Back to School Routine

Off to school on their first day!

I honestly do not know where the summer went this year!  It seems like I was just picking the girls up from their last day of school, and now they've been back to school a little over a week!!  The last week of their summer vacation, I was feeling like we didn't do enough, or we didn't do anything too exciting, or I worked too much (20 hours a week from home).  Also, with my "baby" leaving elementary school and moving up to 5th grade at the middle school, and my eldest entering 10th grade (!!) I was having the pangs of the rapid passage of time and how did this two little munchkins grow up so quickly?  A funny thing happened though on the first day of school - I had a distinct feeling of "there is nothing I can do about it now, today is a new day" and I have quickly gotten into the school routine again!  

But our routine has changed a lot this year!  My girls both ride the same bus - at the same time - last year the bus & driver made the route at 6:30am to pick my eldest up, and then did the route again to pick my youngest up at 8:00am!  This year, with one in middle school and one in high school, they are on the same bus, so my youngest and I are getting up at 5:45am every morning to make the 6:30 bus!  My eldest still gets up at 5:30am as she has the past few years, but now she has to share the bathroom with her little sister -- she is not thrilled about that!  Last year my older daughter had a routine of getting up, eating breakfast, relaxing for a few minutes whether back in bed or on the computer or on her iPod, then getting ready for school.  Her make-up routine involved mascara.  Over the summer, when her cousin and best friend came to visit for a week she was introduced to the larger world of make-up (tasteful, of course!) and so that takes a little more mirror time in the morning!  Last year, I would get up about 20 minutes before my daughter left on the bus -- she is more than capable of getting herself ready and out the door, but I wanted her to have some company in the morning and also wanted to make sure that she got on the bus safely.  

I had planned to get up earlier this year and help my little one get ready.  All summer she begged to have an alarm clock -- panicking about how would she wake up on her own at 5:00 (really 5:45, but she had 5 in her head) without an alarm clock?  I promised I would wake her, but she insisted, so I found a little white alarm clock with multi-colored numbers -- for $5.99 at Target!  Can't beat that!  We got that the week before school started and every night at bedtime she wanted to set it for "5:00" the next morning!  I convinced her that we could wait, no need to wake up so early when we didn't have to!  A few days before school we began getting her back to an earlier bedtime.  The first day of school, at 5:45am her alarm made the first "blip" of it's little song, and she bounced out of bed and shut it off, ready to start the day!  This summer, we cleaned out the clothes in both girls' closets and set them up with one of those hanging fabric shelves that has about 6 "pockets" (shelves).  My eldest is not quite using it the way I had in mind, but my youngest and I have gone through her clothes and picked out a week's worth of outfits at a time and we put one complete outfit in each "pocket."  In the morning, her alarm goes off, she gets up, opens her closet and takes out her outfit to get dressed!  This has been working WONDERFULLY for both her and me!  It saves both of us time in the morning!

I am not normally a morning person, but this past week in particular, I have found myself enjoying staying up (I really could go back to bed for a little bit if I wanted) and getting work done earlier, straightening things up around the house, etc.  Yesterday, I had pot roast in the crock pot at 6:00am, had made beds, done the dishes, folded some laundry, and put 4 hours of work in by 11:00am!  What a great feeling!!  I was lucky to find a part-time, 20 hour a week job as a virtual executive assistant, and so I am able to work from home which really is a blessing!  It can be a stressful job, in spite of the fact that I work at home and can work in my pj's if I want...  I am trying to better manage my time so that when the girls get home around 2:30pm, I am done with work and available to help with homework and hear about their day with no work distractions!  So far so good since school started last week!

What types of things do you do to help ease back into the school routine?

