Determined. Persistent. Stick to their guns. Ambitious. Creative. Leader, not follower. Energetic. Enthusiastic. Go-getter. Expressive. Good debater. Intelligent. Unique. Follows the beat of their own drum. Full of spirit. Free spirit. Not easily persuaded. A skeptic. Hard worker. Self-starter. Self-motivator. Inquisitive. Full of energy. Confident. Sure of themselves. Daring. Imaginative. Independent. Outgoing. Strong-willed.
These are all qualities we admire in adults. These are traits of people who work hard, are not lazy, invent things, build corporations, push the boundaries. But we have a hard time with those same traits in children. In particular children who experience ADHD.
There are qualities in these kids that will serve them well as an adult, qualities we shouldn't necessary aim to purge.
I see how they can cause problems. A kid shouldn't debate his consequences or the rules at school, nor should he hesitate when you shout for him to get out of the street when a car is coming. It is difficult for a teacher to teach if one student is going his own way in class, disrupting everyone else. He must learn to live within the rules and boundaries of society.
I see that. I get that. And that is why so many parents choose the medication route, to help their child who is struggling get through.
But what I don't get is why many teachers do not see these qualities as ones that are at their core good. There are ways to foster their independence and exuberance without breaking their spirit but it requires doing things different. It has been my experience that traditional discipline methods - shouting, shaming, exclusion - do not work with kids like these. A softer, well-thought-out, patient, consistent, structured, non-emotional approach does.
With some thought and patience and understanding and recognition of the wonderful qualities they possess at the root of their misbehavior/arguing/living outside the lines, teachers and parents and other caregivers can encourage and shape a child with ADHD without sacrificing the skills that will take them very far as adults.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Funny things Brady says... about gagging...
I love the way Brady describes things he doesn't have a word for. This morning he got too big of a bite of banana with peanut butter, and he gagged. I said, "Are you okay?"
He looks at me. "I think that was too big a bite."
"I think you're right."
"I can't help doing that, where I push back like that. It's like when I try something new and I feel a yuckiness in my mouth, I do that."
I laughed. How could I not? "That's called gagging."
"I will always do that when I eat peas."
He looks at me. "I think that was too big a bite."
"I think you're right."
"I can't help doing that, where I push back like that. It's like when I try something new and I feel a yuckiness in my mouth, I do that."
I laughed. How could I not? "That's called gagging."
"I will always do that when I eat peas."
You know you're in a small town... charity edition...
On Sunday, we learned in church that a rural resident was killed in a car crash on the back roads. He was early 40s and left young children and a wife who is physically handicapped. An impromptu second collection was taken in church for the family.
On Wednesday, I went in the grocery store up-town to find a collection jar there as well for the family. Now, of course this sort of thing happens in a large city, but typically it is far removed from you. You likely don't know the family described on the collection jar or in church.
But my husband has known this man all his life, and this man's kids go to my child's school.
Another local man died a few months back. He had mental challenges, could not drive, had no family living with him but rode his bike everywhere, 30 miles or more in one day. They called him the "Peanut Butter Man" as he was trying to eat enough peanut butter to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He dined with our pastor's family once a week, my husband and his father picked him up and drove him home one night when they saw him biking on the side of the road.
This man was cared for in this small town and when he died, due to complications from a head injury, local residents donated peanut butter to area food banks in his honor and our pastor championed this man's faith during that Sunday's service.
When a fire swept through the drought-parched hay fields west of town and consumed a local woman's home, several agencies in town took up a collection for her including my own women's fellowship. And several others helped fund a local girl's 11-month world mission. Before she left on her mission, her family had a come-and-go reception to which my son was able to go with his babysitter.
In a small town, you can see and feel the effects of things like this. People don't get 'lost' here.
But the one that always touched me the most was what happened with a little friend and class-mate of Brady's. This child was recently taken out of his home and put into foster care, which made Brady very sad since he is no longer in Brady's class. But this particular incident was last winter. It was a frigid night, around 25 degrees out.
At about 9 p.m., I saw on Facebook that this little boy was missing. His parents hadn't seen him since much earlier in the day before the sun had set. Immediately, half the town was mobilized to go looking for him, including my husband. Cars and trucks drove up and down the streets, people knocked on doors. They searched under bridges, in fields, down dirt roads, in ditches, everywhere.
As it turned out, the boy had gone to a neighbor's house and had stayed there watching movies for hours.
I had never experienced anything like that, where an entire town stopped what it was doing and looked for a missing 6 year old. Everyone in town knew this kid and had tried to help him in one way or another. He sometimes sat by us at church by himself. Brady and I pray for him still, and I hope his life is going well.
But I will never forget how he brought out the best in our town, the deep human need to protect the young.
On Wednesday, I went in the grocery store up-town to find a collection jar there as well for the family. Now, of course this sort of thing happens in a large city, but typically it is far removed from you. You likely don't know the family described on the collection jar or in church.
But my husband has known this man all his life, and this man's kids go to my child's school.
Another local man died a few months back. He had mental challenges, could not drive, had no family living with him but rode his bike everywhere, 30 miles or more in one day. They called him the "Peanut Butter Man" as he was trying to eat enough peanut butter to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He dined with our pastor's family once a week, my husband and his father picked him up and drove him home one night when they saw him biking on the side of the road.
This man was cared for in this small town and when he died, due to complications from a head injury, local residents donated peanut butter to area food banks in his honor and our pastor championed this man's faith during that Sunday's service.
When a fire swept through the drought-parched hay fields west of town and consumed a local woman's home, several agencies in town took up a collection for her including my own women's fellowship. And several others helped fund a local girl's 11-month world mission. Before she left on her mission, her family had a come-and-go reception to which my son was able to go with his babysitter.
In a small town, you can see and feel the effects of things like this. People don't get 'lost' here.
