Biting

The gnawing began as did the weeping and wailing. The gnawing from my little girl and the massive tears from myself. My husband told me to either get used to it and get over it or to do something about it. But how about we review some items: I am a very beginner sewer, I am very indecisive and I just couldn't imagine spending the price I saw online for the rail protectors when I wasn't in love with them.

I did fix this so there isn't that extra piece of tulle flying about and acting as a reminder for the little miss to pull on it. I just looped it again so it is another loop to the bow.
Well, it works for me. 8 yards of tulle for the front, and 4 for each side, plus a JoAnn's coupon and I spent little less than I would have online and I like it better. The worker at JoAnn's was very put off by my idea, "isn't she going to hurt her teeth on this?" Right, because wood is so soft. It isn't overly beautiful but I do think it looks better in person. Now I just need to figure out how to get her to stop biting me.

Chores...

My mother-in-law recently came to visit and we discussed the struggles of meal planning and keeping our houses in order. We had no systems for meal planning (anyone, anyone?) but she did tell me of a chore system. You have 30 cards with chores written on that you rotate throughout the month. It sounded like a good idea, but I wasn't sure I was structured enough, but then I came around again to the idea and realized I can be as flexible as I need/want to be.

So here they are, nothing pretty but they have helped me to have at least a goal in mind for what I should get done in the day (not including dishes, laundry and sweeping which just have to be done too often for this). I draw two a day and see what I can do, if I don't get to them, then I have tomorrow. I included "projects" which mean my fun, craft projects- all work and no play makes me a dull girl. But I also have "house projects" for those nasty projects I keep putting off- like pulling out the dead plants (which I actually delegated to my husband). I feel a little like a kid, but so far it is working for me. Who knows, maybe I too will get bored of the system and will have to have a new chore system... with stickers next time! :)

We just returned from a quick family vacation for a wedding. This was my fourth time flying with my little girl and my husband's second time. He is still amazed at the amount of stuff we have to bring and the difficulty of getting through security with said stuff, especially with bottles and formula. The first time I flew with our little girl I was really nervous and tried to find out as much as I could, here are some of the things I found...

Make sure you have something for the wee one to suck on while taking off or landing (or nurse if you are still doing so)

Check wherever you are staying to see if they have a pack-n-play you can use. My mom has two for when the grand kids stay. But our last trip we stayed on an Air Force base and they also had one for us to use. One less thing to haul to the airport is ideal.

Southwest had a bag for our car seat to keep it clean since we checked it. Bring a trash bag if the airline does not provide a bag.

Stickers. I have heard many people comment on the usefulness of stickers to keep a little one busy on the plane. Stick them on the child, stick them on yourself, stick them anywhere and let them remove.

Tape pieces of ribbon to the back of the seat in front of you to entertain little ones (I did this for my little girl's second flight when she was about 5 months old.)

Hook toys to the clasp of your tray table. Though if your baby can pull, make sure they can't pull hard enough to pull on the seat.

Treats. Our treats right now are only Puffs, but she sure does love them.

Small dollar store toys wrapped for them to unwrap and enjoy.

Buy this. I found mine at Target, but I am sure they can be found almost anywhere. It is pure genius; my husband wishes he had thought of the idea. We used this on the plane, at the reception, at lunch on our old stomping grounds and pretty much wherever we needed to.

My little girl is only 9 months old, so I do not have experience with older children, though from what I see it is mostly treats and portable DVD players. Any other ideas?

Homemade Granola Bars

I brought this yummy treat to playgroup yesterday and was told they tasted much like no-bake cookies (minus the chocolate) their moms made when they were younger.

I used a recipe from allrecipes.com (that is where I start for recipes I am looking for) but substituted some things that I had. If you click on the link (title below), you can find the original recipe. It called for raisins, sunflower seed, wheat germ, sesame seeds and chocolate chips. Seeing as I didn't have any of these, I used what I had.

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 c packed brown sugar (why is brown sugar almost always packed?)

