Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 c. water
2/3 c. white vinegar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 squirts ketchup
1 8-oz. can pineapple tidbits (including juice)
3 T. cornstarch

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together all ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

You can add any type of bell peppers to this sauce, making it even more delicious! We love to throw it in the crockpot with chicken breasts or meatballs and let it cook for a few hours, then serve with rice.

Tools for the Toolbox: Social Scripts

I'm always hesitant to post parenting stuff because I don't want it to seem like I think I'm World's Best Mom. I have issues with my kids, we all do. And I definitely have moments where I feel like I've failed as a parent. However, after working as a preschool teacher of a couple hundred 3-and-4-year olds, and now having my own as well, there are definitely some helpful tips I've learned along the way.

First off, teaching your kids "social scripts." We've all heard this exchange.... "Mom, I want that Polly Pocket and she won't give it to me!" What do we do? Option A, head in and figure out the nitty-gritty details of exactly whose turn it is with the odd miniature plastic doll, or Option B, tell the kids to solve their own problems.

I tend to lean naturally toward Option B. I feel that allowing your kids the opportunity to solve their own problems gives them the skills to interact with others, share, compromise, and experience unfairness. However, I think that oftentimes as moms, we don't teach them how we want them to solve a problem.

In my experience, you have to lay the groundwork. Teach them how you want them to solve problems, and exactly what to say. In our house, it might go something like this:
Audrey: "Mom, Jessica has the Mermaid Barbie and won't give me a turn!"
Mom: "Okay. It looks like you both want to play with the Mermaid Barbie. Audrey, first ask Jessica how many more minutes she wants to play with it."
Audrey: "Jessica, how many more minutes do you want to play with it?"
Jessica: "All day!"
Mom: "Jessica, you need to share, and you need to pick a number that's less than 10 minutes. Tell Audrey how many more minutes you want to play with the Mermaid Barbie."
Jessica: "Three."
Mom: "Okay, Audrey. In three minutes, Jessica is going to give you a turn with Mermaid Barbie."

The expectation for sharing in our house is that if you want a toy someone else has, you first tell them you'd like to play with it. Then, you ask them when they'll be done. The other child has to pick a number that's under 10 minutes. In some cases, we actually get out the timer. Most of the time, this interaction solves the problem and the kids just share after a while.

We also need to teach them to say things like, "I don't like it when you talk to me in that voice. It hurts my feelings." And, "I feel like you're bragging about having more Barbies than me. It makes me feel bad."

At first this takes a lot of coaching. But after a while, your help lessens, and you can just use promptings and reminders.

By teaching your kids the "social scripts" that you expect them to use, you will help them interact with their peers, and lessen the amount of time you have to spend refereeing fights around the house. Just don't be surprised when your daughter asks you how many more minutes you need the computer before she can have a turn at Playhouse Disney.

Easy Tomato Soup

Last night my mom and I were hanging out and suddenly realized it was 6:00 and we hadn't even started thinking about dinner. She had a great idea for tomato soup, I found a recipe online, tweaked a few things, and voila! Dinner on the table in no time!

Ingredients:
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced (this is a lot of garlic, because we enjoy it, but feel free to cut back here)
2 28-oz. cans diced or crushed tomatoes
4 c. chicken broth
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. salt
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. black pepper
3-4 drops hot sauce

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large pot, saute onion and garlic until onion is tender.
2. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 10-20 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Use immersion blender to blend to desired consistency (optional).

What's for Dinner?

I keep a list on Excel on my computer of the dinners my family eats regularly. When we're planning our weekly menu, we open the spreadsheet and glance through it to get ideas! Ultimately I want to put the ingredients into a spreadsheet with Produce, Pantry Staples, Dairy, and Protein, so that I could cut and paste to easily make a weekly grocery list. However, I haven't done that. :)

Here's what's on our list. What would you add? What are your menu staples?

Baked Potato Soup

Beef Stew

Beef Stroganoff

Beef with Broccoli

Breakfast for Dinner

Bruschetta Chicken

Burritos

Calzones

Carnitas

Cheesy Ham Soup

Chicken and Biscuits

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Chicken Crescents

Chicken Nuggets, homemade

Chicken Pesto

Chicken Strips

Chicken Washington

Chili

Chimichangas

Corndogs, homemade

Empanadas

Enchiladas

Enchilasagna

French Dip Sandwiches

Jambalaya

Macaroni and Cheese

Meatball Sandwiches

Meatloaf

Meatloaf Burgers

Navajo Tacos

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Salad

Pigs in Blankets

Pizza

Pizza Rolls

Porcupine Meatballs

Pork w/salsa verde

Potstickers (Lemon Ginger)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ribs

Roast Chicken

Shepherd's Pie

Sloppy Joes

Spaghetti

Spicy Honey Chicken

Steak Salad

Stirfry

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Taco Salad

Taco Soup

Tacos

Teriyaki Chicken

Tomato Soup

Tortellini

Tortilla Soup

Veggie Chowder

Fun Planting Activity!

We saw this activity in Family Fun magazine. Both the girls and the boys in our family loved it!

You take some seeds and plant them in baseball card sheet holders. Then attach them to your windows or sliding doors with little suction cups.

Water daily and watch them grow! The kids loved being able to see the seeds grow roots and spout!

Now we have these sunflowers and peas in the garden!

Game Closet Organization

Last week I reorganized our game closet. Since our last house was very limited in closet space, we've always kept our board games in a bookshelf. Since we do have closet space in our new place, we just moved the bookcase into the closet, giving us instant shelving! We keep our Christmas tree behind this bookshelf so that it doesn't tip backward into the space behind it.

Here are the important things to keep in mind when organizing games:

*First, if you don't honestly play them on a regular basis, get rid of them. Many people keep games because they wish they were the type who played them, or had people over to play them. But they really don't. If this is the case, get rid of them! Or get rid of all but your absolute favorites! One of my friends kept the games for adults out on a shelf in the garage since they didn't use them on a regular basis and her house didn't have much storage space.

*For kids games, make sure wherever they are stored has open space so that your kids can get their games in and out without making a mess. I wish we had just a little more space here, I feel we're a little too crowded. But the key to getting them to be put back is to make sure it's easy for the kids to put them back!

*Be creative about game boxes. There is nothing magical about the boxes to the games. When I was little, my mom took all our games out of their boxes, stored them in gallon ziplock bags, and put them in a file drawer. Takes up a lot less space! For my kids, when their puzzle boxes start to get thrashed, I cut the picture off, and put the pieces and the picture in a ziplock bag. This keeps the pieces from sliding out of a ruined, bent box.

*Make sure you have some containers for smaller games and parts. The clear container on the top is for card games, the red bin is church activities, and the turquoise bowl is for miscellaneous games/parts that don't fit anywhere else.

*Finally, be diligent about purging! Kids do not need 4 different versions of Go Fish. Make sure all the games are complete, in good condition, and played regularly. If not, out it goes! Games (especially kids' games) are easy to replace and often on sale, so if you come to regret giving one away, it is easy to replace.

I'd love to hear other ideas for organizing games!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

This morning I made these muffins off allrecipes.com for my kids. I've reposted the recipe below with a few very minor changes. These muffins are easy and delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.