok with that too. But after 45 minutes of exploring (a pretty long class for an 18 month old in my opinion) Reese had a total melt down.

She was covered in paint from head to toe and was bawling because I tried to corral her. She was totally overwhelmed by the experience and we left the school in the middle of a huge fit. (Not only was she bawling but I had stripped her down to her diaper so she wouldn't get paint in my car.)

I should be fair- she did have fun for the first little while. But once she figured it out, she was all over the place. I was frantically trying to protect the other moms' clothes and children from my tornado of a toddler. So after that I decided to introduce art a little more slowly and more systematically. I still let her play and be creative, but it's not a free for all anymore.

So painting the bird house was really fun. I bought it for $1.00 a JoAnns and we already had the paint and brushes so it was CHEAP which is always good. We have a bird feeder on our deck and she has been really into the birds, so she thought it was fun to paint a little bird house for them. Of course, after a couple minutes of painting, she just wanted to stick the brushes in the 2 holes in the front. That's more her style of play- putting things into something else. But we let it dry and she was super excited to show it to Spence when he got home. So I would say birdhouse painting was a success!

Week 2- recipes

Black Bean and Corn-Topped Potatoes HERE

So this recipe was a roller coaster of thoughts for me. 1st- the picture looks delicious, so I was super excited about it. 2nd- it ended up being a lot of onion, which I typically don't like. So then I was kind of not looking forward to it. 3rd- it looked like any other Southwest meal, so I figured it would taste the same as every other Southwest thing I make (which is a common comment from Spence when I try new SW things.) 4th- I really don't love baked potatoes. I feel like they are a waste of carbs. I would rather eat something delicious- like potato chips. (I know that logic is flawed... just go with it.)

But, this ended up being TOTALLY DELICIOUS! The onion was good and sweet (maybe it was just the one I bought or maybe because it soaked up the juices.) The potato made it taste different from other SW dishes and I LOVE cilantro. I piled it on and it was tastey.

One thing I loved about this was that it was easy- I even cooked my potatoes in the microwave. All the ingredients were in the fridge left over from the cilantro lime chicken I made last week. I love being able to use my leftovers.

Another thing I loved was that this was cheap. One good reason to make baked potatoes is because they are so inexpensive. Our grocery bill has been through the roof lately, so I have been trying to find some cheaper meals that don't include ramen noodles or sandwiches.

So anyway- this one is a keeper!

Week 1- activity with Reese

So my activity this week was pretty basic- playing with play dough. We got out a little bowling pin and some alphabet cookie cutters. It was not a huge success, but I think I know several reasons why.

1. Reese doesn't like to sit still. So sitting in her high chair molding some dough was not nearly as appealing to her as running around the apartment.

2. I used some super cheap play dough that she got as a prize at the dentist. It was way too sticky and got pink stuff all over our hands. I even tried to add some flour to it. But she did not like the feel of it and it was hard to play with.

I will be trying this activity again but with better homemade play dough. I have a recipe around here somewhere- once I find it I'll post it. If you have a great recipe, please leave it in a comment for me.

Week 1- recipes

I tried two recipes this week- the links to the recipes are below.

Slow-cooker cilantro lime chicken: HERE
Cake batter rice crispy treats: HERE

 The cilantro lime chicken was easy- it was a slow cooker recipe so you just throw everything in. It tasted pretty good. We decided to shred ours up and use it as taco filler. The recipes calls for 0-2 jalapenos depending on how spicy you like it. I did one and it was just right for us. I don't think this recipe will make it into our normal rotation, but it was good.

The cake batter rice krispies on the other hand were AWESOME! Really so tasty. I always end up eating way more than I should because they are so light. But one note- the recipe says to mix half of the sprinkles in as you are mixing the rice krispies. I used the little hard circle sprinkles, and the colors bled. The rice crispy treats still tasted delicious, but they looked kind of green. So the second time I made them, I just put the spinkles on top.