Menu Planning Helper

I don't know about you, but I tend to feel like we get into a rut with dinners in our house.  As each season moves along, I find myself looking forward to the next season and the different types of meals we will have -- right now, I'm so looking forward to Spring and Summer when the snow will melt and we'll be able to find the grill again!  Halfway through Summer, I'll be longing for comfort foods and my beloved Crock-Pot!  I have been looking for some ways to get out of this food rut and here is what I have come up with:

- I bought a little whiteboard that I put up on the inside of one of my kitchen cupboards.  This helps me in two ways.  Actually, three!  1) I post a list of meals on the board so that I can keep track of what we have eaten recently, so I am not boring everyone with the same thing over and over.  2) Having my meals planned out and listed there helps to keep me on track with grocery shopping - I know that I only need to get things for the meals on the board - and keeps me from wavering and deciding to order a pizza or other take-out -- it's on the board, that's what we're eating!  And 3) My girls used to ask me SEVERAL times a day "What's for dinner?"  I could tell them, and then 10 minutes later they would forget and ask again...  "Go check the board!"

- I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but I recently blew the cobwebs (not really, my house is a little cleaner than that...  a little...) off of my recipe box and pulled out a few recipes that I had not made in a while, and even found one or two that I had NEVER made yet!  It's fun to go through and find recipes that you forgot you had, or maybe you have Grandma's famous recipe for (fill in the blank) and your kids have never had the pleasure of trying that!  And of course, my favorite place to look things up -- Pinterest!  I have literally over 1,000 recipes pinned on there...  I am trying to use those more when I am feeling tapped out of ideas.  I found an amazing roasted chicken recipe on there that has become a family favorite and this weekend I am making "Dirt Cake" for my teen's birthday sleepover (Dirt Cake was her request -- went on Pinterest, found the recipe!).

- And finally, my new favorite idea that came to me last week!  Do you ever go grocery shopping and you are standing by the meat case and you are thinking, "Ugh, what can I do different to chicken this week?"  Or, pork chops, or beef...  I tend to draw a total blank, especially if I don't have a great shopping list.  I will stand there and feel compelled to buy meat knowing that I will have to make dinners for my family, but have NO idea what I'm using it for, serving with it, etc.  And frequently, because I don't know what I'm making, I won't end up buying the other things that I need to make the meal and then I'm running to the grocery store 3 times a week (or sending hubby...).  That is not only a waste of time, it's super expensive!  Here's what I came up with -- I made a list of all of the meals that I could remember that are in my "repertoire" and then I sorted them by whether they were a pasta dish, a fish dish, chicken, beef, pork, etc.  I LOVE LISTS!  I put this one in the "Notes" section of my iPhone, but if I didn't have that, I could easily write it on a piece of paper and put it in my purse.  Now, when I am planning the meals for the week, or the grocery list, or if I'm in the store and see that something's on sale, I can quickly look at my list and see all of the possibilities of things I can make!  Love it!  And, by the way, I was pretty impressed with my list!  I have a lot of recipes that I make -- I can really mix things up to get my family out of the dinner doldrums!

What ideas do you have for menu planning?  Do you have a favorite recipe you would like to share?  

First Day of School!

My sweet girls were back to school today!  My eldest (who is now 5'7" and taller than her mother!) is in the 6th grade and my "baby" is in the 1st grade and in school for full days now!  (Mommy seemed to have a harder time adjusting to that than she did!)  They looked lovely in their new dresses -- they both like to wear dresses for the first day -- so glad that they appreciate getting dressed up for the first day of school!  When I drop my eldest daughter off at school or pick her up some days, there are kids that look like they came to school in their pajamas...  Yesterday we were all home for the day and with rain pouring outside we opted to clean closets!  I had meant to do it this summer, but time got away from me.  I always like the girls to start the school year off with a clean, organized room, and it certainly helps us to get ready faster when we know where everything is, and the dressers and closets are only full of clothes that fit!  Once they were in bed, I gathered up pictures for them to put in their lockers -- my little one has a locker this year too -- that is very possibly her favorite part about school this year!
 
