Image Archives – Page 2 of 13 – The Pinterested Parent

Lessons From The Car Seat

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

It is not always easy to leave the house with a toddler. As soon as you have a child it becomes a huge production to go anywhere. You have to make sure you have their diaper bag or back pack… snacks (check), juice boxes (check), change of clothes, diapers, books, crayons (check,check,check & check). And this is just for a trip to the supermarket.
With the weather getting nicer, we have been taking more day trips on our weekends. This will continue through the summer with trips to the zoo & beach. It is easy for our active little ones to get bored while riding in the car. It is not always easy to keep them entertained from the front seat.

But, like most things in life, every moment can be a learning opportunity, even if it is from a car seat in the back of the car.
I love to keep engaged with my daughter as I drive. There is always a teaching moment with our young ones.

Lessons that you can teach from the road:

1. Directions – As we drive, I always like to tell my daughter when I am taking a turn whether we are going left or right. I signal to her with my arm and repeat “Right, mommy is turning right.” She will repeat it after me & is getting better at differentiating her left from right.

2. Imagination exploration – On many of our journeys, my daughter will look around and point out things she sees during our ride. A few months back, she started making up little stories to go with the sights she was seeing. One rainy day as we were driving she made up this story about us driving in a submarine because of the rain & she was pointing out the fishies that she saw swimming up. “There is a mama fish & dada fish & baby fish.” Now, mommy jumps in on story telling time too & together we weave fun tales as we travel.

3. Eye spy – This is a good one. Mai, where is the yellow sign. “Right there!! Right there!” Do you see a red car? “There’s a red car!” This works great for shape, color and object recognition. My daughter get so excited and you can hear her pride as she points out what mommy asks for. Of course, I can’t see what she is pointing at unless we are stopped, but I am sure that she is pointing to the same things that I spy.

4. Counting -Counting exercises are another fun way to pass the time in the car. My daughter and I will take turns going back & forth counting off our numbers. We used to do this with the alphabet too, but now that she knows her ABC’s we practice on our numbers.

5. Music lessons – My daughter likes to sing. She has gotten pretty good a few songs. She can sing ‘Daisy, Daisy’, ‘My darling Clementine’ & ‘Oh Susanna’ word for word. It melts my heart. It is a great way to learn new words and music can be extremely influential to our children.

How do you keep your children entertained while on the road? Share your favorite stories from the car seat.

Mon
26 ^th

Frozen Strawberry Cheesecake Sandwiches

Posted by Pinparent — 6 Comments

My obsession with cheesecake inspired desserts continues. Since the warm weather is here, I opted for a frozen cheesecake treat. These are easy to make and oh so delicious.

Ingredients:

15 full graham crackers

2 packages of softened cream cheese

1 tub of Cool Whip

2 cups of strawberries (cleaned, stemed & sliced small)

1 1/2 sticks of margarine

1/2 cup of sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a small sauce pan melt the margarine. Line a baking sheet with tin foil . Split the full graham crackers in half at their seam and place on the lined tray. Pour the melted butter over the crackers. Spread evenly across coating each cracker. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from the oven & cool.

As the crackers cool, prepare your filling. In a large mixing bowl add cream cheese, sugar & strawberries. Beat on a low setting until all ingredients are blended, scraping the sides as you go. Add the whipped cream & stir by hand until evenly blended.

Transfer half of the cooled crackers to a 12×8 baking dish. Place them side by side. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the top of the crackers. Evenly distribute the mixture & smooth out. Add the rest of the graham crackers over the top in the same pattern as the bottom. Scrape around the edges of the baking dish smoothing out the filling around the edges of the outside crackers. Cover & freeze for 3 hours. Cut & separate each cracker sandwich with a sharp knife. Serve & enjoy. Wrap the unused portions and keep in the freezer.

