Kindergarten preparation

Great outline to determine kindergarten readiness and plan activities before your child starts this fall. We are doing a lot of the things but I realized other ways I can be preparing my 5 year old as well as involving and engaging him more during the last few months and summertime before he starts kindergarten in August.

At home preschool activity

We have been lucky enough to participate in the Utah Upstart program with our two oldest children. While I don't always follow through on activities as I'd like, I appreciate the reminder of things I can with him. 

 

Have you had a chance to read “Baby’s Birthday” yet? If not, you can visit www.utahupstart.org/kids-corner/ to read the book with your child. After you’ve read the book with your child, you may want to participate in either or both of the activities below to ensure understanding and enhance your child’s learning experience.

Sum Up—one way to sum up is to answer two questions:

Who is the story about?

What Happened?

In this story, we could ask:

Who had a birthday?

(A baby monkey.)

What happened?

(The baby monkey celebrated his birthday. He received a ball, a balloon, and a bunny. He also had a birthday cake, a bottle, and some bananas.)

Creative Writing—after reading “Baby’s Birthday”, show your child some birthday cards.

Help you child write down some words you might expect to find on a birthday card (e.g., “Happy Birthday,” “I like you,” “Have a fun day”). Place the list of words in your child’s workspace, along with the appropriate paper and writing supplies. Then invite your child to design his or her own birthday card (this activity can be a great creative outlet for your child, as well as something special he or she can do for a special person).

Homemade Butter Recipe (and Provo Pioneer Day Extravaganza)

For the last two years I've taken my kids to the Pioneer Extravaganza. It's a fun city-sponsored event that celebrates the pioneers entering Utah on July 24th. It's a fun family event with great interactive activities for kids, including riding ponies. They have tons of games, crafts and hands-on activities including making butter. Here's the recipe they gave out:

MAKE YOUR OWN BUTTER RECIPE
1 jar with lid
heavy whipping cream
pinch of salt
yellow food coloring (if desired)

fill your jar 1/3 of the way with heavy whipping cream. Add salt and food coloring. Tighten lid and shake jar for 10 minutes or until butter has formed. Remove butter from jar. Squeeze out the remaining buttermilk and enjoy!

Lego Birthday Party Ideas

Pinterest had tons of great ideas but I was proud of my "original" Lego brick pizza slices for my son's recent 7th birthday party. We also bought a lot of Lego mini figures off of ebay and after each game or activity let the boys choose a piece and build their own Lego guy to take home with them as part of their treat bag. It was really fun! Oh, and if you need a quick, easy and frugal way to decorate a cake, save and cut out "Legos" from the cardboard box. The boys went nuts each choose which Ninjago character to have on their piece of cake. We played Lego games and watched Lego Clutch Powers. The Lego candy bricks, a package of fruit snacks and a snack size butter finger were all in a little treat bag with a cute thank you note (with a picture of a Lego mini figure, of course!).

Lemi Shine: My New Cleaning Friend

I like my house to be clean but I do not necessarily enjoy cleaning. I have a friend who says she'd prefer to clean toilets than cook. I wish we could trade and I'd cook and she could clean my toilets! We recently bought our first house and went from having a roll-away dishwasher in a postage stamp size kitchen to a nice sized kitchen with a regular, newer dishwasher. I was of course excited for this step up in the world but did not forsee having issues with yucky hard water, nasty white filmy dishes! yuck, takes all the fun out of a "new" supposedly nicer, newer dishwasher if your dishes are coming out gross. Luckily I had two friends recommend Lemi Shine  and after another frustrating washing experience stomped off to Walmart hoping to fix my problem. Luckily it has! I ran a treatment through an empty dishwasher to get out any hard water buildup then sprinkle a little in with each load. Right now I am using a Cascade Advanced powder dishwasher soap that I got at Costco (currently there's a coupon off it) and that with the Lemi Shine my dishes are looking MUCH better than any other detergent I've tried by itself (Kirkland gel from Costco and even the Finish tabs that say they include a rinse aid in the ball).

