Slow Down for the Season...

So as you know from my last post, I LOVE Fall!  Besides the cooler weather and the beautiful scenery the food is wonderful.  Fall is the time when I start to make heartier, homier meals.  It is the time for comfort foods to shine!  This is also the time I pull out my slow cooker from it Summer hibernation in the closet.  This Autumn, the slow cooker has been working overtime-from BBQ Chicken to Applesauce I have loved using it again. 

As far as slow cooking goes, I was always afraid to do it.  My Mom never used one when I was growing up and I was convinced it was because the house would go up in flames if left unattended.  This may have been a possibility with the crock pots of the late '70's but today's crock pots are super sleek and as far as I know super safe!  I have even left the house with the slow cooker on!!!  Me, nervous, anxiety prone me actually left the slow cooker on with NO ONE HOME!  Baby steps folks-I'm getting there.

So the first venture was applesauce.  My kids love applesauce and will eat it with anything.  When Matthew was a baby, I made all of his food and his favorite was homemade applesauce pureed with chicken.  Not much has changed except they'd much rather eat regular chicken separate from their apples.  This time around I made Brown Sugar Applesauce.  It is a dark, yummy applesauce filled with warm caramel sort of flavors.

BROWN SUGAR APPLESAUCE

8-10 apples, peeled, cored & sliced (I used a combination of Golden Delicious and Gala)
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker and mix well.  Cook on LOW for 8 hours.  Stir every so often.  When the time is up, you can mash with a potato masher for chunkier sauce or use an immersion blender for a smooth sauce.  Remember-the flavor of the spices will intensify in the slow cooker so if you don't love the punch of the spices, lower the amounts.

I kept sneaking apples out of the cooker-they tasted like yummy apple pie!

Finished product-darker than what I was used to, but super caramel yumminess!

I also tried a new chicken recipe last week.  I love barbecue anything.  From pulled pork to barbecue chicken, if it has barbecue sauce on it, I'll most likely LOVE it.  The recipe I tried was BBQ Chicken-a moist, yummy, flavorful chicken.  I used a few different slow cooker BBQ chicken recipes and took a bit from each one and this seemed to be my favorite.  I served the chicken with roasted potatoes and green beans.  I only add a few dashes of Tabasco because the kids won't eat it if it's too spicy.  I add some Tabasco to my own dish at dinner.  I totally forgot to take the pics of the process, but then again, do we really need to see pics of raw chicken?!?!

BBQ CHICKEN BREASTS

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz can tomato sauce
6 oz. water
2 TBS yellow mustard
3 TBS Worcestershire
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
dash pepper
dash garlic powder
4 TBS brown sugar
a few dashes of Tabasco
small onion, chopped

Trim excess fat from the chicken.  Sprinkle with Lawrys & rub into both sides of the breasts.  Spray the slow cooker with non stick spray and place chicken in cooker.  In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Pour over the chicken and cover the slow cooker.  Cook on LOW for 6 1/2 hours.  For a thicker sauce, you can cut the water to 4 oz. or leave the cover off for the last hour of cooking.

 

 

This season brings out my inner comfort food cook, so I can't wait to keep cooking and eating this Fall.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy these and it's almost time to make more applesauce! Next blog will be about pumpkins!!!!  Painting, picking and maybe even some carving.  Until then, enjoy the cool breeze and pray the rain stops-the minis and I need to get out and play in some leaves!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Sort Of and Dinner Schedules

That's right everyone...it's almost here!  I can barely contain my excitement!!!  Despite what you may be thinking, I am not referring to Christmas.  I am talking about, drumroll please.......FALL!  That's right-Autumn!  It's my favorite of all favorites-as if you couldn't tell by the excessive use of my exclamation points!  What is not to love about Fall?  First and foremost football has begun-college and NFL.  It's a Thursday night and I get to watch football (or listen to because I'm typing)  and have a beer with the windows open and a breeze blowing in.  It's almost time for cozy sweaters and fabulous layers and of course my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  This will then lead into my tie for best day-Christmas.  Fall is when I drive up to West Point with my Mom and go to an Army football game, something my Mom has done since she was in college...pre-my Dad days.  This will be Stina's first trip to West Point and I can't wait!  My house is starting to change over to it's brown, orange, yellow and gold decorations.  And let's not forget the smells!!!  Strong scents of apples, cinnamon, and pumpkin are found everywhere, from the grocery store to my own living room.  Te smells of Autumn put me in a great mood.  It is a smell that makes me think of comfort and snuggles.  Aren't you just getting the warm and fuzzies already.  Don't get me wrong, I love Summer.  My house is filled with shells, beachy smells and I would sell my soul for a Coppertone scented perfume.  I love the beach, getting a tan (I know..bad bad!), and summer veggies.  Mimi is home and the kids are running around the yard and swimming.  Summers in Mattituck with my family at our summer house are my favorite memories.  I think that as I have gotten older and had my my children, I crave organization.  Fall represents organization to me.  I think it goes back to when I was teaching-I bought my new supplies, decorated my classroom with fresh new ideas and go to start over with a brand new class.  Fall became my new Spring-a season of rebirth.  The added bonus is that as a natural curly haired girl who insists on straightening her hair DAILY (I should be committed or receive therapy for my hair trauma), the Fall is "good hair" time!  All Summer I fight, a mostly losing, battle against the humidity and big hair.  Not the good big hair kind that I like when I use a lot of spray and my giant rollers, but the bad kind.  The Streisand of the late 70's kind of big hair. 