Sun
25 ^th

Pasta Butterflies & Angels Crafts

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

My daughter is fascinated by older children. When we are out in public she will very boldly approach an older child and strike up a conversation. The other day she ran up to a boy around the age of 6 & said “Hey boyfriend, hold hands.” This brought a chuckle from her mother & I, but the boy was not that amused. The problem is most kids of an certain age do not quite understand her or want to engage in a conversation with a 2 year old girl.
One of my best friends has a lovely 7 year old daughter. Mai of course adores her & much to my great happiness, she like Mai too. She has a sweet and nurturing nature and is very attentive to my much younger daughter.
They came for a visit this weekend. We were supposed to go to the zoo, but since it was a rainy day, we stayed in & had a craft day instead.
Last week we were crafting & playing with spaghetti. I thought we could continue with the pasta crafts.

Pasta Angels

What you will need:

Bow tie pasta
Spiral pasta
Thick spaghetti
Paint (assorted colors)
Paint brushes
Glue gun

Directions:

Paint one of your bow tie pastas, a spiral pasta & a spaghetti in the colors of your choice. The bowtie will be the wings, the spiral will be the body & the spaghetti will be the antennas. Let them dry.

Paint as many of each as you would like, painting one of each type of pasta.

With a glue gun, glue one side of the spiral pasta & place in the center of the bow tie pasta.

Break off the spaghetti into 2 smaller pieces about an inch or 1 1/2 long. Using the glue gun again, place a bead of glue on the bottom of the broken piece of spaghetti. Find a groove behind the spiral piece & over the bow tie to place your 2 antennas into.

And in honor of Memorial Day…

Memorial Day Pasta Angels

What you will need:

Bow tie pasta
Dry garbanzo beans
Paint (assorted colors)
Paint brushes
Glue gun

Directions:

To make the body of our angel, we painted a bow tie pasta in camouflauge. We started off with one shade of green.

Layer on a different color of green, also layer on shades of yellow.

To paint the red, white & blue wing, paint a blue rectangle on one side & then stripe the sides with red.

Let it dry.

Again paint as many as you like. Painting one camo & one red, white & blue for each angel that you are making.

Glue along the top of a camouflage pasta.

Press into place. Place perpendicular to the red white & blue wings.

Glue one side of the garbanzo bean & place on the top of the body & in the crease of the top “v” on the wings.

The kids played, painted & had a great time & so did the mommies. Craft day was fun.

Sat
24 ^th

Macaroni & Cheese With Bacon Bread Crumbs

Posted by Pinparent — 13 Comments

They say “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” This could very well be true & the fastest way to get there is with a strip of bacon. I don’t know what is about guys & bacon, but I don’t think I have ever met a man yet that didn’t love it, My husband would literally put it on everything if he could. One of his favorite phrases that he mutters during dinner is “I bet this would be good with bacon on it.” Tonight’s meal is all about the hubby.

Ingredients:

1/2 of a package of bacon

1/2 cut of seasoned breadcrumbs

1 1 lb box of shells

2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 cup of margarine or butter

2 cups of milk

1 tsp worcestershire

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

Bacon bread crumbs
Prepare bacon. Cook it on the crispy side. Drain well & blot to get the excess grease off. Cool and crumble into a food processor. Pulse until all of the bacon is in crumbs. Blot more if needed. Mix with the bread crumbs & set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions & drain. Pour drained pasta into a large pot.

Preheat oven to 400. In a saucepan over low heat melt the margarine or butter. Add the flour, salt, ground mustard & pepper. Stir well until smooth. Stir in the milk & add worcestershire sauce. Increase the heat and stir continuously until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Stir until smooth & then pour over the pasta. Mix well until shells are evenly coated & transfer to a baking dish. Top with your bread crumb mixture. I used about 3/4 of a cup. Use how ever little or a lot that you prefer. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Fri
23 ^rd

Banana Rice Pudding

Posted by Pinparent — 5 Comments

Rice, rice, baby!! We love rice in our house. We love it so much that we own not one, but two rice cookers. When my mother was still alive, God rest her soul, she would buy me a fifty pound bag of rice every year along with my favorite soy sauce. When you have that much rice at your fingertips, you want to find different ways to cook it. I like it plain, fried, in risotto & it also makes a lovely rice pudding. For a smoother, creamier pudding use a smaller grain of rice. If you prefer your pudding with a bit more texture use a longer grain of rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked rice

2 ripe bananas

1 egg (beaten & at room temperature)

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups of water

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp margarine or butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine rice, water, margarine & salt. Bring to a boil. Cover & cook for 2o minutes. Do not stir! In a mixing bowl smash up the bananas with a fork. Add brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon & 1/2 cup of milk to the banana. Mix well. After rice is done cooking, pour the banana mixture over the rice & stir. Cover & simmer for an additional 20 minutes stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes remove from heat & beat in the egg. Beat for a minute & then add the other 1/2 cup of milk. Chill. Top with whipped cream & serve.

