Chicken Salad (I know you love my creative title)

This is one of the throwdown meals in our house, when I realize my kids were hungry about fifteen minutes ago. I usually have these items on hand and it can be made in a big hurry.

Brown chicken in butter (on stove, in fry pan). I usually use 2-3 chicken breasts but it really doesn’t matter. Just use enough that will feed your whole family. (I also just use my kitchen shears and cut the chicken into bites, dropping them into the pan as I go.) When it’s cooled some, put it in a big bowl.

Add: a couple of stalks of washed celery (I think in that photo I had used 3), chopped into chunks. Dump in rinsed grapes, some raisins, and nuts (walnuts usually, pecans work, too). Mix in two generous spoonfuls of mayo, splash with lemon juice and stir to coat. That’s it! My kids (and hubby) GOBBLE this up, which is another reason it’s an oft-rotated meal at our house.

Which makes me curious.  What’s your go-to meal when you’re in a pinch?

Every mother should read this book

My cousin Vangie gave me a copy of this book when she returned my itty-bitty girl baby clothes a couple of months ago. I just this past weekend had a chance to pick it up and have been devouring it (pun totally intended) ever since.

It’s an easy read in that she’s a good author and it flows well. It’s logical and fascinating.  Coincidentally, I’ve been following Jo-Lynne’s similar journey and it just so happened that one of the first books she read was Nina Planck’s first book, Real Food. (All that to say, I was already sensitized to it before Vange ever gave me a copy.)  Also, as a Christian, Planck’s principles just follow the created order of things, which I appreciate.

Anyway, I just can’t say enough good things about it.

Beads

(I couldn’t post about this until after Mother’s Day, when the grandmas had received their necklaces from my kids.)

This was a perfect (pre-bedtime) preschool activity and the kids LOVED it.  I just got some jewelry string and beads from Walmart and let them go to town.

Madeline’s asked to do this again a few times since then.

Cheeky

But that’s okay because now I have a Red Hot Obedience Pot sitting on my windowsill

Yesterday morning our mother’s fellowship group had a guest speaker (who is a shirt-tail relative of mine, i.e. my cousin’s sister-in-law) do a little workshop on her Behavior Boosters – a line of simple and easy ideas to motivate positive behavior in children. It was excellent.

(Although, here’s the honest truth, Gretchen and I looked at each other afterwards and decided we felt like the lamest mothers ever.)

From her website: “Behavior Boosters is a book series designed to encourage anyone involved with children to motivate positive behavior using fun and simple ideas.

–Ashley Goertemiller, Author & Speaker

It’s a great resource, be sure to check it out!

Product review: Sweet Pea Ring Slings

I don’t often blog about things I buy (because hello, awkward) but this gem I definitely want to highlight because I looooove it. And there may be another mama out there looking for a good ring sling.

Anyway, Andy got me a silk sling for Christmas, per my wish list. Mine is a little greener of a blue than the one pictured but the cream is the same. It’s from Sweet Pea Ring Slings and the owner, Christie, is fabulous to work with. I highly, highly recommend.

A couple of particular things I love about this sling… It has a light padding on the ring shoulder that is hidden within the fabric — it is amazingly comfortable. I also love her “Eclipse” shoulder with the vertical stitching (not horizontal across the fabric above the rings). It’s visually pleasing and yet very sturdy.

The tail isn’t too long but long enough. I wore Arianna napping in my black one (also from SPRS) at the park one day last week, and the tail was the perfect length to have over her head, shielding her from the wind and sunlight. It’s also a great nursing cover.

Happy babywearing!

(Disclosure: this is not a sponsored post.  We bought the sling ourselves and nothing was given in return for this post; I simply want to share the love.)

Merry Christmas!

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Birth Announcement!

Now that they’ve been mailed…

Wish I could send a *real* one to everyone!

One of the easiest desserts ever

We had lunch with our shepherding group last Sunday and I brought this “cake” for dessert. I realized I’d probably never shared the recipe here, yet it’s one of my favorites. I got it from a friend when I worked at the law firm years ago.  Before kids.