Daddy, Grandpa and I were all there to walk them down to the bus this morning -- videotaping and cameras flashing away!  We were like the paparazzi...  Thankfully, my girls don't seem to mind!  (I figured if anyone said anything to my 6th grader about the fanfare at the bus stop, she could blame it on her 1st grade sister!)  I'm so happy that they get to ride the same bus to school in the morning -- it's nice for my little one to have her big sister there to watch out for her!  They have different buses in the afternoon (not sure why...) and this afternoon I took some time off from work to get home in time to meet them.  Of course, they were each late (always happens on the first day) -- my eldest daughter's bus was about 15 minutes late and my little one's bus was 30 minutes late!  I sat out on the front step for about an hour total waiting for both of the girls -- armed with my video camera again, of course!  It was so nice to be home early and to be there to greet them and hear about their days.  We went through their book bags, pulled out the things that need to be signed and sent back tomorrow, cleaned out their lunch boxes and got them ready for tomorrow.  Then we went upstairs so they could change into play clothes and I sat on the floor of my little one's room and cleaned out her dresser (hadn't gotten to that yesterday!).  We bought her a set of hanging "shelves" for her closet -- one of those soft-sided organizers that hangs from the curtain rod and has 6 shelves/cubbies.  She and I picked out outfits to get her through the rest of this week and the beginning of next -- outfit, underwear, shoes, etc. all set!  What a time saver that will be!  We had dinner a little earlier tonight, we read a book together before bedtime and we said our prayers and they were all tucked in on time with no running around and no chaos.  The dishes are done, the house is straightened up and we're ready for tomorrow -- oh, how I would love to get home early every day!!

Pencil Vase

To brighten up the breakfast table for the first day of school, I put together this little pencil vase with some sunflowers -- I tried to do this last year and didn't have enough pencils.  I bought 2 more packs when they were on sale this summer, but could still use a couple more to really fill it in!  I took an empty soup can and taped the pencils into place and then tied a sunflower ribbon around my "vase".  I think I'll look for some cute "school-themed" ribbon for next year!  I like to do a little here and there to make things special for my girls, and I love that they take notice!  My little one asked her sister this morning, "Are those PENCILS?"  And my elder daughter said, "Yes" and my little one said, "Are those pencils with their NAILS CUT?"  What a cute, funny way to look at it!  

Tip for Packing Children's Clothes for Travel

We are heading out this weekend to visit our family in Long Island -- to celebrate Christmas! (And then after that we are really done with the season for this year!!) We have been racing around finishing our Christmas shopping (crazy!) and making some homemade gifts for our Kris Kringle gift exchange with my husband's siblings -- I can't wait to show the two things that I made (found them from a fellow blogger's site -- loved them!!) -- I'll show you pictures and include a link after we get back! I grocery shopped on lunch today, took the girls for a visit to see my grandmother who recently moved into a nursing home -- one quick visit before we head out of town! -- my husband has been doing laundry, we've packaged up gifts, packed bags to entertain the kids (and me!) in the car -- you name it! My eldest daughter has a chorus concert tomorrow night so we are trying to get everything done and have the car packed before we go tomorrow so that we can get up and head out by 5:00am on Friday (yikes!).

I am a terrible packer of clothing -- my own and my children's. We're taking a short trip, but I don't know about the weather and we are going out one night and of course I hate everything in my closet -- so I'm bringing all of it in the hopes that I'll like it better when I'm looking at it in someone else's mirror... All week I've been throwing things into bags and every time we go on a trip I find that I a) over pack, and b) throw in weird combinations of clothes for my children "just in case..." Tonight, I took a deep breath and I decided to organize by outfit -- particularly for my 5-year-old. She counts on us to lay her clothes out for her, and tonight I thought the most organized way to do it would be to put together whole outfits -- top, bottom, underwear, undershirt, socks or stockings. Once I did that, I took the undergarments and the socks/stockings and I opened up the "top" for the outfit and I tucked everything inside. So in her bag, I don't have a sea of underwear and socks and undershirts -- I have complete outfits, ready to go! I even took the time to put them in order of when I planned for her to wear them. Jammies for the first night on top, outfit for a birthday party, outfit for Christmas celebration, comfy outfit for the car ride home. I did pack 2 spare outfits -- just in case. And on my dresser is an outfit for her all ready for the early morning car ride on Friday.

Sometimes I think I am saving myself time by grabbing things and throwing them in a bag whenever I have a moment to spare -- this time I took a little extra time, concentrated on what I was doing and organized her bag. It probably took me 15 - 20 minutes at the most and it will save me time and headaches on our trip!