But the one that always touched me the most was what happened with a little friend and class-mate of Brady's. This child was recently taken out of his home and put into foster care, which made Brady very sad since he is no longer in Brady's class. But this particular incident was last winter. It was a frigid night, around 25 degrees out.
At about 9 p.m., I saw on Facebook that this little boy was missing. His parents hadn't seen him since much earlier in the day before the sun had set. Immediately, half the town was mobilized to go looking for him, including my husband. Cars and trucks drove up and down the streets, people knocked on doors. They searched under bridges, in fields, down dirt roads, in ditches, everywhere.
As it turned out, the boy had gone to a neighbor's house and had stayed there watching movies for hours.
I had never experienced anything like that, where an entire town stopped what it was doing and looked for a missing 6 year old. Everyone in town knew this kid and had tried to help him in one way or another. He sometimes sat by us at church by himself. Brady and I pray for him still, and I hope his life is going well.
But I will never forget how he brought out the best in our town, the deep human need to protect the young.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Getting out of the house: Go to the library!
I had forgotten how much fun going to the library could be. When I stayed home with Brady from age 7 months to 4 years, we went to the library all the time. That was in South Carolina and Florida.
We went to story times, festivals or just to explore, play with toys and check out books and DVDs. Here in small-town Kansas the library is a little different, smaller, and we can only go Monday nights after school. But it was pure joy when Brady found the kids' section and started looking through books.
We went to story times, festivals or just to explore, play with toys and check out books and DVDs. Here in small-town Kansas the library is a little different, smaller, and we can only go Monday nights after school. But it was pure joy when Brady found the kids' section and started looking through books.
And in typical Brady fashion, he picked up a toy phone from one of the books and "called" the librarian who was on the other side of the room, LOL! She was a good sport and played along and he had her laughing with his sense of humor and enthusiasm. He now knows her by name and he asked her all sorts of questions about how she keeps track of the books and how the cards inside them work and how long we could keep the books. He also told her he "didn't think it was fair he had to wait until he was 8 to use the computers."
But when he is, we can sit side by side and look things up together.
He chose all Little Critter books, one of my favorite characters, and signed all 7 library cards himself. It was amusing to see that every single one had one year or another been checked out by his babysitter or her siblings.
Libraries are one of the most educational, comfortable, joyous places I know. If you live in a big city, it is an awesome way to meet other moms at story time and get out of the house. Even in a small city, you can set your little one up with a few books or toys and have a little bit of a breather.
We also used to check out DVDs from our library in South Carolina and Florida. This is a great way to save money but have something new to watch.
Here are our books, all due by Feb. 18!
Part 2: Can society get back to basics & focus on what's real?
Continued from part 1...
As we lose that critical link to who we are, our bodies, our fellow humans, I think life becomes less valuable. And then it is taken for granted.
I cannot tell you the number of times I see people sit across from one another in a restaurant but are each lost in the screen of their phones. They do not look at each other. They do not speak. They don't even seem aware of their surroundings (I think the current zombie craze is no accident).
I have got to think this escape from the physical world causes stress and confusion and detachment because it is not our natural state of being. It creates a sense of anxiety that if you aren't connected, you're missing something.
The disconnect is even more pronounced in larger cities, I think. Here in a small-town, people still help each other when they're down in very tangible, practical ways on a daily basis. They connect at the grocery store and post office and bank. Things here are very personal. Not so great when your runaway car crashes on a Monday morning, but really wonderful most of the time.
I lived in Salt Lake City once, a city of one million. I knew almost no one. Not my neighbors certainly. I was in a tiny dark apartment, alone and sad, and spent hours on the computer with people I'd never met just to compensate for my lack of connection. I felt like a phantom, a ghost. It was terrible and depressing and I made a point after that to center myself in the real physical world and make friends and hobbies and a life.
There is such a sense of pride and accomplishment in doing something on your own, even as simple as filling a tire with air. When you require a machine to do it for you, that's a hit to your self-worth. And with that hit begins a vicious cycle. You lose confidence, so you turn more to machines, which in turn lowers your self esteem even more. And if you don't have confidence in yourself, how can you feel confident in anyone else?
It's the difference between a candy bar and a healthy full meal. One offers fake comfort with little value, a sugar rush that soon ebbs leaving you drained and dazed. The other gives your body - or in this case your spirit and your soul - what it truly needs. Sustenance. Vitality. Warmth. Nutrition.
Real life and really living.
As we lose that critical link to who we are, our bodies, our fellow humans, I think life becomes less valuable. And then it is taken for granted.
I cannot tell you the number of times I see people sit across from one another in a restaurant but are each lost in the screen of their phones. They do not look at each other. They do not speak. They don't even seem aware of their surroundings (I think the current zombie craze is no accident).
I have got to think this escape from the physical world causes stress and confusion and detachment because it is not our natural state of being. It creates a sense of anxiety that if you aren't connected, you're missing something.
The disconnect is even more pronounced in larger cities, I think. Here in a small-town, people still help each other when they're down in very tangible, practical ways on a daily basis. They connect at the grocery store and post office and bank. Things here are very personal. Not so great when your runaway car crashes on a Monday morning, but really wonderful most of the time.
I lived in Salt Lake City once, a city of one million. I knew almost no one. Not my neighbors certainly. I was in a tiny dark apartment, alone and sad, and spent hours on the computer with people I'd never met just to compensate for my lack of connection. I felt like a phantom, a ghost. It was terrible and depressing and I made a point after that to center myself in the real physical world and make friends and hobbies and a life.
There is such a sense of pride and accomplishment in doing something on your own, even as simple as filling a tire with air. When you require a machine to do it for you, that's a hit to your self-worth. And with that hit begins a vicious cycle. You lose confidence, so you turn more to machines, which in turn lowers your self esteem even more. And if you don't have confidence in yourself, how can you feel confident in anyone else?
