MomReviews

The Elf on the Sled

Written by Elizabeth on November 17, 2008 – 1:08 am -

With Christmas just over five weeks away, many of our children will start bringing home handmade Christmas decorations from school. I not only save every decoration my kids make, I hang them proudly on my Christmas tree. Every year, I carefully unpack the paper stars outlined with glue and sprinkled with glitter, the pinecones coated with glue, sprinkled with glitter and tied with a ribbon for hanging, and the snowmen made from pompoms, and give them places of honor right on the tree.  There are no store bought ornaments that mean more to me than those treasures, made with my childrens’ own hands.

Parent Bloggers Network asked us to post this weekend about our handmade treasures, and although I could have gone down to the basement and unpacked the kids’ decorations, what I decided to show instead is a decoration my husband made in 1979 when he was 11. I don’t remember when he first showed it to me, I assume his mother must have given it to him when he got his first apartment. But ever since it came into our house, it’s had a place of honor. Right now it lives on the bottom shelf of our large curio cabinet in the living room. I present to you, our handmade treasure, the Elf on the Sled:

Chris made this at his Grandma’s house, so he doesn’t know where the elf figure or the sled itself came from. He thinks the sled might have been a kit that he glued together. At one time the elf was also lightly glued to the sled but it’s no longer attached. The best part? He gave the sled a name:

Yep, “Mean Mother”. His Mother passed away two years ago, but he tells me that she wasn’t mad that he named the sled that. So there you have it, our handmade treasure. This PBN Blog Blast is sponsored by Klutz, the makers of award-winning activity books for people of all ages. With Klutz books, you can learn everything from juggling to face painting, and they are available at most bookstores. Even I could probably learn to do crafts with those books!

Tags: crafts, decorations, handmade, Holiday, homemade, Parent Bloggers Network
Posted in PBN, holidays | 1 Comment »

My mashed potato disaster

Written by Elizabeth on November 7, 2008 – 12:40 am -

In 2006, Chris and I hosted members of both of our families for Thanksgiving dinner. Chris used our Betty Crocker cookbook to come up with a delicious herb rub for the turkey, which turned out beautifully, as you can see from the photo, and tasted delicious. We had crescent rolls, and stuffing, and Chris’ Grandma’s sweet potato casserole, and everything turned out really well, except for one thing-the mashed potatoes.

See, despite having been 39 years old at the time, I had never actually made homemade mashed potatoes. I know! I always bought the instant kind, but for Thanksgiving dinner, especially my first Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to make homemade potatoes. I peeled, cut, and boiled the potatoes, drained them, and put them in a bowl. I broke them up with a fork, then dumped in butter and milk and turned on my electric hand mixer. And you know what I got?

GLUE. See, when cooked, potatoes are very starchy. And when that starch mixes with COLD MILK AND BUTTER (yes, I know now, you are supposed to bring them to room temp first), that potato starch turns to glue. Fortunately, I had a box of instant potatoes in the pantry which I made instead, and no one minded one bit. It could have been a disaster!

If you have any questions about how to cook a turkey this year, you can call 1-800-BUTTERBALL to virtually talk turkey with their holiday meal preparation experts, or visit Butterball.com for Web chats with a few bloggers we all know and love - Chris Jordan (Notes from the Trenches), Susan Wagner (Friday Playdate), and Roxanna Missong (Miguelina) on November 11, 18 and 25 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CST. They’ll answer all your turkey related questions.

But take it from me, if you attempt homemade mashed potatoes, please let the butter and a measuring cup of milk come to room temperature before adding them to your potatoes. Unless you want to serve a bowl of glue.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Butterball.