Christmas Cookies!

I spent most of the day running errands, dropping off and picking up my 3-year-old from preschool, running home to have lunch and wrap some more presents, and then over to my 8-year-old's school to pick her up and save her from the torture of the bus ride home! Whew! But I did squeeze in some time after school to help my girls make Christmas cookies for Santa. I got this trick from my friend (and fellow working mom) Catherine. She introduced me to the bag of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix -- SO easy, so quick, SO yummy! That and a tub of vanilla frosting, food coloring and sprinkles made for a fun afternoon with the girls! That's also part of my way of making it feel a little more "homemade" -- my girls love to mix the food coloring in and pick out their own decorations for the cookies. My older daughter was getting quite creative -- she did a cookie with a mistletoe design, one that was the North Pole through a snow globe... You name it! My little one was less interested in the artistic aspect and more interested in EATING. And licking the top of the sprinkle shaker... Yeah, we had to get rid of that particular container... I used to feel guilty about not making cookies "from scratch", but frankly, if I don't take the easy way out sometimes then I won't have time to do it at all -- and missing out on decorating cookies with my girls would be a big disappointment to all 3 of us! As you can see by the second photo (taken moments after the first), my littlest one QUITE enjoyed the cookie making!

Quick Tip for Cutting Up Your Child's Food

I had what I thought was a brilliant inspiration for a Mother's Helper invention this past year -- brought on by my cutting my little one's food into tiny pieces for about the millionth time... I've had aspirations of getting a patent and being one of those self-made millionaire moms showing off their inventions on The View or Oprah. Sadly, the other day I got a catalog in the mail and saw something a little similar to my idea -- sniff, sniff!

BUT, while I was waiting to put together my own creation, my sister-in-law Jess passed along an idea that one of her friends taught her -- and I have to say, it works great! We were having pizza with Jess and family, and instead of getting out a knife to cut the pizza into tiny pieces for the two littlest girls, she got out her kitchen shears and cut it up like it was a piece of paper! I tucked that idea away and the next time I needed to cut something up for my girlie, I whipped out the kitchen shears -- worked like a charm! My oldest daughter was nursing a loose tooth for QUITE some time, and she loves Bagel Bites, but wouldn't eat them unless they were cut into quarters. This is truly a pain when using a knife -- all of the toppings come off, it's messy! I picked them up individually, cut through them with ease, using the kitchen shears, and the mess was cut in half -- pardon the pun.

You could use this for waffles, grilled cheese -- you name it! If you use your kitchen shears to cut raw meat (which I don't), you may want to invest in a second pair for the kid's food -- just to be on the safe side -- although I wash my kitchen shears in the dishwasher all the time. Hope you find this to be a helpful time-saver, just like I did!

Handy Hiding Place for Those Pesky Cords!

This is a silly little tip, but I came up this idea a few months ago and I have found it to be such a great help in our house! I don’t know about you, but I am constantly looking for the cord to charge our video camera, the cord to charge my daughter’s Gameboy, the cords to charge our cell phones, the cord to charge my hands-free earpiece… Sound familiar? Ours were generally shoved into the obligatory junk drawer that we all have, but with so much other junk in there I either couldn’t find the cords I needed, or the cords were so bulky that I couldn’t open the drawer!

I finally decided that I could give up one of my four canisters on the counter (the big one!) and designate that strictly for cords! It is conveniently located next to an outlet, so I simply pull out the cord I need, and plug in whatever needs to be charged. When the item is all charged up, I unplug the cord and pop it back into the canister! It has been working fabulously for us – we always know where the cords are, and it makes charging things much more convenient, so we are less likely to be caught with an uncharged cell phone or video camera!

Now, this worked out great for me, because I have a four-piece canister set, and never really needed all four canisters. If you are using all of yours, or you don’t have canisters, you could get a canister with a lid or a cookie jar – check the dollar store, the local consignment shop, or garage sales to pick up something inexpensive!

Do you have a simple tip that has saved you some household headaches? I’d love to hear about it!