It's the difference between a candy bar and a healthy full meal. One offers fake comfort with little value, a sugar rush that soon ebbs leaving you drained and dazed. The other gives your body - or in this case your spirit and your soul - what it truly needs. Sustenance. Vitality. Warmth. Nutrition.
Real life and really living.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
You know you're in a small town...library edition...
... you go to the library in town and every single book you check out (7 total) was at one time or another checked out my your child's babysitter and her siblings, LOL! On some of the books, the last check-out date on the library card was in 2009! And it was the babysitter's brother! How cool.
Our walk on a blustery day...
It's been cold and blustery here in Kansas, though interspersed with record-breaking January highs in the 70s. Kansas weather is hard to predict.
But we went out anyway, and I just love getting out and exploring on less-than-perfect days. You see the world in a different way. The grain elevator in the background almost looks like a castle. We scared up a bunny who darted off through the trees. Brady used a white plastic spaghetti fork that had lost all its tines to "protect" us from all the dead weeds along the path.
We talked about how the trees were sleeping and how we can't do this in July because of the poison ivy. He's finally embracing winter just a little more than he was at the beginning.
You just never know what you'll find, so get outside and explore!
Save money buying dry beans & rice
So I decided to check. I did not check the difference between whole white rice vs. instant white rice as I rarely buy it.
What I do is either soak overnight or quick-soak and then cook at least half a bag of beans, and then freeze them in 2-cup quantities. I do the same with rice.
Here's the breakdown for beans. A can of Great Value pinto beans is 68 cents and it provides 2 cups of beans. A bag of Great Value dry pinto beans is $2.28 and provides 12 cups of cooked beans. So, it would take 6 cans of Great Value beans to equal one bag, at a cost difference of $4.08 vs. $2.28. A savings of $1.80 and a better taste in my opinion.The breakdown for rice is $1.66 for 14 ounces of Great Value instant brown rice (not even 1 pound!) and $1.38 for 2 pounds (32 ounces) of whole brown rice. Wow, I don't even have to do figuring for that! It's clearly cheaper.
It takes time, but it sure saves money.
Colorful peppers - even asparagus - can be affordable!
But I have discovered that Aldi has them on sale regularly, say once a month or 6 weeks, for $1.29 a pack! The red and yellow ones are Brady's favorite, so I stock up on these when they're on sale. Three packs in the frig will stay good for awhile.
So if you have an Aldi nearby, or perhaps even Save-a-lot, keep an eye on their sales of typically "expensive" items.
And even asparagus goes on sale! I found it once at our local grocery store for $1.50 a pound. Maybe next time we'll have that for Try-Something-New Thursday.
Treats vs. healthy, teaching kids the difference
I'm blessed to have a child who loves to talk. And he doesn't talk just to talk, he asks questions and wants me to expand on things. He won't accept easy answers, which is at times exhausting! He sure makes me think.We've talked a lot about how the body works and what fuels it well. I tell him if we don't eat and drink the things that are healthy most of the time, we can get sick.
He told me one time, "I wish I could just eat treats all day long!" I know how he feels. Don't we all? But I want him to see those things just as that, treats, not staples.
He knows I will always give him what he needs to be healthy: love, good food, good things to drink, shelter, clothing and opportunities to learn and exercise. The rest of it - sweets, pop, TV, games - he has to earn.
Not necessarily a reward, but something you get when you've taken care of responsible things. It's my hope that they will become something special, an addition to a healthy life, not a replacement.
Yesterday he said, "I want some pop!" I said, "Okay, then buy one from your prize store on Friday." I guess he's used to this because just said, "Okay," and moved on.
What has amazed me the most is I've seen him have only 3 M&Ms left and just say, "I'm done. I don't want the rest" and push the bowl away. Wow. That's a kid who has a good sense of when he is full, treat or not. I hope it continues as he grows and is exposed to more of the world.
Monday, January 28, 2013
The 7-year-old cashed his first check!
Brady was very excited this morning as he stood at the bank counter where he has an account, signed the back of a check addressed to him from his Dad (to purchase one of Brady's for-sale crystals) and received $6.00 back. It's such a neat way to explain to a kid how things like money work. His take on the whole thing: "Six dollars would buy a lifetime supply of Whoppers!"Here he is with his "store."
Homemade jerky - tasty high protein snack
Hubby made another batch of deer jerky and boy is it delicious! Since we already have a lot of ground meat from his first deer in December, he is using this one almost entirely to make jerky. Since the only cost was the deer tag and hunting license and he did the skinning, cutting and trimming of the meat himself, this is a lot of very very inexpensive high quality protein.
He slices it thin, marinates it a combination of Worcestershire, soy sauce, liquid smoke, bourbon, water and Head Country seasoning. He then lays it out on the oven racks and bakes it with the oven door propped open at 200 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.
You can also do this with beef and most likely other meats as well.
Behavior booster: Pick a treat for each day
He thinks about "it", whatever "it" happens to be, all the time. For awhile it was the Pacman video game up at the restaurant. Then it was Sponge-Bob. Then it was his Nintendo DS. Then it was playing Angry Birds on the computer. Then it was natural disaster movies (Think Twister and 2012).
I have learned that feeding that obsession is not a good idea (except when it's things like math and making "inventions," those are wonderful creative learning obsessions). He wants to do it or watch it ALL THE TIME. He'll think about it constantly and argue why he should be able to do it RIGHT NOW.
So, I came up with a plan. For awhile we had Nintendo Sunday, Angry Birds Monday, Sponge Bob Tuesday, Natural Disaster Movie Wednesday and Pacman Friday. That way, he'd get to do a favored activity as a treat once a week. He wouldn't feel deprived not being able to ever do it, and he knew when he'd get to do it and didn't ask for it the whole rest of the week.