Lemi Shine is my new best friend! seriously, how did I never know such a product existed? My dishes finally are mostly rid of hard water spots (dang hard water here in Utah!) and disgusting detergent film and I've run a treatment through an empty dishwasher, working on the washing machine tonight (letting it soak overnight) and throwing one in the disposal tomorrow. Happy cleaning devices at our house now :) A big thanks my two good friends for sharing their secret with me. If you have never heard of or tried this and are having issues with dishes being clean or would like to do some deep cleaning of your dishwasher, washing machine and/or disposal look for it next time you're at the store (it's all natural too!). Gotta love it when keeping your house clean is a little more exciting and fulfilling.

How to better "speak" to my children in the ways they need

I read the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and appreciate his basic premise (though I usually don't ever agree with or hold 100% to any one theory). I haven't read his book based on the same ideas geared for children but would like to and appreciate the ideas from this chart. I often struggle to be attentive and focused with my children and I need to be more attuned to how I can best meet their needs and ways that are most meaningful to them.

Hubbard Mushroom Soup

Okay so I had to share a fun soup I made tonight! I have a base cream soup recipe I vary so there's really no actual recipe for this, let me know if you have questions :)

I had a quart bag full of cooked (pureed, I think) Hubbard squash from last year that had been in the freezer. Threw that in the crock pot with about 2 cups milks (mixed with 2-3 T. flour to thicken as it cooked) 2-2.5 cups water, spices (dashes of chalula, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, white sugar) and veggies (diced fresh mushrooms sauteed in minced garlic and butter and diced onions and celery sauteed in a bit of butter until translucent). Put on low and let it sit all day until about 1/2 hour before eating then added a few cheese ravioli (freezer from Costco) that needed to be used, not enough for a pasta meal. And a little shredded parmesan on top just before serving.

Oh my! It was tasty. I literally licked the crock pot putting the leftovers away and helped myself to a small tupperware container full instead of putting that one in the fridge, haha!

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always on the look out for good cookie recipes, I hate when cookies turn out yucky (my last try weren't even redeemable with vanilla ice cream, which is saying something!) My husband has a good choc chip recipe but it never seems to consistently turn out right when I try it and I really wanted something pretty fail proof. So I was thrilled when Lee brought cookies over last week that were so yummy. Here's the recipe (and I'm sure she will be humble and want me to add that she got the recipe from a co-worker a few years ago who used it for his base recipe for peanut butter cookies and oatmeal as well--so I'm excited to try those variations too--but since you don't know him and you do know Lee you can always think of these are HER cookies :) ) 

I was going to ask her if she ever halved the batch but it's hard to do 1.5 eggs and I hate messing with the protein/binding especially when first trying a recipe, so I made the full batch (it's just a lot of butter and shortening!) but after doing it once and freezing half the dough in ready-made balls I realized why ever make less than a batch this big for ease of future cookie baking :)

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups flour*

Cream shortening, butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix. Add salt and baking soda then flour (at least this is how I did it!). *Add enough flour so you can roll them in your hands to shape into balls  (for me it was the full amount). Can do less flour and add oatmeal as well. Bake for 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees (I didn't them for about 10 minutes, when they barely started to turn golden and crack on top). If frozen I did for closer to 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Finding Balance

I listened to a great question and answer session yesterday online from Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society (women's organization) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been seeking to find more balance as a mother, here are a few of the points (paraphrased, ideas that I gathered from what she said) that really hit a chord with me:

• Expectations (I would add, often unrealistic) we have for ourselves make life harder for us
• The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the key to finding balance
• Spend some time in the scriptures each day. Consistent time in the scriptures is the key. I love that she shared she doesn't necessarily set a certain amount of time or program for her study, that it varied from day to day, sometimes it was just a few minutes but she made sure everyday she was in the scriptures.
• Prayer
• She gives a great analogy of her mother-in-law who worked different work shifts in hard physical labor. She said as mothers we cannot work all 3 shifts, 2.5 maybe, but we need down time as well. S
• he said as a mother, the most important shift of the day is the afternoon shift because that is when all the children are coming home and they are needy. That is when you need to be "on call" at the "top of your game". I often start to lose steam and get distracted, especially when dinner prep time hits. This was a good reminder for me to be at the crossroads, as President David O. McKay has said.
• What you focus on is what you get. Wow! I need to reevaluate what my focus and time are being spent on because sometimes I am frustrated with myself and the direction life is going but if I'm not focusing on the best, most important things no wonder I'm feeling discontent and displeased.
• As we focus on what matters most, the unimportant melts away. 
• we will never be able to catch up! :) invest in things that are most important. It is often hard for me to determine how to spend time and get "everything" done but that's not possible, some things will need to go undone and hopefully I can learn to let that be the things that actually don't "need" to get done.
• She shared a very heartfelt, emotional story about her daughter asking why it took her mom a few weeks to come help after she'd had a baby. Sister Beck she did not remember what she had that was so pressing that she could not come to her daughter sooner, but that she knows she was doing the best she could at that time.
• Without the Holy Ghost you can't prioritize at all.
• look for opportunities to do things in tandem, I liked that suggestion (cleaning out closet with her granddaughters). priorities--focus on essentials.

Assemble a cold-weather car kit

My dad sent me this is an email (not sure the source) and I'm trying to keep up with email clutter but thought the information was important to record somewhere...I have a few of these in my car but I need to add a few more things to be more prepared.

If you are likely to be driving on desolate, rural roads or areas prone to snow and ice, it is recommended that you carry a cold-weather car kit. In this kit, you should pack the following items:

• Coat (in case you have to walk), blanket, gloves and warm clothes
• Paper towels
• High-energy, non-perishable food and water, or sports drinks
• Flashlight, flares, and a first-aid kit
• Bag of abrasive material for traction, such as sand, salt or non-clumping kitty litter
• Snow brush and scraper
• Snow shovel
• Working and fully-charged cell phone to call for help

By following these tips, you will be less likely to have problems during the winter.

Pumpkin Bread

During law school my husband had what he and his friends called "Happy Wednesday" where they would each take turns bringing food to share. One of his friends, Ruth Checketts, brought this. Chris, of course, adapted the recipe some, and it is phenomenal! A must-have each fall (last year he didn't make it once and I was sad, so this year I've made it once, so at least we've had our annual batch!)

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil (Chris does 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup butter)
4 large eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin*
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice (Chris does 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup water*
1/4 tsp cayenne (Chris added)
1 tsp vanilla (Chris added)

Combine sugar, oil, eggs; add pumpkin. Sift dry ingredients [I never do...]. Add to first mixture. Add water. Pour into 3-4 loaf pans (or 6 mini loaf pans). Bake approximately 1 hour. If doing 6 mini loaves, cook on cookie sheet; may overflow. [Though it did not when I did it recently, may depend on how much batter you actually end up with.]

*When I made this recently it tasted great but the baked consistency was a bit soft and did not hold together as well as I would have liked. Our best guess is we had medium eggs and maybe should have done less water. When I mentioned water in the recipe, Chris was surprised, so we need to look for a more recent copy of his modifications because he thinks he may leave the water out completely but use more pumpkin. So you may have to experiment with that a little!

Pumpkin Chocoate Chip Cookies

I probably need to find a different  recipe (or continue adapting it) since these don't turn out quite how I'd like. But in the meantime, here's the recipe I've used so far. It's from this site:

1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts(walnuts or pecans)
1 cup chocolate chips 

Cream margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix and sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Add chopped nuts & chocolate chips; mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoons onto well-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets while warm and cool on racks. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies. This recipe can be doubled.

Jenny's notes/changes:
I would probably try it with butter to see if I like that better. It for sure need more than 1/2 cup pumpkin, I need to experiment with this next time but I think I'll try at least 1 cup total next time (may have to adjust flour, etc if add this extra moisture). As it's written they aren't really pumpkin-y like I want them to be! It also may need a bit more flour, start with only 1 T. extra though. It is a fairly soft batter, less "dough-like" than regular chocolate chip cookies and needs to be more soft for the cookies to turn out moist and more spread out (if you add too much flour they will be little mounds). Also be careful not to overmix or they become more chewy and aren't as light and soft. Also it can be hard to tell when they are done because of the pumpkin coloring so just watch close. I have noticed the cookies start to puff up when they are done.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is my favorite thing to serve at parties.