Mai really liked the rice pudding. In between every bite, she kept telling me “Thank you, Mama.” You are welcome, sweetheart.

Wed
21 ^st

Dining Out With Your Toddler

Posted by Pinparent — 13 Comments

It is Friday night. You are out to a romantic dinner with your main squeeze. You are sipping wine and gazing into each other’s eyes…then suddenly out of nowhere a small head pops up from the booth behind you and tries to hand you a half-eaten roll. Meet my daughter ladies and gentleman.
Dining out with a toddler can be difficult. If you are one of those mothers that was blessed with a child that can amuse him/herself for 2 hours with a sugar packet & a straw, you are one of the lucky ones. I am not so fortunate. My daughter is a ticking time bomb. The countdown starts as soon as we walk in the door. Let the countdown begin…

1-10 minutes: We are usually still in the safe zone. She is looking around and taking in the new faces, noises and atmosphere. We are still smiling and hopeful that we will have a good meal. I agonize over what to order her. What will she actually eat? I order the most fattening thing on the menu because it doesn’t matter, I won’t be able to eat it anyways.

10-20 minutes: The table is covered in salt & pepper & her pretty new dress has a lovely brown wet spot on it from her trying to drink her chocolate milk with a spoon. I am not ready to break into my bag of dinnertime entertainment yet. It is too soon. I beg the waitress to quickly bring out a fruit cocktail.

20-30 minutes: Dinner is served. As my daughter’s decibel level rises, so do the other diner’s heads. I am remembering being one of those glaring people before I had our daughter. I remember saying or thinking, “Why can’t they keep their child quiet?” Now as I eat my dinner, I also eat those words.
Perhaps during the dinner, Mai will make a statement such as “Poop is not good for supper. Jellybeans are good for supper.” The couple at the table next to us looks over at us. I assure them that I do not feed my daughter poop. I bribe my daughter with fruit snacks to take a bite of her food.

30-40 minutes: Where is our waitress? Did she go home? Mai starts sliding under the booth. I break out more fruit snacks & pull out some books from my bottomless purse.
Mommy: “Do you want to color?”
Mai: “No, not yet.”
Mommy: “Sit down & you can have more fruit snacks.”
Mai: “No fruit snacks anymore.” “What’s that?” “I go there.”

40-50 minutes: Seriously where is our waitress? The clock is ticking down. My two year old gets increasingly more agitated. She tries to wriggle past me to run after the fan she sees in the corner of the restaurant.
“Fan goes round! Fan goes round!”
No Mai, you have to stay here.
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
Uh oh! We are running out of time. Quick cut the blue wire or is it the red one?
“Mai, do you want to play with Mommy’s phone?”
“Yeeeeeeaaaah!”
Ahhhh. Disarmed….phew!

Always be prepared when you are dining out with your child. Pack snacks, a favorite cup, a change of clothes, crayons, toys, books and in a pinch a smart phone pre-loaded with child friendly apps and games can come in handy. Bon Appétit.

Mon
19 ^th

Maple Nut Granola Bars

Posted by Pinparent — 10 Comments

I am going through a huge granola kick right now. I can not stop making it & eating it. I started making it as a healthy snack alternative & also for some added energy while I train for my 5K & now I am hooked. I just finished off my last batch & wanted to try something different. Tonight with the help of my trusty helper, we made a batch of Maple Nut Granola Bars.