He's moved on from most of those, but we still have Nintendo Sunday. Since that worked so well, I decided to try it in other areas. We now have No-Screen Saturdays and Try-Something-New Thursdays. He accepts these special activities on a certain day without any hesitation at all. I think he loves this idea of structure and routine. It also keeps things unique and fun.
This also teaches him, I believe, that some things in life are "treats," not givens. He has to earn them. And some things are not good for our mind and body if we do them too much. Also, it reinforces the very difficult lesson that we cannot have everything we want all the time.
Here he is playing Nintendo on Nintendo Sunday. Oh, he can also "buy" 30 minutes of Nintendo on Fridays from his prize store and boy does he get excited about that.
Parenting tip: Get their eyes checked early!
But for some reason, it never occurred to me to take him to the eye doctor. I figured that came later. I figured if he had a problem, we'd surely know it. I figured wrong.
Last summer, just before Brady turned 7, he was learning how to target shoot with his BB gun (under very close supervision by his step-dad and I, of course). His step-dad kept telling him to aim with his right eye since he's right-handed. Brady got frustrated and finally said, "But I can see better with my left eye. My right eye is all googly!"
And a few months earlier he had gotten a vision check at school. All it said was that when he tracked their finger he looked down to the left. At the time I thought nothing of it. But now I do.
It turns out his right eye is weaker than his left and is a little bit of a "lazy eye." His left eye had been compensating which is why for most things - reading, writing, watching TV - there was no obvious problem. If we'd waited any longer, there might not have been any way to correct it. But because he was young enough, we were able to get him glasses and use a patch a few times a week to strengthen his right eye.
After today's eye doctor visit, we learned the two eyes are close to being balanced, though his right will always be a little weaker. But with glasses, he has 20/20 vision. Yay!
So the lesson is: Take kids to the eye doctor as young as possible! If there's a problem, you'll be able to correct it much easier than if you wait.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
A new goal: No-Screen Saturdays
I made a decision today to go no-tech on Saturdays. We don't have a lot of tech. No fancy phone or gaming system. We do have some old Atari games you can plug into the computer and I'll include that, as well as the computer and the Nintendo DS. But I do find us getting drawn to those things - me to the computer and Brady to the Nintendo - more than we should on the weekends.
The only screen we will watch is the TV, hopefully together. And I will see where this leads us. I'll just have to double-up on blog posts Friday.
The only screen we will watch is the TV, hopefully together. And I will see where this leads us. I'll just have to double-up on blog posts Friday.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
How people in the south see snow :)
Saw this posted on Facebook and it is SO true! When I first moved to South Carolina, having grown up in Kansas and spent a long year in Salt Lake City, Utah, we got 2 inches of snow. Holy cow, you'd'a thought it was a blizzard. We got a day and a half off work and all the stores sold out of bread and milk. I thought, what the heck, this is just a light dusting back home!
Mulberry pie & Crockpot Italian chicken
Crockpot Italian chicken
One of the tastiest, easiest dinners I've ever heard of or made is this:
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1 package of chicken breasts
Potatoes, carrots or other additions, could be mushrooms, black olives, onions, mixed veggies etc.
Put everything in the crockpot and cook on low all day long. Then serve over hot cooked rice. YUM!
If you have access to fresh mulberries from a tree, this pie is the absolute best in the world. It is my favorite pie. If not, you could probably use any kind of berry that you get at the store - blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry. I have not yet tried making my own crust so I just pie one at the store. Such a simple recipe.
4 cups of berries
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour
Mix together, pour into pie shell, time with pie crust. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream or Coolwhip.
For picky eaters: Try Something New Thursday
My 7-year-old has spent a lot of time worrying about food and avoiding anything he's never tried. And with good reason. You can read here about how we finally discovered his allergy to egg when he was 4 years old and how that has affected his eating habits.
Ever since then I've worked toward helping him trust food again and expand his repertoire of foods. Growing a garden did wonders. And now, we've started Try Something New Thursday. That way once a week something new can be introduced, something he is certain does not have egg. He may or may not like it, but he only has to try one bite. That one bite is required for him to have a treat that night because eating a variety of foods is crucial to our health.
Here was this week's trial (there are two items because we happened to have both and Havarti cheese didn't technically count as he'd had it a year or so ago, LOL.)
He liked the Havarti and actually ate more than one bite. The olives he ate one small piece of one, said "It tastes salty," but then didn't want any more.
I think we can make this fun, something to look forward to and a non-combative way to get him to try new things.
Ever since then I've worked toward helping him trust food again and expand his repertoire of foods. Growing a garden did wonders. And now, we've started Try Something New Thursday. That way once a week something new can be introduced, something he is certain does not have egg. He may or may not like it, but he only has to try one bite. That one bite is required for him to have a treat that night because eating a variety of foods is crucial to our health.Here was this week's trial (there are two items because we happened to have both and Havarti cheese didn't technically count as he'd had it a year or so ago, LOL.)
He liked the Havarti and actually ate more than one bite. The olives he ate one small piece of one, said "It tastes salty," but then didn't want any more.
I think we can make this fun, something to look forward to and a non-combative way to get him to try new things.
You're in a small town when... 7, noon, 6 sirens
... you can set your watch by the 7 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. sirens. It's a comforting part of the routine of life here. But Heaven forbid you should hear a siren outside the designated times. It either means tornado or fire!
Crockpot Mex-lasanga, Taco Potatoes & Sheperd's Pie
Here are a few things I cooked in the last week. All are quick, easy and healthy.