Emergency (Gift) Preparedness

Last night my daughter had "elf night" at her dance class, which meant she was allowed to invite a friend to attend class with her. Well, I did not remember this until I read the dance schedule at 11pm on Tuesday night -- a little late to call her friend's house to invite her! I called from work on Wednesday, apologized for the short notice and extended the invitation. Fortunately, the friend was available and excited to attend with my girl. Phew! I really felt as though they were doing us a favor, because it was so last minute and I would have been so upset with myself if my frazzled-ness (I'm sure that's not a word...) caused my daughter to be the only one without an "elf" friend!

Anyway, my husband and daughter went and picked her friend up, they had a wonderful time and they came home at about 7:30pm and my girl was excitedly waving a little gift bag that her friend had given her. It contained a cute little lotion (a FAVORITE of my daughter's -- she's definitely a "product" girl!) and some stickers. Well, she of course, wants to give her friend something in return -- today, the last day of school before the vacation. Now, this gift could have been a little holiday gift, as they are best friends and that would not be out of the ordinary to exchange -- although, I have a feeling that this is more of a "thank you for inviting me" gift, because her parents are very thoughtful! Anyway, not one to disappoint, after my girl went to bed, I through the tons of bags of holiday gifts that I have purchased for my girls and various other relatives (I can hear my "frugal friend" tsk-ing, right now!) and I pulled out a 3 pack of lip gloss with a cute little tin to hold it in, from the new Disney movie "Enchanted." I had bought it for my girl, but she does have a plethora of lip glosses, so she could certainly share the wealth. Then I went down into the basement where I have an old chest of drawers filled to the brim with ribbons, tissue paper, gift bags - you name it! I pulled out a very cute little tiny gift bag and some tissue and I was very pleased with myself for putting something together so quickly!

When my daughter came downstairs this morning for breakfast, it was sitting next to her lunch box on the counter, and she said, "Oh! Is this gift for my teacher?" Um, no, it's for your friend -- why, are other kids bringing in teacher gifts this year? And she said, yes, kids have been bringing them in all week. GREAT! Talk about short notice! Now, last year in kindergarten, I bought 4 teacher-related gift items -- 2 teacher note pads and 2 "101 Words of Encouragement for Teachers" little books. But last year, no one brought in gifts at the holidays, but instead of returning the items to the store, I decided to hold onto them just in case. Thank goodness! I pulled out one of the little books, had my girl sign "To, From, etc." inside, and back I went to the basement to get another gift bag, more tissue & ribbon, and I tied a candy cane into the bow to be festive.

And I had thought I was working on short notice last night! But, having a few extra items on hand saved me once again! I think it's a great tip for mothers who get those last minute notifications from their children about gifts that they need -- if you see something on sale or have a little extra in the grocery money, put a couple of little gift items away to use in the event of a gift emergency!

Hi-Tech Babies

It's crazy to me how far we have come with technology over the years. And I myself, have come leaps and bounds since between the birth of my first daughter, and my second daughter. Nearly 7 years ago, when I had my first daughter, I would take roll upon roll of pictures of her on our good old, "regular film" camera. Then I would get pictures printed at the store and I would have doubles made, and I would decide who I was going to share the doubles with -- some to my parents, mailing some out to my husband's family. Or, I would go back to the store (after seeing which pictures came out best) and bring my negatives and have reprints made to share with the family. Whew! It was a lot of work, and frankly a lot of money.

Not to mention how SLOW the whole process was! Most of the time, I would wait until we went out of town to see relatives to share pictures with them -- bringing albums for them to look through and copies for them to keep.

Fast forward to our second daughter! We have moved into this century with a great digital camera, that I just love! It takes wonderful pictures, and best of all, I can see what I took on the display and instantly know if I need to try and capture that moment again or not. Nothing was more irritating than thinking you are getting a great shot, and then finding out once the pictures are printed, that someone blinked, or my flash didn't go off, etc.