1 15 oz can or 14 oz jar artichoke hearts (not marinated), chopped
1 12 oz box or 10 oz bag spinach, thawed (I haven't tried fresh or fresh I've frozen but I will next time and report back)
1 cup mayonaise
1 cup sour cream
1-2 cups Parmesan cheese (to taste; I've never been sure whether this is the grated "real" parmesan or the bottled stuff...I use the grated bagged kind from Costco)
1 small can green chiles
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped (to taste; I use the bottled Christopher Ranch minced garlic)

Squeeze water out of thawed spinach. Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve on Club crackers or tortilla chips (veggies, whatever). Can bake directly in crock pot dish in oven, then place in crock pot on warm for serving.

Emergency Preparedness

Great article on being prepared for emergencies, some good how-to/what you need to do lists.

Soft Pretzels

Recipe from homeiswheretheholmansare.blogspot.com  (slightly adapted from Baking Illustrated). [My notes are in brackets.]

Dough:
1 package [2 1/4 tsp] rapid-rise yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour 

1 cup water, at approximately 110 degrees
Approximately 1 T olive oil

Baking Soda Solution:
Approximately 6 cups water
3 T baking soda
Salt for sprinkling on pretzels

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine all ingredients for the dough.  Make sure you are using rapid rise yeast, or you will need to proof your yeast before mixing.  Mix on low speed until combined and then knead about 5-7 minutes on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Prepare a separate bowl by coating with olive oil, transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat evenly.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap [I use a kitchen towel] and set in a warm place [I put in slightly warmed oven] to rise for about one hour or until doubled in size.  Punch dough down, recover and let rise approximately 30 minutes more.

In a large low pan (a 12" skillet with deep sides or a small dutch oven will work perfectly) bring water and baking soda to a boil over medium high heat.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees [I've found this may be a bit high, but may depend on your oven, so play with this if you are finding pretzels are burning on outside and still doughy inside] and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Separate dough into 12 approximately 2 ounce pieces.  Roll each piece into a long string, about 20 inches in length.  Fold pretzels into shape, twisting the ends over each other and pressing lightly to seal dough into shape.  Transfer pretzels, a few at a time to boiling water, cook 30 seconds on each side, turning with a slotted spoon, drain and transfer to prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle with coarse salt and repeat until all the pretzels have been boiled.  They don't need much room on the baking sheet as they won't spread much in the oven.  Bake approximately 12-14 minutes until dark golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool and serve.

[Recipe can be doubled. I don't usually double baking soda solution exactly, but do make sure to add more water since it boils out if you are doing a double batch.]

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Revisited

I didn't like this one as well as Total Money Makeover, it was a much slower read and just not as "hands-on" applicable information for finances, but I did learn a couple things, these are the notes I jotted down as I read:

-page 30 (haha, not sure what it was, but if I ever need to reference it again...at least I'll remember the page!)
-sinking fund: payments in reverse (p. 118)
-3 to 6 month emergency fund
-Proverbs 21:20 "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up."
-compound interest: let it work for you through savings (not against you via debt)
-investments: mutual funds (p. 128)
-high deductible insurance, save on monthly premiums (p. 131) We're on one now and it's great other than when there's a bigger medical expense (like maternity) then suddenly it feels like you are spending SO much on medical bills! But it probably is worth it in the long run, since we have an HSA (health savings account that we and the employer put money in pre-tax) and we haven't paid monthly premiums...it's just different when you are used to HMOs that often are 80/20 after a small co-pay.
 

Chocolate Protein Oatmeal Recipe

I haven't tried this yet but got it from a friend, Alex Contreras, he says it's really simple and tastes amazing, so I'm excited to try it. I'm on the lookout lately for high protein, homemade, healthy snacks.

1 cup of 1-minute oats. (I actually like it better with the regular rolled oats but you can use either)
1 scoop of chocolate whey protein
1 tbsp of peanut butter

Mix the oatmeal and the protein with about 1/2 cup of water. Let it cook in the microwave for about 1-1.5 minutes. Add the peanut butter after and mix. If it looks dry then either add more water or skim milk if you like it creamier.