Easy Shepherd's Pie (I cut this one out of a magazine somewhere)
1 lb ground meat (I used venison)
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
4 oz cream cheese, cubed (I did not use it for this recipe as I didn't have any and it was still GREAT! You could use some milk instead)
1 cup shredded cheddar (I've used shredded mozzarella as well)
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables (canned works well too or even fresh cut up)
1 cup beef gravy (I don't eat anything beef, so I make a gravy using the sauces I brown the meat in (see below) and then add 1 Tbsp corn starch (flour would work too) mixed in water)
Brown meat in skillet and drain (I browned the venison in a mixture of soy sauce, Worcestershire and liquid smoke). Mix mashed potatoes with cream cheese (or milk and butter if you don't have cream cheese on hand) and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese until well blended. Stir vegetables and gravy into the meat. Spoon meat and vegetables into a square baking pan. Cover with potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until heated through.
Crockpot Mexican Lasagna Stack Up (Found this at Family Fresh Meals blog)
Tortillas (the original recipes says 12-14 small ones, I used 4 large ones)
2 cups shredded cheese
1 Tbsp fajita seasoning (I used taco seasoning cuz that's what I had)
28 ounce can of tomatoes
15.5 oz can of beans (I used pintos)
15.5 oz can of corn (or frozen)
2 cups of salsa (I used homemade)
2 cups shredded chicken (I used one large can of chicken breast meat, you could also use browned ground meat or just beans)
I also added black olives and you could use onions, green chilies, jalapenos, sour cream, guacamole, whatever you can think of.
Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Lay down one layer of tortillas, enough to cover the bottom. Spread a layer of tomatoes, a layer of beans, a layer of salsa, fajita seasoning, chicken and then corn. Top with a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat the layers until a couple inches from the top. I repeated mine 3 times. At the top, for the final layer, do a layer of tortillas, topped with the rest of the tomatoes and cheese. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
Twice Baked Taco Potatoes (This came from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures)
4 potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
2-4 Tbsp milk
1-1/4 cup shredded cheese
1/2 pound ground meat, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning
Preheat oven to 375. Scrub potatoes, pierce with fork or knife and bake 1 to 1-1/4 hours (or just microwave like I did!). Let cool for about 10 minutes, then cut baked potatoes in half and scoop out potato from the skin. But leave enough to have a sturdy shell for the filling. Mash the potato filling with sour cream and milk (I didn't have sour cream so put a little lemon juice in milk to sour it a bit, like buttermilk). Stir in 1 cup of cheese and seasoned taco meat. Spoon filling into potato skins and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
I went ahead and made filling with 1 pound of ground venison, and also added some beans. What we had left over we'll roll up in tortillas for breakfast! Yum!
Easy Shepherd's Pie (I cut this one out of a magazine somewhere)
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
4 oz cream cheese, cubed (I did not use it for this recipe as I didn't have any and it was still GREAT! You could use some milk instead)
1 cup shredded cheddar (I've used shredded mozzarella as well)
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables (canned works well too or even fresh cut up)
1 cup beef gravy (I don't eat anything beef, so I make a gravy using the sauces I brown the meat in (see below) and then add 1 Tbsp corn starch (flour would work too) mixed in water)
Brown meat in skillet and drain (I browned the venison in a mixture of soy sauce, Worcestershire and liquid smoke). Mix mashed potatoes with cream cheese (or milk and butter if you don't have cream cheese on hand) and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese until well blended. Stir vegetables and gravy into the meat. Spoon meat and vegetables into a square baking pan. Cover with potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until heated through.
Crockpot Mexican Lasagna Stack Up (Found this at Family Fresh Meals blog)
Tortillas (the original recipes says 12-14 small ones, I used 4 large ones)
2 cups shredded cheese
1 Tbsp fajita seasoning (I used taco seasoning cuz that's what I had)
28 ounce can of tomatoes
15.5 oz can of beans (I used pintos)
15.5 oz can of corn (or frozen)
2 cups of salsa (I used homemade)
2 cups shredded chicken (I used one large can of chicken breast meat, you could also use browned ground meat or just beans)
I also added black olives and you could use onions, green chilies, jalapenos, sour cream, guacamole, whatever you can think of.
Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Lay down one layer of tortillas, enough to cover the bottom. Spread a layer of tomatoes, a layer of beans, a layer of salsa, fajita seasoning, chicken and then corn. Top with a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat the layers until a couple inches from the top. I repeated mine 3 times. At the top, for the final layer, do a layer of tortillas, topped with the rest of the tomatoes and cheese. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2 hours.
Twice Baked Taco Potatoes (This came from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures)
4 potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
2-4 Tbsp milk
1-1/4 cup shredded cheese
1/2 pound ground meat, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning
Preheat oven to 375. Scrub potatoes, pierce with fork or knife and bake 1 to 1-1/4 hours (or just microwave like I did!). Let cool for about 10 minutes, then cut baked potatoes in half and scoop out potato from the skin. But leave enough to have a sturdy shell for the filling. Mash the potato filling with sour cream and milk (I didn't have sour cream so put a little lemon juice in milk to sour it a bit, like buttermilk). Stir in 1 cup of cheese and seasoned taco meat. Spoon filling into potato skins and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
I went ahead and made filling with 1 pound of ground venison, and also added some beans. What we had left over we'll roll up in tortillas for breakfast! Yum!
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wisdom from my Mom...discipline is love
My Mom has always told me that while us kids (me and three older boys, yikes!) didn't believe it or understand it at the time, she disciplined us because she loved us. This stems from her growing up. Her mother died when she was 11 and she and her two older sisters were raised by a single father in the 1950s who had no idea what to do with all these girls.
Discipline was not on his radar and the girls tested the limits. She said in retrospect, she did things to get his attention just to see if he cared. He did care, she knows he did, but he didn't know how to show it through loving limits and teaching through consequences.
So I tell this to Brady now, that teaching him through boundaries and discipline and consequences is a part of love and parenting. Of course he doesn't buy it and refutes it very expressively as only he can do. But I'm hoping one day he will look back and see it as I - and my mom - see it.