Banana Split Cake

Smash to crumbs a package and a half of graham crackers:

(That’s actually more like two packs. I’m more of a toss-it-in kind of cook rather than a measure-precisely kind of cook.)

When fully crushed, mix in 1 stick of butter and 1/4 cup of sugar:

And press into a 9×13 pan:

Cream together 16 oz soft cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar:

And spread across crust:

(Really, I could have used more of the cream cheese mixture.  I found this very hard to spread so thin.)

A layer of banana slices: (I think this was about 7 small bananas.)

And then spread a 15oz can of (drained) crushed pineapple over the bananas:

Top with Cool Whip:

Immediately before serving (so the chocolate sauce doesn’t bleed), drizzle with chocolate sauce and chopped nuts.  I only put nuts on half in case anyone in our group didn’t care for them.  You’re also welcome to put a fake cherry on everyone’s piece but I hate those things and refuse to buy them.

You’re welcome.

Babylegs/Leg warmers

I asked a friend to send me this link for DIY babylegs since I was having some difficulty finding cute tights to match one of Madeline’s fall skirts.

The pack of socks I bought at Target came in three, so I attempted the first pair with some that aren’t meant for that skirt. This project takes no time at all and can be worn on babies (babylegs) AND toddlers/little kids as leg warmers. I’m sure they’ll make the rounds between my three girls.

(Here’s a baby boy version of the babylegs. Although I would have to draw the line at (older) little boys wearing leg warmers. I’m just sayin’.)

I forgot to take a picture of the socks. I’m sure you know what socks look like.

Nice n’ toasty. (Not that we need that yet, however.)

Time Savers

Our fall schedule is a little bit nuts. The only day of the week we don’t have anything… er, okay, we have something every single day.

The kicker is getting Drew to school by 8:45. If you know us well, you know we’re usually not even UP by then, certainly not ready to be out the door. (Working on that. Ahem.)

So I just wanted to share something that helps me save morning time and results in a breakfast that my kids will gobble up. (I also do this on a lot of Saturday nights for the Sunday morning race to church.)

That is the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and chopped walnuts (to the side) ready to be made into muffins, come the morning. All I have to do is add the oil, milk, egg, and smashed bananas.

I even get the pan ready:

Just don’t forget to turn the oven on the second you roll out of bed.

(Not that I’ve done that or anything.)

Feel free to share your time-saving tips in the comments; I need all the early-morning help I can get. (And yes, I also make school lunches the night before.)

New & Improved

Alternate title: Just Call Me ‘Miss Industrious’

Alternate alternate title: Laundry Basket Makeover

So for almost the two years that I’ve had it, my laundry basket has driven me nuts. The cloth liner was too small; when we pushed clothes down into the bin, it would fall in and get bunched up along with the clothes. I’d sigh and attempt to pull the sides of the liner up while pushing down the clothes. It was never a good system.

And also? It was torn:

…on both sides.

(Sigh.)

I priced new laundry bins during one of my trips to Target when my mom was still here. And then I realized suddenly that instead of spending $40 on a new basket, I could buy fabric and make a new liner. (I know, I’m such a genius.)

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought some white denim. So for $8, I was able to make a new liner that is much bigger and THAT makes me happy:

I based the pattern off my diaper pail liner, which is basically just a rectangle with an elasticized opening at the top. (I used a French seam across the bottom and one side.)

(Bow entirely superfluous.)

See? Lots more room in there:

Oh happy day.

hair flowers

A couple of years ago I made a few hairband-flowers to wear in my hair for special occasions and places like church. They looked like something that an adult would wear and the colors were more grown-up (i.e. no neon cotton-candy pinks).

Max somehow got a hold of my white one and ripped it to shreds. But Madeline’s been wearing the brown one and LOVES having it in her hair.

So I’d been meaning to make some more, just for her, with colors that would better match her clothes. I made them last weekend while my sisters and mom and I watched a movie:

I basically hot-glued a strip of ribbon over another, longer strip that I used to tie the hairband to the flower. And then hot-glued the ribbon ends down once the band was firmly in place.

She thought we should put them all together in a vase of water. Perhaps I should think up a cute vase-like holder for storing them in…

(But without the water.)