This is also the season of cooking like a madwoman for me.  Once the weather gets a bit chillier Murph knows it's pumpkin bread time!  He patiently waits all Spring and Summer for my pumpkin bread season to start.  I only make it in Fall and Winter-got to build up the anticipation for him!  This is the time of year when my slow cooker comes out of the cabinet and I begin to bake and feed almost everyone I meet.  I also resume making our Dinner Schedules.  The Dinner Schedule is like a food bible in my house.  Cooking is sort of like my own personal religion, I have been known to break into song and possibly speak in tongues at the Farmer's Market when I see all the new fall veggies.  This carries over into meal planning for me.  Our Dinner Schedule came about for a few reasons.  First-it helps me to grocery shop much more efficiently.  If I know what I'm cooking two weeks in advance I can shop for those meals and eliminate wasting money on ingredients I didn't end up using.  Second-the planning ended Murph's constant question-"What are you cooking today?" Third-I need the organization.  Our house is chaotic at best and the Dinner Schedules help me to know what I'm doing each day.  It also helps to remind me to defrost things when I need to (something I could never remember).  Finally-I am most excited to cook in the Fall.   I love the ingredients specific to this season, so I am always looking forward to planning out the meals and browsing through my cookbooks and magazines.  The schedule generally takes the Summer off.  Our schedules are unpredictable in the Summer and we are rarely home, so there's no point to making a schedule.  And yes, I do deviate from the schedule.  It is not written in stone, just printer paper.  A few people have asked me about the dinner schedule so I figured I'd write about it.

I set aside an hour once every two weeks to plan out our dinners.  During this hour, I look through a few cookbooks and magazines that have recipes I wanted to try.  If I have a little more time, I go through my recipe files online and try to find new things I haven't tried.  I make a scrap list of all the recipes I want to use and then organize them by day.  I try not to do repeats within the two weeks.  I also try not to do back to back dishes-for example Chicken Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I try, not always successfully, to space main ingredients apart.  I also include at least one meat free day.  As far as side dishes and veggies go, I put them on the schedule for most days.  For any day without a veggie listed, a veggie is added but I usually don't decide on which one until I see what I have in the house on the day itself.  Once my scrap list is organized, I then go to my saved file-Dinner Menus-and type up two weeks worth of schedules.  These printed schedules go up on the fridge in the kitchen.  I then write my grocery list using the schedule as my guide. 

I find this has saved us money because we aren't wasting ingredients and I can work with my coupons and the sales at the store.  I have been able to cut my big grocery shopping trips to once every two weeks and only make one other trip for fresh veggies or odds and ends.  I also make a weekly trip tp the Farmer's Market and will change the schedule or add to it when I find something especially yummy there.    

Below are two of the schedules coming up.  I can't wait to start cooking this coming week!

Harvest Moon

It has been a busy summer!  This summer started off rocky but thankfully with lots of family and great friends, it actually ended up being a pretty good season so far.  The minis, Mimi and I drove to Georgia to visit my sister and her husband and of course my father, Big Daddy.  The kids love Mimi and Big Daddy's house-it's much bigger than our house and they can run around to their heart's content-no downstairs neighbors to worry about.  Murph flew down later in the trip and we all had a great vacation going to outdoor fairs, farmers' markets and the pool.  We had a chance to stop in North Carolina to visit with my sister in law and my husband's cousins and their children.  We even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Sesame Place especially for the minis and they LOVED it!  But now we are back at home base and I'm ready to pick up where I left off-yay!