I want the best for him. I love him and don't want to see him head down the wrong path. It'd be easier to let him get away with stuff, at least in the short term, but it will not help build his strength of character. It will not help him succeed in the world we live in.
It's my belief if you infuse love and communication into everything you do, one day they really will understand.
And, as I've learned so often over the years, Mom was right. :O)
Discipline was not on his radar and the girls tested the limits. She said in retrospect, she did things to get his attention just to see if he cared. He did care, she knows he did, but he didn't know how to show it through loving limits and teaching through consequences.
So I tell this to Brady now, that teaching him through boundaries and discipline and consequences is a part of love and parenting. Of course he doesn't buy it and refutes it very expressively as only he can do. But I'm hoping one day he will look back and see it as I - and my mom - see it.
I want the best for him. I love him and don't want to see him head down the wrong path. It'd be easier to let him get away with stuff, at least in the short term, but it will not help build his strength of character. It will not help him succeed in the world we live in.
It's my belief if you infuse love and communication into everything you do, one day they really will understand.
And, as I've learned so often over the years, Mom was right. :O)
You can save lots & get stuff free at the store!
Here is an example of grocery shopping I've done this week and how just a little time spent on strategy (as always, I recommend fellow Kansan the Money Saving Mom to learn how to do this) will help you save tons of money. Our grocery budget for a family of 3 and 3 pets is somewhere between $60 and $80 per week, so $240 to $320 per month. I used to spend double and at times triple that.
Here were some of my savings this week:
I spent a total, with tax, of $12.13 for this bunch of groceries at Aldi yesterday. It includes 14 avocados (19 cents a piece on sale), a gallon of 2% milk ($1.98 on sale) and 2 pounds of shredded cheese (each $3.29).
I spent a total, with tax, of $12.38 at Dillons for these, including 10 cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes (49 cents each, some were tomatoes with chilies and some were with cilantro and lime), 3 cans of spaghettios (92 cents each after sale and doubled coupon, for hubby and I not Brady!), 2 jars of Dawn dish soap (49 cents each after doubled coupons), pack of 3 individual pop-top cans of chicken for Brady's lunch ($2.79 on sale from regular $2.99) and a FREE tube of Carmex after a doubled 50 cent coupon and on sale for $1.
FREE toothpaste! Or rather 6 cents worth of tax on a tube of Colgate toothpaste at Dillons, on sale for $1 with a doubled 50 cent coupon.
Here were some of my savings this week:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Funny things Brady says... about mom
Yesterday when he was doing who-knows-what at the end of 5.5 days of us home together 24/7 while he was sick:
Me: "Brady, you are really frustrating me." I pause. "Actually, I'm allowing myself to get frustrated by what you are doing."
Brady, without missing a beat: "That's right. I can't MAKE you get frustrated. You know, when you're really angry at me, you would never admit that."
Ha! Laughing: "You're probably right. But right now, you need to..." I can't even remember what it was he was doing, LOL. He's so intuitive.
Me: "Brady, you are really frustrating me." I pause. "Actually, I'm allowing myself to get frustrated by what you are doing."
Brady, without missing a beat: "That's right. I can't MAKE you get frustrated. You know, when you're really angry at me, you would never admit that."
Ha! Laughing: "You're probably right. But right now, you need to..." I can't even remember what it was he was doing, LOL. He's so intuitive.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thoughts of summer...
Just yesterday a rush of excitement about summer rushed through me. Here we are with highs in the 30s and finally I am starting to anticipate the season of gardening and going the lake and wearing shorts. We can fish and watch bugs and get out the sprinkler.
"I can't wait until we can go to the pool again!" I told Brady, feeling giddy about the whole idea.
It's my philosophy (and my explanation to Brady when he moans, "Why do we even HAVE winter?") that we have winter so we can appreciate summer and summer (in the 110s here) so we can appreciate winter. I believe it.
And spring and summer? They're there to give us a break, keep us on our toes and help us transition. Here's looking forward to summer! Bring it on! (Of course come about August I'll be saying, ugh, I've had enough of sweat, flies, mosquitoes, ticks and poison ivy! Bring on the winter!)
Part 1: Can society get back to basics & focus on what's real?
The first was:
"Nissan makes this process foolproof with its Easy-Fill Tire Alert system on the 2013 Altima, Sentra and Quest. Start filling the tire with air and the car will give you three short honks when you’ve reached the proper tire pressure."
The second was:
"By now, we’re all completely efficient with, if not dependent upon, the applications on our smartphones. Many vehicles are integrating our favorite apps through systems that connect to our cellphones or through systems like Chrysler’s Uconnect that accesses cloud-based apps through a cell connection in the vehicle’s radio. Uconnect gives users access to Bing-connected search, a voice-to-text app, Wi-Fi on demand and more."
Clearly I am a fan of technology or I wouldn't be writing this blog. Technology has a place in life. But I fear our culture has become obsessed with technology, really truly dependent on it. To the point we cannot do something as simple as put air in our tires. To the point it has gone beyond having a place in life and has begun replacing life.
It's not rocket science for Pete's sake. You read the recommended pressure in your car's manual or on the tire and carry a tire gauge in your car. Have we honestly gotten to the point where we need a car - a machine - to do it for us?
And what, we can't even drive now without being 100 percent connected to everything, all the time? When is the down time for reflection and growth and calm? Time to just be?
The breakdown, in my opinion, is that life has become too focused on intangible things. Things that you can't touch and smell and experience. Things that cannot provide love, comfort, health, a real sense of accomplishment or a true personal connection with someone.
They consume our time and our energy. Facebook and Twitter. Movies. Constant "breaking" news. An app. A game. A text. These things aren't real. They aren't physical or material or crucial to a good life. They are quick and fleeting and ultimately unfulfilling.