Tags: Butterball, cooking, Potatoes, Thanksgiving, Turkey
Posted in Food, PBN | 7 Comments »

Book Review- Once Upon A Potty

Written by Elizabeth on October 21, 2008 – 2:00 pm -

Alona Frankel wrote her first book on how to use the potty in 1975, for her son Michael. 33 years later, Once Upon A Potty-Boy and Once Upon A Potty-Girl have come out in sturdy board books to be introduced to a new generation of potty-trainers. The books I received from Parent Bloggers Network also came with companion Audio CDs that include introductions from the author, the Once Upon A Potty story read by Jennifer Morehead, The Potty Song, and more.

The illustrations are my favorite part of this book, I remember the brightly colored pages with coordinating flowers from when I read the Boy version of the book to my sons. But here’s the thing, and it’s the one thing I don’t like about this book-the potty that Prudence (the girl in the Girl book, the Boy character is Joshua) gets from her Grandmother looks absolutely nothing like any kind of potty used today, it looks like a big water pitcher. I learned from her website that Ms. Frankel is from Poland, and perhaps that was the kind of potty used there in 1975 when she wrote the book. And as humorous as “is it a birdbath, is it a flowerpot, is it a hat?” is, it doesn’t help potty-trainers make the connection between the illustration and what they are using themselves. Just my opinion.

I’m sorry to say that reading this book and listening to the CD has NOT changed my daughter’s mind about potty training. She will turn 3 on November 18. She will climb up on her stepstool and sit down on the potty ring insert, and sit there. She will not actually do anything however. This past summer I kept her bottomless when I could, thinking it would make it easier for her to go in the potty since she wouldn’t have to remove clothing first. Nope. She just peed and pooped on the floor. My husband and I have both asked her, does she want to be a big girl and go pee and poop in the potty? No, she says, just in my diaper. Sigh.

I got so frustrated that I set up a phone call with the pediatrician who works with Pampers. She asked me a few questions and then pointed out that if Kaitlyn is wet when she wakes up from short naps, that means her bladder is not ready. When she starts waking up dry, that means she is able to hold it in until she gets to the potty. That’s when she’ll be ready to potty train. So, I am going to be patient. I’m not going to pressure her or create more stress than necessary. I’ll keep Once Upon A Potty out where she can read it whenever she wants, and who knows, maybe it will help. Can’t hurt.

Oh, I forgot to add, Parent Bloggers Network also sent me the Boy version of this book. I plan to give it away but right now I am swamped, so watch for that coming up here soon. Thanks PBN!

Tags: Alona Frankel, Once Upon A Potty, potty training books, potty training boys, potty training girls, potty-training
Posted in Book Reviews, PBN | 4 Comments »

Do I take shortcuts? Um YEAH, I have three kids!

Written by Elizabeth on October 11, 2008 – 11:24 am -

For this weekend’s Blog Blast, Parent Bloggers Network teamed up with Ore Ida to promote their new Steam ‘N Mash potatoes. If you haven’t tried them yet, I bought some the second I saw them in the freezer case at the grocery store. It’s a bag of already peeled and cubed potatoes that steam in the bag in your microwave, then you pour them into a bowl, add butter and milk and mash. Voila, fresh mashed potatoes without having to peel! I bought the Garlic Seasoned Potatoes, they also come in plain Russet, Three Cheese, and peeled and cubed Sweet Potatoes which I want to try next!

So, already peeled and cubed potatoes is one shortcut I can take to get dinner on the table quickly. PBN and Ore Ida want to know what other shortcuts I take, either in the kitchen or in everyday life. My most-used shortcut is one that probably a lot of other parents use, and that’s keeping a diaper bag completely stocked at all times. I have a large Land’s End diaper bag that always has a travel pack of wipes, two or three Pull Ups, a clean bib, a t-shirt and shorts or a long sleeve shirt and knit pants in Kaitlyn’s current size (depending on the season), a box of Crayola crayons, a coloring book, and a few inexpensive toys (Happy Meal toys are good for this). That way, if something comes up and we suddenly have to jump up and run out of the house for some reason, I can just grab that bag without having to stop and run around like a crazy person throwing things together.