My Grandpa has been growing tons of veggies since before I was born and though his garden has gotten a little smaller, it is still amazing to me that a 90 year old man will go out in hot humid weather to tend to his tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, swiss chard, basil, eggplants and accidentally this season, JALAPENOS!  As a kid there were at least a dozen types of veggies being grown throughout the summer at our house and it was wonderful!  It only encourages my hope that when I have a house with a real yard I can grow enough veggies in my own yard to not have to buy much produce in the summer and just enjoy the ones we've grown!  This post is a tribute to my grandpa, who is probably outside right now at 7:20 am watering, because the tomatoes I used were his own grape tomatoes!

This is also a shout out to, guess who...NIGELLA...again!  I am not really a crazy stalker, but I do love her recipes and find they will come out well without fail.  This one is from the Nigella Express cookbook.  I used her recipe but made some changes to work better for me. 

Moonblush Tomatoes are sweet and yummy!!!!  They are cheaper than sundried tomatoes (basically free if you grow your own tomatoes or have an iron man 90 yr old grandpa who grows his own for you) and you can use them anywhere-salads, pasta dishes and I've even drizzled them with balsamic and included in an anitpasto.  They are called Moonblush because you leave them in the oven overnight (oven off).  When you wake up the smell in the kitchen is pure heaven & I usually use them right away for lunch or if I can wait, for dinner.  They do keep in the fridge for about a week or 2, but I can't attest to that because they are generally eaten with 3 days in my house.

Moonblush Tomatoes 

1 lb. grape tomatoes (Nigella says about 24-I usually have about 40 at a time)
3 TBSP olive oil
sprinkle sea salt
sprinkle thyme
1/4 tsp sugar
4 or 5 basil leaves
3 or 4 cloves garlic

Heat the oven to 450 F.  Do this about 15 minutes before you plan on putting the tomatoes in so the oven has enough time to build up some heat. 

Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them cut side up on a cookie sheet (with sides).  Toss them in the olive oil, salt, sugar, and thyme-making sure to turn them cut side up again.

Not sure why I took a picture of me cutting them-think I needed an "action shot".
 

 

 Do a rough chop of the garlic-big chunks are okay. Tear the basil leaves. Sprinkle the garlic and basil over the tomatoes. 

I unfortunately took this pic before the basil had gone on, but you get the idea.

Put the tomatoes in the oven and turn off the heat.  Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight.  Don't open the door if you can help it - this allows heat to escape and who wants escaping heat to ruin their moon tomatoes!


That's it-when you wake up your kitchen smells awesome and you have these slightly wrinkly, cooked down, yummy, sweet tomatoes ready for anything.

Enjoy them!  I love them and they are handy to have around all the time, but are even better when I know the tomatoes have been home grown by my grandpa and most likely picked by Stina.  Stina has been following in her great grandpa's footsteps and this summer grew carrots and green beans in my grandpa's garden.  She has so far only gotten one bean and we aren't too sure what is going on with her carrots but it's a start.  Mimi said if she doesn't get a carrot soon she's going to stuff some baby carrots in there so she won't get discouraged-4 year olds may not know yet they don't come out of the ground nicely trimmed and shrunken to a baby size!

Next blog will be Chicken and white wine sauce...that's what's for dinner here later! 

Father's Day...I Know It's Late!

So I need to apologize up front...this post may be a little sad.  I know I don't usually do sad well, and you are probably reading this thinking it was false advertising.  I wrote some happy, regular old posts, lured you into reading the blog, then...WHAM, I hit you over the head with sad and heavy.  I used pancakes and homemade laundry detergent as a blogging bait and switch.  I promise you this is not the case!  The original post began as a totally benign, slightly sappy Father's Day post about what great dads and grandpas I've known and a cute interview idea I saw and tried with the minis for Murph.  The interview will be in my next post, but I just had to do this first. 

My Dad, Papa, with the minis

So let me start off by saying that I have been blessed.  I know everyone says that but I really have been blessed.  I have known some wonderful men in my life and my first men were my Dad and my Grandpa.  My Dad has forever been my biggest cheerleader and when needed my biggest critic.  He has loved me unconditionally and taught me to love others the same.  He may live in Georgia, but rarely has a day gone by where we haven't spoken at least once or at the very least shared voicemails with one another.  I also have been blessed to have an amazing Grandpa-he is 90 and still cracking me up.  My Grandpa is like a second father to my sister and me.  We always lived close to my grandparents-either across the street or upstairs.  My Grandpa STILL chases after my minis in the yard and grows the best tomatoes I have ever eaten.  I love the summer because my grocery bill drops considerably once his garden is in full bloom. 