Life a hundred years ago was hard to be sure. It's no wonder people didn't make it much past 40 or 50. Now we have machines to take care of a lot of our physical needs - cooking, traveling, cleaning our dishes and clothing.
No longer do we have to scrabble around to secure food, cut wood for a fire, haul water, make or mend clothes. That relief of exertion on our bodies has led to longer, fuller lives. But the trade-off, I fear, is the spark that makes us human. Dependence on ourselves, one another, on God, and not on technology. Connection and communication, real communication, in person that leads to better relationships, better lives, better communities.
Continued in part 2 ....
Monday, January 21, 2013
Reusing saves money & teaches creativity
After my post on our throw-away society, I got to thinking about the ways in which I reuse things and found there are lots of ways I do this in day to day life. I'll bet you do too. I'm always looking for more. When a need arises, I try to think of what I already have that will fill it. And before I throw something away, I think about whether there's a place it can be used.
This also teaches Brady how to think "outside the box" or "outside how to use the box" and leads to creative solutions. I've already seen him use household items in creative, non-intended-use ways, and he encourages me to recycle and save stuff for bath toys.
1) Print on the back of printer paper. Every scrap of paper that has one blank side, I reuse when printing coupons, recipes, notes, etc.
2) Donate magazines to a friend, library or doctor's office. I'm not near as good about this as I should be, but I am going to try to do better. At least I do recycle them.
3) Instead of buying outdoor toys for sand, digging or water play, use things you already have: cups, plates, bowls, old colanders, spoons, Frisbees, etc.
I always keep a box of these kind of toys in the trunk of my car and a plentiful amount outside. Below are pictures of when Brady was 2 and 3 years old. I used to take the box out at a local park with a gravel play area and also to a local sprinkler park. I would always bring enough that other kids could join in with him and they always did. Nothing is more fun for kids than a bunch of cups and spoons along with water or sand.
4) There are also many different ways of recycling household items to make fun games. Below you'll see an old Sprite bottle with a sock rubber-banded to it. This makes a really fun bubble snake. Find the directions here. You'll also note a milk jug ball scoop, which makes for lots of fun tossing balls back and forth or even scooping up sand. You can find ball scoop ideas here. Wow, I just found this cool idea for a different kind of ball toss too!
5) When my husband and I got married and moved in together, I didn't have a bedside stand. But an old wooden filing cabinet filled the bill and an unused detached dishwasher in the kitchen became my filing cabinet. Why buy more stuff when you can find non-traditional solutions you already have?
6) Just about anything can house pens and pencils for easy access, which I find helps Brady when he has the idea to write something. This vase holds Brady's pencils for homework. They are always available for him and sharpened whenever he needs them. An old jar works great too. And old cups and jars work great for plastic utensils and writing instruments at the office!
7) And old can makes a great laundry room trash can, especially paired with a re-used grocery store bag! Even a box will do!
8) I save all the puffy envelopes I get from friends and family, or freebies and samples I get int he mail. I never have to buy a puffy envelope. Just tape a blank sheet of paper with your new addressing information to cover over the old and you'll save money and trees!
9) We use old
milk or water jugs to fill our animals' water outside. It'd also work for bird feeders or potted plants.
10) Brady's Prize Store is made out of three shoe boxes taped together and a few sticky notes.
11) His shoes are also stored on a shelving unit out on our back patio. That also helps him be independent as he can easily find and put away his shoes when he comes in or goes out.
12) Frozen meal trays make a great snack tray for kids either at the table or when you're on the road in the car or going on a picnic. They don't break and typically already have convenient divisions.
13) Lots of people save and reuse butter or Coolwhip containers, but I much prefer containers I can see through. So I save salsa and hot-food containers, and salad containers from fast food restaurants.
14) I save and reuse Brady's chocolate milk jugs from fast-food restaurants. It is cheaper for me to fill one up with milk and add my own chocolate sauce for his lunch box than buy 6 of them for $3.50. I also use small butter dishes and condiment containers to pack food for his lunch and also plastic utensils.
15) Boxes are good for everything and perfect for organizing! This chocolate covered cherry box (a Christmas present from hubby) was perfect for my "will be used in the near future" recipe cards and this small box on the left holds quick items to pack for Brady's lunch.
16) I store my homemade bread crumbs in an old clear-sided potato salad container.
17) I never buy steel wool, sponges or scrubbers. I use reusable dish rags and when something is really stuck on, I reach into my bag of saved mesh bags. They work just as well as store-bought scrubbers.
18) Wherever we go, I bring along a couple of re-filled water bottles. I save juice, coke and water bottles, and keep them in the frig for a cool drink at a moment's notice. This makes certain we get enough water even on the go.
19) I buy only dish soap on sale (usually for around 50 cents a bottle) and then mix it half and half with water in a reusable hand soap pump. You'll also notice a dish soap bottle with just water in it. We don't have a spray hose for our sink, so I just fill up a couple of those (I need to get a bigger one! But for now I use two smaller ones) with water and squirt it when I need to rinse down the sides of the sink.
20) I save old chip containers, pickle jars and creamer containers for throwing away greasy, yucky stuff so that it doesn't leak out or smell in the trash can.
21) The same as above for sand and water toys, use old cups, empty plastic containers, spoons and pots as bath toys. I don't think I have ever purchased a bath toy for Brady.
22) Use old toothbrushes also as scrubbers. I have some by my sink, my washer and dryer, and outside for the old bottles I collect and clean.
23) Tissue boxes work great for storing plastic grocery bags, napkins, paperclips, buttons, small toys, dish rags, anything you have a lot of you need to store.
24) Alltoid or other mint tins are great for coins, paper clips, rubber bands, twist-ties, etc. Perfect for the office or desk at home.
25) Come spring time, I am ready to plant some tomato, squash and pumpkin plants ahead of time from seeds I saved from last year's garden. Egg cartons work great for this.