I figured out the diaper bag shortcut after having to buy entire packs of diapers or completely new outfits because I took one of my babies out on an errand and had them blow through the one diaper I had left in the bag. And after stuffing potato peelings down the garbage disposal and having them clog up the sink drain, requiring my husband to make several late-night runs to Home Depot for plumbing supplies, I learned that letting Ore Ida do the peeling for me is not such a bad shortcut to take Get more information about Ore Ida Steam ‘N Mash potatoes at http://www.ilovemashedpotatoes.com/, and check out the Parent Bloggers Network blog for more reviews.

Tags: cooking, food reviews, Ore Ida, Potatoes, Steam n Mash
Posted in Food, PBN | 1 Comment »

A special post for World Egg Day

Written by Elizabeth on October 7, 2008 – 10:08 am -

Friday Oct. 10 is World Egg Day, and to celebrate, Parent Bloggers Network asked me and eleven other bloggers to create meals featuring eggs with an international flair, that were kid-friendly and budget conscious as well. They gave us each $50.00 to buy ingredients, so I took full advantage. After about an hour of Googling international egg recipes, I found one called “Italian Scramble” on mrbreakfast.com. With eggs, potatoes, sausage, cheese, onions, tomatoes, and red and green peppers, I knew this would make a hearty dinner with something everyone in my family would like.

I assumed I was supposed to use the entire $50.00 on meal ingredients, so in addition to what I needed for the Scramble, I also bought Dole Hearty Italian Salad Mix (it comes with Chianti Vinaigrette, Parmesan and salami, plus an Italian herb seasoning packet) and a loaf of Italian bread.

While I heated olive oil in a large frying pan and peeled and cubed a potato, Ryan removed the sausage from the casings. The potato went in first, and I stirred it just a few times so the pieces wouldn’t fall apart. When the potato cubes were firming up, I broke the sausage into little pieces and added that to the pan. Ryan grated some parmesan cheese while I peeled and quartered the onion, and then I showed Ryan how to use the Cuisinart mini food processor to chop it into little pieces.

Meanwhile I cut half of each pepper into strips then chopped the strips into a fine dice. They look so pretty, and the red and green with the white of the potato make the colors of Italy, so there’s the international part of the recipe

I let the sausage, potato, onion, and peppers cook until the sausage was no longer pink and the onions and peppers were softening, while at the same time, the potato was getting a nice crusty brown on the outside. It smelled SO good.

The eggs needed to be well-beaten, so I got out the blender and had Ryan help Kaitlyn crack a dozen eggs into it, then added 3 tbsp. of milk and blended it for a few seconds until all the eggs were completely blended together.

The eggs and milk mixture went into the pan along with the drained tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese. I let that sit for a few minutes, then used a spatula to lift the eggs from the bottom of the pan and let the uncooked part run down, once the eggs started setting, I broke them up into pieces and started stirring everything together. Now, to be honest, it looked a lot less appetizing once everything was stirred together. Next time I make this, which I undoubtedly will, I’ll scramble the eggs separately, then serve them next to the sausage/potato mixture instead of combing it all together.

That isn’t to say that it wasn’t good, because it really, really was. I popped the Italian bread into the toaster for a minute to get golden brown, buttered the pieces, then served the kids scoops of the Italian Scramble which we sprinkled with the fresh parmesan, with the toast on the side. This was Kaitlyn eating it-”Mmmm. mmMMMM. MMMMM.” I tried to get it on video but of course my video camera was at the end of the tape and I couldn’t find a new one. Oh, and I also didn’t take a photo of the FINISHED DISH, duh. We were too busy shoveling it into our mouths! You can see it on our plates here:

To get more recipes that use eggs, visit the American Egg Board’s Incredible Edible Egg website. To get the Italian Scramble Recipe including my revisions for doubling the recipe and step by step instructions, visit my blog MomCooks. And this Friday, celebrate World Egg Day by making something with eggs!

Tags: cooking, Eggs, Parent Bloggers Network, Recipes
Posted in PBN, Photos | No Comments »