My Grandpa, Jojo, with the minis

 And of course I can't leave out my Murph!  He's not only a pretty great husband, but an amazing father to our two minis.  My kids light up when Murph walks into a room, and with good reason.  I couldn't have imagined that the same guy who drove too fast, stayed out too late and tempted fate too often on the bike ramps he haphazardly constructed would be the same man who would wear a pink straw hat for tea and know all the words to the Fresh Beat Band songs to make his children happy.  

Murph and the minis

Poppa with Stina

When I married Murph, sure I got a great guy, but I also gained his family.  You always hear about "the INLAWS" (generally said with a certain tone). This is only natural when you are merging families and these families have their own traditions, ideas and personalities.  It isn't always easy, but I am lucky to actually have, dare I say it GREAT INLAWS!  I'm not going to make you all queasy and say we all have the perfect relationship at all times.  Both our families are human and I am sure, like everyone else, that there have been times we conflicted on something or disagreed on an issue.  Above all though, my family has accepted Murph and his family with open arms and they have done the same for my family and me.  This brings me to the other father in my life...my father in law.  Murph's father, Pat opened his arms to me from the moment Murph and I began dating.  Pat had raised four daughters and two sons and always treated me as if I'd been there since day one!  Pat passed away on Monday night, the day after Father's Day.  I think it was Murph's uncle who said to me at the wake-his death was expected but so unexpected.  This was exactly it-Murph's father had dealt with a variety of health problems for many years but he had always seemed to push past things and we all sort of thought that he may outlive all of us.  I never realized how hard it would be to say goodbye to him.  Pat was a fixture in the house-he was ALWAYS there!  He was either watching an old war movie, Walker Texas Ranger or playing with his grandchildren.  I think I took it for granted that he would always be there-sharing a strange fact, telling a story about Rockaway, snoozing in his spot on the couch or sneaking the foods he was not supposed to eat.  I don't think I'll ever drink a cup of tea without a pang in my heart.  He was inadvertently funny and that's what I will always remember.  Whether he was announcing the arrival of an Omaha Steaks delivery with gusto or telling me the plot of a Steven Seagal movie, he made me smile.  He didn't like complicated, just ask the TV remote and VCR.  It was simple with Pat-he loved his family and was happiest when he was sharing a story or a meal with them, just talking and being together.  I don't think I'll ever really grasp the idea that he isn't going to be there.

Poppa, my father in law, with Matthew

This week has been a rough one.  Most people who know me know that I am not good with change.  Three years down the line and I am just starting to realize that my Grams won't be sitting at the kitchen table when I walk into my Grandpa's house to visit.  I hate saying goodbye and I cry at the drop of a hat (thanks hormones and pregnancies).  I saw, in action this week that when family comes together, you gain an amazing strength.  So as cliche as it may sound, yes...I have been blessed.  Blessed to have a been born into a wonderful family whose love is unending.  I am blessed to have gained another family by marrying Murph, my inlaws who have accepted me into their hearts and their lives without skipping a beat.  I have been blessed to have friends who without even a word knew gave me their love and support.  I promise, I'll write about the interview next blog.  Thought I'd get it in today, but sometimes you have to change it up a bit.

     

Love & Pancakes

I am in love!  You are probably expecting me to say I'm in love with Murph or my kids, and yes of course I am.  This is a different love however.  I am in love with Nigella Lawson-there I said it!  I love her!  I really do-I love her shows, her cookbooks, her recipes, her website and Nigella herself.  I am basically cooking my way through Nigella's cookbooks.  I am still a devoted Lidia Bastianich fan, but I can have more than one love can't I?  I am not the only one in our house with a little crush either.  No matter where he is or what he is doing (with the exception of napping), when Matthew hears her voice come on the TV at 3:00, he stations himself in front of the television and just watches, in awe, along with his mommy.  I'm not sure what it is exactly about Nigella.  Her voice is mesmerizing and soothing, she is undoubtedly beautiful, and her recipes are some of the best meals I've ever made.  Oh, so I guess I do know what it is then-all these things I just listed.  I guess there is a reason that she is considered one of the sexiest women in Britain.   