Another great thing about the digital age, is that now, I upload my pictures to my computer and can review what I have and print only what I want. I personally like to use Kodak Gallery. I can upload my pictures to Kodak Gallery and I can order prints online -- I get to pick the pictures I want, the sizes that I want, and the quantities -- if I don't want doubles of every picture, I don't have to buy them. I can also create a photo album that I can e-mail out to friends and family members. This is great, because not only am I able to share pictures faster than ever, but they can pick and choose pictures that they like, and order them online.

My newest find, is a website called Babies Online which is a site where you can register -- for free! -- and you can very easily create a webpage for your child. This is another great way to share info and pictures with family and friends. I created a page for my youngest daughter (https://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/mjm/) and after doing so, she is eligible to be entered into their monthly photo contests (she's in the November "Masquerade" themed contest, running this week - check her out!), which is kind of a fun little bonus of having the webpage.

It's amazing to me how easy technology has made it to keep in touch with our loved ones. I can't imagine what we'll be able to do when my girls hit their teen years!

Super Easy Pot Roast in the Crock-pot!

Yesterday was unseasonably warm here in our neck of the woods, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I also enjoy the return (today) of the cooler fall weather! Fall weather makes me long for cozy nights at home with my family and there’s nothing I like more than to make them a yummy, hearty, home-cooked meal. Especially when it only takes me about 10 – 15 minutes of prep time in the kitchen! And thus begins the season of Crock-pot cooking! Tonight we had a super easy, super yummy meal:

EASY CROCK-POT ROAST

1 chuck roast (use whichever size will accommodate your family!)
½ bag of baby carrots
½ can of beef broth (or ½ cup of water, if you are out of broth)
salt & pepper to taste

Put the carrots on the bottom of the Crock-pot, lay your chuck roast on top of that, season with salt & pepper, pour beef broth (or water) into the pot and then cook on low for 10 – 12 hours or high for 5 to 6 hours.

I usually serve mashed potatoes with this and take some of the liquid and make a little gravy. You could also put in cut up potatoes or even canned potatoes and make this more like a “Yankee Pot Roast.” I am thrilled that I had leftover mashed potatoes that I was able to reheat for tonight – that brought dinner together even faster!

So I was able to get home, have a nice dinner for my family, get the kids in the tub for a bath (my hubby helped with that), get them into their jammies, and still have some time for a few rousing games of family "Ring Around the Rosie" before bedtime. That is so much fun now that my toddler is walking -- this was her first experience with it, and she cracked up watching her mom, dad, and sister drop to the floor around her!

Easy dinners like this one free me up to spend some quality time with my kids, as opposed to quality time with my stove!

Fast Food Breakfast!

As a working mother of two, with one child in school, and a husband whose work day frequently begins before the crack of dawn -- mornings are a little chaotic, to say the least. Did I mention that I am NOT a morning person? Sleep is one of my favorite things, and I never seem to get enough of it. So I take full advantage of the snooze button, with every hit calculating the time that it will be when it buzzes again in another 9 minutes, and then 9 minutes after that. On school days, my girl is not a morning person either -- some mornings I am having to drag her out of bed. Odd, since on the weekends she is waking me up FAR earlier than we get up on school days!

Anyway, with the long to-do list for work/school mornings -- getting myself showered, dressed, hair done, make-up, dressing my child, brushing her hair (which is a real test of wills every morning!), brushing teeth, packing lunches (I put components together the night before, but have to actually assemble in the morning), and on and on -- I have to squeeze breakfast in there somewhere! Cereal would be my personal choice just for ease and speed, but that gets boring day in and day out. My daugther loves pancakes and sausage, but I don't have time to make homemade pancakes during the week. We buy the frozen mini pancakes and frozen Brown & Serve sausage and after literally 1 minute in the microwave, my daughter has a hot breakfast that she loves!

Occasionally, on the weekends, I will make a batch of homemade pancakes for breakfast, and freeze the leftovers (this was a tip I got a few years ago from my good friend Christine!). Then, when my girl wants pancakes, I can pull a couple out and reheat them in the microwave -- 1 or 2 minutes later, and she has a home-cooked pancake breakfast! Now that's fast food!

Mom's Best Friend - The Crock-pot!