26) And lastly, my favorite, is Brady's "Invention Party Bin." I'm not sure if we'll actually have the invention party that he, well, invented. He seems to have lost a little interest. But if we do we have several boxes worth of things that we'd normally throw away that can be used to "invent" whatever comes to kids' minds. Things like cardboard pieces, plastic lids, plastic bags, containers, twist-ties, washers, string, bits of hose, whatever we can think of, we just toss it in the bin. Even if we don't have the party, Brady can get out the bin whenever he wants and make something new. Fun, fun!
This also teaches Brady how to think "outside the box" or "outside how to use the box" and leads to creative solutions. I've already seen him use household items in creative, non-intended-use ways, and he encourages me to recycle and save stuff for bath toys.
1) Print on the back of printer paper. Every scrap of paper that has one blank side, I reuse when printing coupons, recipes, notes, etc.
2) Donate magazines to a friend, library or doctor's office. I'm not near as good about this as I should be, but I am going to try to do better. At least I do recycle them.
3) Instead of buying outdoor toys for sand, digging or water play, use things you already have: cups, plates, bowls, old colanders, spoons, Frisbees, etc.
I always keep a box of these kind of toys in the trunk of my car and a plentiful amount outside. Below are pictures of when Brady was 2 and 3 years old. I used to take the box out at a local park with a gravel play area and also to a local sprinkler park. I would always bring enough that other kids could join in with him and they always did. Nothing is more fun for kids than a bunch of cups and spoons along with water or sand.
4) There are also many different ways of recycling household items to make fun games. Below you'll see an old Sprite bottle with a sock rubber-banded to it. This makes a really fun bubble snake. Find the directions here. You'll also note a milk jug ball scoop, which makes for lots of fun tossing balls back and forth or even scooping up sand. You can find ball scoop ideas here. Wow, I just found this cool idea for a different kind of ball toss too! 
5) When my husband and I got married and moved in together, I didn't have a bedside stand. But an old wooden filing cabinet filled the bill and an unused detached dishwasher in the kitchen became my filing cabinet. Why buy more stuff when you can find non-traditional solutions you already have? 
6) Just about anything can house pens and pencils for easy access, which I find helps Brady when he has the idea to write something. This vase holds Brady's pencils for homework. They are always available for him and sharpened whenever he needs them. An old jar works great too. And old cups and jars work great for plastic utensils and writing instruments at the office!
7) And old can makes a great laundry room trash can, especially paired with a re-used grocery store bag! Even a box will do!
8) I save all the puffy envelopes I get from friends and family, or freebies and samples I get int he mail. I never have to buy a puffy envelope. Just tape a blank sheet of paper with your new addressing information to cover over the old and you'll save money and trees!
9) We use old
milk or water jugs to fill our animals' water outside. It'd also work for bird feeders or potted plants.
10) Brady's Prize Store is made out of three shoe boxes taped together and a few sticky notes.
11) His shoes are also stored on a shelving unit out on our back patio. That also helps him be independent as he can easily find and put away his shoes when he comes in or goes out.
12) Frozen meal trays make a great snack tray for kids either at the table or when you're on the road in the car or going on a picnic. They don't break and typically already have convenient divisions.
13) Lots of people save and reuse butter or Coolwhip containers, but I much prefer containers I can see through. So I save salsa and hot-food containers, and salad containers from fast food restaurants.
14) I save and reuse Brady's chocolate milk jugs from fast-food restaurants. It is cheaper for me to fill one up with milk and add my own chocolate sauce for his lunch box than buy 6 of them for $3.50. I also use small butter dishes and condiment containers to pack food for his lunch and also plastic utensils.
15) Boxes are good for everything and perfect for organizing! This chocolate covered cherry box (a Christmas present from hubby) was perfect for my "will be used in the near future" recipe cards and this small box on the left holds quick items to pack for Brady's lunch.
16) I store my homemade bread crumbs in an old clear-sided potato salad container.
18) Wherever we go, I bring along a couple of re-filled water bottles. I save juice, coke and water bottles, and keep them in the frig for a cool drink at a moment's notice. This makes certain we get enough water even on the go.
19) I buy only dish soap on sale (usually for around 50 cents a bottle) and then mix it half and half with water in a reusable hand soap pump. You'll also notice a dish soap bottle with just water in it. We don't have a spray hose for our sink, so I just fill up a couple of those (I need to get a bigger one! But for now I use two smaller ones) with water and squirt it when I need to rinse down the sides of the sink.
20) I save old chip containers, pickle jars and creamer containers for throwing away greasy, yucky stuff so that it doesn't leak out or smell in the trash can.
21) The same as above for sand and water toys, use old cups, empty plastic containers, spoons and pots as bath toys. I don't think I have ever purchased a bath toy for Brady.
22) Use old toothbrushes also as scrubbers. I have some by my sink, my washer and dryer, and outside for the old bottles I collect and clean.
23) Tissue boxes work great for storing plastic grocery bags, napkins, paperclips, buttons, small toys, dish rags, anything you have a lot of you need to store.
24) Alltoid or other mint tins are great for coins, paper clips, rubber bands, twist-ties, etc. Perfect for the office or desk at home.
25) Come spring time, I am ready to plant some tomato, squash and pumpkin plants ahead of time from seeds I saved from last year's garden. Egg cartons work great for this.
26) And lastly, my favorite, is Brady's "Invention Party Bin." I'm not sure if we'll actually have the invention party that he, well, invented. He seems to have lost a little interest. But if we do we have several boxes worth of things that we'd normally throw away that can be used to "invent" whatever comes to kids' minds. Things like cardboard pieces, plastic lids, plastic bags, containers, twist-ties, washers, string, bits of hose, whatever we can think of, we just toss it in the bin. Even if we don't have the party, Brady can get out the bin whenever he wants and make something new. Fun, fun!