In my effort to get back to basics and save a little here and there, I came across a Nigella recipe for pancakes.  She had been making them on an episode of Nigella Express and they looked divine. (yes pancakes can be divine).  Pancakes had long been my nemesis.  I tried different mixes-from gourmet to Bisquick and no matter what I did they were either thick heavy doughy weights or thin burned drips.  I decided to give it a go one last time before I retired my cast iron griddle pan forever.  I had all the ingredients already in the cabinets, so I set out to make pancake mix hoping to eventually create the same fluffy beauties that Nigella served up on her show.  My helper, Stina was in the kitchen with me as we ventured into the world of homemade pancake mix.  She helped me to measure the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  I figured this could double as her Math lesson for the day too.  Within minutes we had a mix all ready for the next day's breakfast. 

The next morning I was determined to make pancakes that were at least okay, if not maybe even a little bit good.  The first batch went on the griddle and cooked up quickly and looked good, no burning, perfect size and shape.  Each batch after seemed to easy to be true.  Breakfast was ready and now the true test-Murph and the kids.  No one expected much, after many failed breakfasts of pancakes at my hands.  The first bite was like a little cloud melting-slightly sweet and light.  These little perfect disks of honey colored goodness were a success!!!!  Everyone loved them!  With Nigella at my side (in spirit of course-haven't been lucky enough to actually meet her) I had made the perfect pancake!!!  I can't even begin to count how many pancakes I have made since that first day with Nigella's recipe, but let's just say, we are now on our 7th batch of mix and it lasts a while.  We now eat pancakes twice a week and have even been guilty of three times around the holidays.  Stina eats the leftovers (rarely are any) spread with Nutella and rolled up for a mid afternoon snack.  Below is Nigella's recipe for the mix and the batter.  Yummy-enjoy!

Nigella Lawson's Pancake Mix (from Nigella Express)

4 cups flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar (I use homemade vanilla sugar)

Mix together and store in a jar.  I use my extra canning jars.

Making the Batter:
1 cup pancake mix
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

Heat a flat griddle (I use a double burner cast iron griddle.  Nigella says not to oil it, but I do use a swipe of vegetable oil just in case).  Whisk all the ingredients together.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter onto the griddle and wait for the tiny bubbles.  Flip when you see the bubbles.  It is about a minute per side. 

To make homemade vanilla sugar, I just put about 3 cups of sugar (not exact) into a jar and add an open leftover vanilla bean (leftover from making marshmallows).  Close the jar and leave in the cupboard.  Within 2 or 3 days, your sugar is lightly scented and flavored with yummy vanilla.  Just keep adding more sugar as you use it. 

These are possibly the best pancakes I have ever tasted.  There is just something so yummy and light about them, they become addictive.  Hope you love these as much as we do! 

Finding My Inner Frugal

I distinctly remember my Mom's coupon holders.  They were always in her purse and they embarrassed me to no end when I was young.  My parents have never been what you would call cheap.  My Mom is probably Bloomingdale's biggest customer and in the 80's she practically lived in Lord & Taylor.  She has an entire closet (as well as our closets after my sister and I moved out) devoted solely to shoes and her Burberry collection.  She has more Tory shoes than Tory Burch herself I think.  When it came to grocery shopping though, my Mom was never one to pass up a bargain.  She used coupons during every trip and for some reason it irritated me as a kid.  I'm not sure if it was the waiting around while she leafed through her coupon files or the fear that someone from school would see the coupon stack and think we couldn't pay full price. 

As an adult, with my own income, I had learned to shop from the best-my Mom.  I even went so far as to work in Bloomingdale's 59 street more for the discount than anything else.  As much as I loved a sale at Nordstrom's, I still didn't bother to be frugal with most things.  My Tory collection had even begun to rival my Mom's and then it happened...I HAD TO RESIGN!  When I gave up my teaching position and started staying home, I also gave up my financial freedom.  I no longer had "my own" money.  I now had to justify my shopping to my husband who didn't think that the newest Vera Bradley pattern was a big enough reason to run to the mall. 

Enter my inner frugal...

It started as a coupon here and there.  I figured if I could show Murph that I was trying to save here and there it would put his mind at ease about only one income.  I loved it!  Looking at the grocery bill after a big grocery trip and seeing the total saved was exhilarating.  And I understood my Mom a it more.  I did run into problems though-I was a devoted organic shopper.  This made coupons tricky, there aren't many for organics, but I did manage to find some and sign up for sites that emailed me weekly. 