BBQ Pork Spare Ribs or Chicken Recipe

This is one my mom always did growing up, I often chose it as my "birthday dinner" the Sunday before my birthday. For some reason the sauce has ended up more runny it seems, so play with the amount of water and also try removing the foil for last minutes of baking to help thicken sauce. It's funny because usually I don't like my food to fraternize but with this meal, we always serve with rice and peas and I have to pull the chicken off the bones and mix the sauce, peas, rice and chicken together on my plate. Funny habit that I still do to this day, I can't eat it any other way, it just doesn't taste right!

1 onion, chopped
2 T mustard
1 c ketchup
2 T - 1 c brown sugar (to taste and thickness of sauce desired; I never really measure, my mom says she uses around 1/4 cup)
1 T vinegar
2 T water
1 1/4 c water (honestly not sure why there are 2 separate measurements for water...but like I said before, you may want to err on less water than this calls for, just because oftentimes I think the juice from the meat cooks out and thins the sauce as it cooks)

Combine above ingredients for sauce and pour over chicken or pork.

Cook chicken at 350 degrees for 2-2 1/2 hours (the long, the thicker the sauce...so my mom's recipe says...)

For spare ribs, brown in fat (2 T fat or oil), pour sauce over ribs and cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours.

Granola Bars Recipe

I looked at a variety of recipes but they kept ending up dry so now I don't really use a recipe or measure stuff, so sorry it's not more exact. I just throw stuff in until it looks and feels right. I'm sure you'll find good ways to vary it to your taste/preferences. That's one thing I've realized is fun with these, to be creative and use whatever random foods I have on hand, I never do the same variation :)

• Oats 
• Rice krispies or corn flakes (throw whatever cereal small pieces I've been keeping. I like that this helps it be less dense with just oats and adds a fun crunch)
• Peanut butter
• Honey
• Corn syrup (I'd like to try and find something else to sub for this, maybe just more honey would work...i just found that a little helped them stay more cohesive & less crumbling. A friend just recommended substituting  agave nectar so I am excited to try that.)
• Raisins or craisins (diced into smaller pieces, could use whatever dried fruit)
• Sunflower seeds
• Chocolate chips or whatever random leftover chocolate I have on hand. (I'd like to try mini m&m's just for fun one of these days.
• Coconut
• Peanuts, walnuts, whatever nut, diced up in small pieces
• Ground flax seed (I buy whole flax seeds and grind them myself but you can also buy flax seed already ground. Your body can't digest the flax seed if it's not already ground.)

I pretty much combine all dry ingredients in my kitchen aid, it's probably almost 2/3-3/4 full when I do a large batch. Then I add in pb, honey, corn syrup until they seem sticky enough (this is where I've experimented, at first they were too dry & crumbled, so then we had granola instead of bars!) after mixing pour and press into greased cookies sheet. I can almost get them to fill the sheet. Bake at 250-300 degrees for 10-20 min, again this is another where you play with what you want, longer cook time, they'll be more crunchy obviously. I let cool for a bit in pan, then cut with knife into squares or rectangles (this can be a bit tricky just trying to cut them and move them while making sure they hopefully don't fall apart!) and let cool completely on cooling racks. I store at room temp in container and usually freeze half batch and pull out as we need them.

Ham and Puff Pastry

This is the traditional Christmas Day meal at my in-law's house and it is delicious! We look forward to eating it all year.

1 pkg Pepperidge Farm pastry sheets
2 T grated Parmesan
1+ cup grated white cheese (Swiss or Jack)
2 T. parsley
4-8 oz thin sliced ham

Flatten and roll 1 pastry sheet. Place in pie pan and sprinkle with 1 T. Parmesan, half of white cheese and half Parmesan. Spread ham slices over top and sprinkle with rest of parsley and cheeses. Top with custard:

3 eggs
1 t. garlic salt
dash Tabasco
2 T. whole or canned milk

Mix well, pour over ham and cheese mixture, saving a small amount for glaze. Roll out remaining pastry sheet. Seal to bottom crust by rubbing glaze over the edges and sealing to bottom edge. Cut 5-6 slits for steam. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (until custard is set). Makes 6 servings.