Ingredients:

2 cups of quick oats

1/2 cup of Rice Krispies

1/4 cup of chopped pistachios

1/4 cup of chopped peanuts

1/3 cup of chopped almonds

1/3 cup of real maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 tsp of sea salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine oats, nuts, Krispies & salt. Mix in vanilla & honey. Stir until evenly coated. Add maple syrup and mix well. Scoop the mixture little by little into a 8X6 or 8X8 baking pan, packing it well with each spoonful added. Once all of the mixture is added, pack firmly one last time. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars or squares.

Foam Play Food

Posted by Pinparent — 9 Comments

Like many children my daughter’s age, she loves being mommy’s little helper. This past week she has been very eager to help me in the kitchen. I let her measure out ingredients and stir. She plays with the food scraps & measuring spoons & loves every minute of it.
One of her favorite things to do is to make “soup”. She loves pouring liquid from container to container & she loves throwing things in the liquid as well. She has come up with some interesting combinations in some interesting places. Do not ever leave my daughter alone with her milk or juice. You never know where you might find it later.

After helping me make dinner tonight, she wanted to help with the dishes too. There were a lot of sharp items that needed washing, I needed her to stay occupied elsewhere. I gave her a few different sizes of plastic bowls, some measuring cups & spoons and some water to play with.

As usual she told me she was making soup. She started grabbing at random objects on our island to throw in her bowls. Remember those capsules that grew into little foam creatures when they got wet? She grabbed a few of those & threw them in. They turned into different fish. “I make a fish soup, Mama. I mixing it.” This gave me an idea. I grabbed a few sheets of foam from our craft bin & cut out some little foam fish for her to add to her fish soup. This was fun. She was chasing the little fish with the tablespoon and fishing them out one by one.

From there, Mai asked for tomatoes and potatoes. We ended up quickly making up a whole smorgasbord of foam food to throw in her soup; meatballs, spaghetti, broccoli, onion, etc. This added a whole new dimension to her water play. It was a quick and easy project that my daughter loved.

This kept her occupied long enough that I actually got to do something I have not done in quite a while…clean my house. With Mai deeply immersed in cooking her foam food soup, I was able to clean up after dinner and straighten up our pit of a living room a little bit. Mommy of course had to taste test it. “Mama, eat it.” Mmmmm…foam soup is delicious. Good job cooking, my sweet girl.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Sat
17 ^th

Food For Eat & Food For Play

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

For Mother’s Day last week a work colleague gave all of us mommies a giant chocolate bar. I love chocolate of course, but am not a fan of plain chocolate. I wanted to make some sweet treats with the chocolate, but wasn’t sure what to do. I often refer to myself as a junk cook because I love to just grab random leftover junk & throw it together just to get rid of it. Last night was a good night for that & my daughter loves cooking with mama. The measurements are random because they are leftover ingredients, but my junk bars came out pretty good. My husband says they taste like a Twix bar.

Ingredients:

1 7oz chocolate bar

12 marshmallows

1 /8 cup of margarine

1 1/2 cups of graham crackers (chopped)

1 cup of chocolate cheerios

Directions: Melt the margarine over low heat. Add marshmallow & stir until melted. Add the chocolate bar. Remove from heat & mix until marshmallow & chocolate are melted. Quickly add the graham cracker & cheerios. Press into a pan. I used an 8X6X2 pan. Refrigerate & then cut into squares.

We went through many Cheerios. Mai was having so much fun with them, we used up most of the box.

Luckily for Mai, an accident the next day kept her in the food fun.

While I was work today, I received a text message from my husband. The text went a little something like this..”Do you know why there was a box of spaghetti open on both ends?”

Oops! I knew already that this was my fault. Sorry honey. But as the saying goes “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” So that is what we did. Daddy gave her a bowl and a handful of the spilled pasta. Mai was happy playing with the spaghetti while I was at work. When I came home I saw the big bowl of the uncooked pasta & remember something that I had seen before. I had a styrofoam cone laying around & stuck the dry spaghetti into it. We took some of our stale Cheerios from last nights food fun & our little tot had another activity to keep her busy. This is such a wonderful way to teach hand-eye coordination & as you can see my daughter loved it.