Mommy Octopus

Below is a guest post from my friend Nicole from MyLoveForCooking.com.  Be sure to check out her website!  Lots of awesome recipes and tidbits.

The holidays are often a hectic time by nature and there always seems to be a never ending “to do” list. Most of the work seems to revolve around cooking. For me this is my favorite part of the season.

If you have little ones in tow it is a chance for them to be helpful and make the chores a lot more fun. Depending on the age and abilities of your child there are almost always some way they can do their part with holiday prep in the kitchen.

With my lovies (almost 4 and a brand new 2) I try to encourage their interest in helping in the kitchen. You might be surprised at what they are able to do. Here are some basic ideas for younger children to do their part in the kitchen:

3-Year Olds

• Wash fruits and vegetables
• Stir ingredients in a bowl
• Tear lettuce
• Pour liquids

4-Year Olds

• Grease pans
• Open packages
• Peel oranges or hard-cooked eggs
• Snip fresh herbs with dull scissors
• Mash bananas with a fork

5-to 6-Year Olds

• Measure ingredients
• Cut soft foods with a blunt knife
• Set the table
• Garnish food

I find cooking with them to be a great opportunity to teach them about the ingredients we are working with. They also tend to get more excited about trying new foods when they have helped prepare them. If you have a picky eater getting them involved may really help. There is nothing like seeing the pride on their little face when they see the results of their hard work.

The holiday season is a perfect time to get a little help in the kitchen while also starting traditions that can last a lifetime. I find myself recreating recipes and traditions with my lovies that I experienced as a child. Sharing time cooking with those I love has always been something that means so much to me. The kitchen has always been a safe place to make mistakes and learn through trial and error. Make the holidays the start of great memories as well as recipes. Happy Holidays!

XOXO Nicole

Here are some recipes that are sure to be a hit with the little ones:

• White chocolate dipped holiday pretzels
• Christmas tree English Muffin Pizzas
• Gingerbread Pancakes
• Snowman Cookies
• Cheerios Christmas Trees
• Reindeer Cookies

I had mentioned this to my facebook readers, but in case you didn’t know, we are in Disney this week!  My mom has been wanting to take a trip and since she recently retired after many many years of working for the public school system, she decided to take a family trip taking all of us with her!  We are here with my mom, grandfather, brother and sister in law, nephews, niece, and of course my hubby and kiddos.  We arrived last night and took today to rest, relax and tour the other fun hotels.

Here’s a photo of my kiddos waiting for the monorail with Grandma.  My youngest of course was much too busy to stand still 😉

And here’s just us girls.

I will be posting when I am not riding rides or chasing the kiddos and my assistant Edith will be posting on occasion as well.  I hope ya’ll had a great thanksgiving break!

Erin

Why oh why does my 21 month old insist that markers are tasty! ICK!  Good thing they are non-toxic!!  What was the weirdest things your kids tried to eat as babies?

Most of my facebook fans already know this, but if you missed it, The Fresh Market opened this morning in Athens.  I was very excited to be invited to the “Parmesan Cracking” ceremony this morning.  It was a great experience and I was very happy to sample all the goodies!

All in all I felt the prices were comparable with other similar stores in the area, but they seemed to have a bigger variety.

I was very pleased to see the grind your own peanut butter and almond butter stand.  That’s always fun for the kids, plus then you KNOW it’s fresh 🙂

My favorite thing of all had to be the okra chips.  They are incredible!  I first tasted okra chips on our trip to Helen and I became addicted.  They are awesome!

I was also impressed with the pink and purple yogurt pretzels.  I think these would be adorable for baby showers!

And then there was the wide variety of sweets!  Again, prices were comparable with other bakeries in the area.  And they looked SOOO good!

And OH THE CANDY!  Anyone who is watching their waist line should avoid this area completely!  Better yet, blindfold yourself!

And finally the “Parmesan Cracking”.  This was pretty neat – a different sort of grand opening celebration.  Side note that this parmesan block cost over $1,000!!!  WOW!  But was it ever tasty!

I will definitely be back to shop more!  Now for the things I’m sure you’re dying to know.  We asked the following to managers today during our shop:

Q: Do you take coupons?

A: YES!

Q: On a Buy One Get One Free sale, are the items half off or buy 1 to get 1 free?

A: They should ring up 50% off.  If it doesn’t, a manager should be able to correct this.

Q: Will you carry Limburger cheese? (okay this was my mom asking for my grandfather!)

A: YES – very soon – shipment was delayed.

And if you want to see the grand opening cutting of the cheese, watch below!

Say “Goodbye” forever to this nasty ivy in my kitchen.  I’m sure at one time it was nice, but now it’s quite yellowed and really not my style.

Ewww… I know.  When we moved here 7 years ago, we just had 1 kid and since then we’ve had 3 more, so really I’ve been busy with babies and kiddos and the house maintenance took the back burner.  Now it’s time to tackle some projects.  I’m so super excited, too.  Can’t wait to show after pics!  I think what really got me motivated is my new countertops from the Giani Granite project.

And I have to say it really warms my heart seeing my 2 boys working hard on the house 🙂 Here they are prepping for painting:

For paint, we are using a 5 gallon bucket of paint that I found at Lowe’s for just $30!  It was in the OOPS section.  I love shopping this section because you never know what fun colors you will find and it’s a fraction of the normal listed price!

Soo… what color do you think the kitchen will end up?  Any guesses?

A friend of mine posted this on facebook and it totally cracked me up! Great way to solve that awkward moment when you’re not quite sure how to eat a cupcake without looking like a pig or without frosting on your nose! Solution in the video below!