The frugal in me began to take over.  Before I knew it, I was saving everywhere.  I even bought 3 coupon files.  I did have to give up certain organics.  I still follow my dirty dozen list and buy those produce items as organic and our dairy is all organic, but I had to give up others.  I also began to make things and in finding my inner frugal ended up discovering that I was pretty good at it.  I started sewing, cooking from scratch (later this week I will be praising Nigella Lawson's pancake mix-we live on it)  and even making my own laundry detergent.  After reading everywhere about getting back to basics, I decided to try it myself.   And you know what, I love it!  My laundry detergent worked and when I had my helper stirring the mixture it became not only a money saver but a Mommy-Stina project.  Easy to make and best of all, super cheap!

1 1/2 bars Fels Naptha (grated)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
1 gallon water

Boil the grated soap with the water in a really big pot.  Stir the mixture until the soap melts.  Add the Borax and washing soda and stir to mix.  Once the mix starts to boil, add about 1 1/2 gallons more hot (tap hot) water and stir.  Let the mixture cool to room temperature.  Pour this into a 5 gallon pail, add another 1 1/2 gallons of hot water and leave overnight.  Next morning- stir it (or have Stina stir it for you).  I then put it into jugs (old juice containers and an old detergent container).  I used 2 parts detergent to 1 part water.  I adjusted it to this ratio this time around-I felt my last batch was too thin.  It doesn't smell as good as the tropical fresh ones, but I am pretty sure our clothes are clean.  There are no flies following us around and my kids don't have dust clouds like Pig Pen around them, so I guess it is good.  Best of all, it cost me around $8 and lasts 6 months. 

So my inner frugal wins again.  And I even have some money leftover, maybe a shopping trip downtown with my Mom is calling!  Thank you Mom for teaching me how to enjoy beautiful clothes, a good deal, shop frugally and still cook amazing dishes-using all my coupons for the ingredients :-). 

A rainy Day in May & the return of the Blog!

So it has been ages since I wrote a post for my Mommy blog, but I need to now.  I am still a stay at home Mommy, aka domestic goddess, as I've learned to refer to myself thanks to Nigella Lawson   (more to come on Nigella as the blog posts keep coming).  I am no longer the Mommy to just one mini, but Murph and I have added another mini to our clan.  Matthew arrived on March 30, 2011 and it has been crazy since then (good crazy).  I had no idea I could be as in love with two little beings as I am and still wouldn't trade being home for anything, but I am starting to realize that I need an outlet, hence the return of the blog.  I do not get a chance to be on the computer as much as I once was, but when I do get a chance, I read other Mommy blogs...surprise surprise!  Truthfully, some of my best Mommy ideas have come from other Mom blogs and of course my other addiction, Pinterest!!!  My sister, Missy, is doing her pinterest project on her blog-totally awesome idea and she is beyond creative so check out her blog too, Perfectly Flawed.

I figured if other Moms could write about their ideas, I might as well share mine too.  I have no delusion that my ideas are totally original or that I am the first to try these things, but I found that by reading other blogs and being on Pinterest, I am inspired to try things-just ask Murph-he's gotten to try some yummy dinners thanks to my girlfriends' pins in their recipe boards! 

It was a rainy day in May here in NY and the morning was dark and chilly, so Matthew gets to hang out in pjs most of the day and Stina gets to do some of her projects.  As a former teacher, I have tons of books that have been helping Stina prep for Pre-K in September.  She calls this time at the dining room table "Mommy School".  Mommy School comes complete with a ride on the school bus (the loveseat), a school bag (filled with her stuffies and usually my cell phone or various things from my wallet) and stickers for work well done.  Today during Mommy School, once we finished writing letters and adding (sort of-counting fingers and pictures) we decided to do a rainy day science project and we made Blue Gooey.  So simple, but she loved it. 

1 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
a few drops blue food color (not the gel)

Put cornstarch into bowl and slowly add water.  Mix around with hands and have fun squishing. 

The whole idea is to show that cornstarch is a thickener and see how it changes the water-Stina mostly loved the gooeyness.  Just don't do what I did-DO NOT make the goo the day before your child is having a portrait done with her baby brother.  Thanks to lots of scrubbing with a baby nailbrush and lemon kitchen soap, Stina will not be posing for her pictures with Grover hands  LESSON LEARNED!

The Blue Gooey is super simple and the best is that I had everything in the house-no rainy trips to Stop and Shop necessary.  If you don't have blue food color, make Red Gooey, or Yellow Gooey-whatever you have would work fine.  It managed to keep Stina busy and satisfy her love of messiness.  Clean up was a breeze to, except for the hands.  My favorite projects are cost friendly and kid friendly.

And this is my return to the blog world!!!  I'll keep you posted on all our family fun, drama and maybe even help with some cool Mommy ideas. 

Sweetness and smooches...