Stuff we’ve been enjoyin’

I absolutely am not being paid by anyone for recommending these products. They’re just little things we’ve been using recently and have been very happy with, so I thought I’d pass along.

Pillsbury® simply…™ Cookies The convenience of pre-made dough without all the additives and HFCS.

Stretch Island Fruit Co. all-natural fruit leather A much better alternative to fruit snacks.

Munchkin Snack Catcher™ Way better than the Snack Trap we’ve used for Adelaide. These saved my sanity (and carpet) on our recent road trip.

Happy Heiny’s Training Pants I refuse to spend one more dollar on night-time pull-ups for Madeline but don’t want to let her go free because every few nights she’ll be a teensy bit wet. (And I have a thing against extra laundry.) So I bought these washable training pants and they’ve worked like a charm. She’s actually not wet them yet!

Hide ‘Em In Your Heart – for the kids, Bible memory verses set to music (CD & DVD set) by Steve Green. If we’re in the car, the kids ask for it.

(Coincidentally, it’s Thursday! Linking up to Things I Love Thursday. Perfect!)

Ready for the 4th, Part II

I got my trusty models to try on their 4th of July outfits so you can see what they look like on. (Don’t worry, I paid them in chocolate chips.)

I had taken a couple of pictures of Adelaide in the morning (above) but then later remembered she had cute navy shoes that might work with the dress and threw it on her again last night after her bath:

And here’s Madeline’s finished version:

Now we just have to decide on something fun to do!

Ready for the 4th

I’ve been going back and forth about buying my girls cute 4th-of-July shirts or making them some sort of fun patriotic dresses.  And then in a lightbulb moment, I remembered about this idea and knew it would be perfect.  (Hat tip to Mer.)

Last night I finished Adelaide’s, The Bandanna Dress, 4th of July Version:

As promised by the tutorial, this was SO EASY. It took hardly any time at all, way less than an hour. And bandannas (which come in a bunch of different colors, by the way) are only $0.94 at Walmart.

(In case you’re wondering, I AM going to make Madeline’s as a shirt.)

Donuts!!

(Originally published October, 2008.)

I got this idea/recipe from Sarah’s blog (In the Midst of It) and in case you don’t read her, I’m going to pass it along. Because this is a recipe you want, trust me.

My sisters came over last night to do their laundry and so we tried these out and watched a movie. UnBELIEVEably quick and easy. And GOOOOOOD.

Homemade Donuts: Pop open a can of refrigerated biscuits. Poke a hole in the center of each biscuit (I used my Pampered Chef apple corer):

And then fry the donuts (and holes) in a few inches of oil (I use canola):

Flip over once (this takes less than a minute, make sure you don’t go far!):

Drain on paper towels:

Roll in cinnamon & sugar:

Perfect for a Saturday morning or a Sunday evening at home. Best served still warm.

(You could also glaze them with a powdered-sugar glaze or frost them with chocolate icing.)

The Icing on My Pink Cake

We found out yesterday morning that we are having another girl. I don’t think either of us were surprised, since I’m carrying exactly like I did with both Madeline and Adelaide and with Drew I was the size of a house. (Just ask my friends, they’ll be happy to confirm.)

I’m excited… I can do this girl thing. I love hairbows and pretty dresses and crammed-full-of-junk purses. Andy’s excited, too; he’s just a little nervous about the wedding bills. He also mentioned being glad he at least has Drew and a male dog.  Drew has enough boy in him to last through about ten sisters.

The funny thing is… my granddad had four girls and a boy. My dad had three girls and a boy (and his dog was even a female). So… like Granddad, like Dad, and now like Andy.  Apparently we like to do things in patterns.

I’ll show you this cute profile shot, because I feel a little weird about showing *girl* shots on my blog.  (Call me old fashioned.)

Arianna Noelle

I realize not everyone reveals their baby’s name before birth.  We have with our other three and mostly because we’re not very good at keeping our secrets when we just don’t mind people knowing.  She IS a little tiny person, and we pray for her by name.

(Arianna – Latin, “very holy or very pleasing one.”)