All moms need a little extra help around the house – whether they go out to work, or whether they stay home to work. One of my all time favorite “mother’s helpers” is my Crock-pot! Last night was a high stress night in my house, and I happily whipped out my Crock-pot and threw in the ingredients for my favorite beef stew. It is so easy to throw together the night before, refrigerate, plug in the next morning, and voila! That night’s dinner is done!

Here is my recipe for anyone looking for an easy, yummy Crock-pot dinner:

BEEF STEW

- 2 lbs stew beef (I use the already cut up stew beef from my grocery store, and you can adjust the amount of beef and other ingredients depending on how many people you are feeding, and how many meals you want to eat this for!)

- 2 to 3 cans of whole, white potatoes (I get these and cut them in half, or you can buy the sliced version)

- 1 package baby carrots (no peeling, no cutting!)

- frozen pearl onions (put in as many as you want – I keep a bag on hand in the freezer, and it will last me at least 2 or 3 stews – it saves TONS of effort and tears instead of cutting up fresh onions, and adds a nice flavor!)

- frozen peas (ditto what I said above about the onions!)

- ½ can of beef broth (you can use water if you don’t have this, or I have even used a combo of beef broth and red wine or beer which both add nice flavor!)

- 1 teaspoon jarred, minced garlic (use it if you have it, if not, leave it out!)

- Salt & Pepper to taste

Throw the beef in the Crock-pot with the flour, mix well to coat, and then season with salt & pepper. Then throw everything else in, mix it up and that’s it! I make put this together the night before, refrigerate and then pull it out in the morning and put it on Low for 10 – 12 hours, or you can cook it on High for 5 – 6 hours.

I make this for my family and serve it with either a loaf of bread or rolls. If I have time and energy, I will throw together a salad. This is a favorite of mine for busy nights (dance class, Halloween trick or treating, you name it!) and it's also great when we have out of town guests visiting!

Enjoy!

"Homemade" Shortcuts

As a working mom, I don’t always have time to make baked goods from scratch, but I still want my family to have that treat of “home-baked” goodies from time to time. A great time-saver and shortcut that I have found is the prepackaged “break & bake” cookies. In our grocery store, there are a wide variety of these types of cookies, and they are about $2.99 a package. I pick up a couple of these and keep them in the fridge, and then pop them on the cookie sheet whenever I want to make a quick “homemade” treat for my family. I also am a big proponent of the unroll & bake pie crusts and boxed cake & brownie mixes – I love all of these shortcuts that save me so much time, but still allow me to feel like I am doing something special for my family.

And even though I use shortcuts, when I have time, I still try to do a little extra to make it special. If I am making a cake, for example, I usually get white frosting and then I let my daughter pick out food coloring to turn it into whatever color strikes her fancy. My favorite trick is to put frosting into a plastic freezer bag and cut off one corner and voila, I have my own “pastry bag” for decorating. My daughter loves getting to participate in this and we try to match the decorations with the person we are making the cake for. We did an Islanders hockey jersey for my husband, a trombone and music notes for my mom, etc.

I’m sure that lots of moms don’t have the time to make things from scratch – life is so busy! But, I have nice memories of being in the kitchen with my grandmothers, in particular, and helping or watching, them bake and cook. My mother’s mother always made all of her pies for Thanksgiving and she would make delicious squash bread. My father’s mother would make her best friend’s caramel recipe and I would help her roll the caramels in their little wax paper wrappers. I think those are such nice memories, and I want to give my girls the same experiences. I do make homemade apple pies every year for Thanksgiving, and my daughter loves to eat “Mommy’s cinnamon apples” out of the bowl, and requests them as a treat from time to time.

Of course, “homemade” is not always appreciated… Recently, my 6 year old had been begging me for a week to make a pumpkin pie – I did not remember her liking pumpkin pie, but she reminded me that she had tried it at Thanksgiving last year and loved it! Finally, that weekend I baked one for dessert and she was just about beside herself over it. And then she tasted it, and said, “Oh, I guess I like the store-bought kind better!” Sometimes you just can’t win! ;)