1/3 c peanut butter

1/4 c corn syrup

1/4 c melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp coconut extract

1/2 c oats

1/4 c craisins (the pomegranate flavor is delicious)

1/4 c pecan pieces

1/2 c coconut

Combine all ingredients and put into an 8" greased pan. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

The recipe said to fold in the chocolate chips, but I didn't think this was necessary or possible since it is a very thick mixture. I can't imagine it would be easy to fold them in.

Frosted Vanilla Cookies

About two years ago I decided to have a cookie swap party. I invited some friends and we were each to make a few dozen of one cookie. Then we would swap them and have a variety of cookies for neighbor Christmas gifts. I had this recipe in mind but could never find the Vanilla Bean Paste. Finally our Williams Sonoma gift card from our wedding over three years ago saved the day as it purchased the paste. Of course since then, I have seen it elsewhere with a cheaper price tag. But the point of this little intro is that I was finally able to make the desired cookies and now they are desired all the time, they are simply delicious. "Better than Snickerdoodles" a friend remarked (and she loves Snickerdoodles). I thought about not sharing this recipe, then I could have my secret recipe. Then I realized I would have to share when I made them and that didn't make sense, so here it is:

Frosted Vanilla Cookies

(As this was at least two years ago, I do not have a source. I only have a printed copy, with no website/blog/name to give credit to, sorry.)

Cookies:

1 c unsalted butter

1 T vanilla bean paste

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 egg

2 c flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t cream of tartar

1/4 t salt

1 c finely chopped walnuts (I didn't have a full cup of walnuts, so I added some pecans)

1 c sugar for rolling

Frosting:

1 T vanilla bean paste

1/3 c half and half (or heavy cream if it is all you have, like I had)

1 T unsalted butter

2 c powdered sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and vanilla bean paste on medium-high speed until smooth. Add 1/2 c sugar, powdered sugar and egg and continue mixing until combined. Add walnuts and continue mixing until combine.

Roll dough into one inch balls, roll ball sin sugar and place on a baking sheet fitted with parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for 9 minutes (I only baked for 7 minutes) or until just beginning to brown. Place baked cookies on a cooling rack until completely cool.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine all frosting ingredients and beat at medium speed until smooth. Frost each cooled cookies with one teaspoon of frosting.

My Sister Dishes on Costco Chicken

My sister has started blogging again and recently shared this post on Costco rotisserie chickens. She shared some great ideas and recipes perfect for using the chicken. We actually had a chicken taco salad tonight for dinner and last week we put some in pitas.

20 Ways to eat a Costco Chicken

Most rotisserie chickens don't interest me. But Costco chickens are different. They're bigger, they cost several dollars less than at the grocery store, they are juicy, and they have flavor!! I get one every time I go to Costco, and sometimes that's a lot.

There is only one rule when buying a Costco chicken: Eat or take the meat off the bone immediately. You will curse yourself if you leave it in the fridge to cool and then try to pull the meat off the bones. It just won’t work and you’ll be left with a mangled bird.

I decided to put together a list of all the ways to eat a Costco chicken, because sometimes when I come home with one I think... "so what am I going to do with this?" And then it ends up sitting around and getting picked at, but it doesn't really live up to it's full potential. :)

Some of these recipes are so obvious they don't require a recipe. Chicken Quesadilla? I won't bore you! Some are my own recipe that I've created, but most are from other blogs. If I've linked to it, I've made it and loved it enough to share!

1. Carve it up and eat it as the main course
2. Add to a green salad
3. Chicken Taco Salad
4. Chicken Sandwiches
5. Add to Suddenly Salad
6. Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
7. Chicken Suiza Sammies
8. Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
9. Tomatillo Casserole with Chicken and Hominy (my own recipe... I'll post someday...)
10. Quiche with Chicken and Broccoli (or Ham!) (Again, my own recipe...)
11. Chicken Quesadilla
12. Chicken Salad Sandwiches (Anyone have a really good go-to recipe?)
13. Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells
14. BBQ Chicken Pizza
15. BBQ Chicken Braid
16. Chicken Soup
17. Chicken Pot Pie (Mom's Recipe)
18. Chicken and Dumplings
19. Jambalaya (Mom's Recipe)
20. Hummus, Spinach and Chicken in a wrap (My go-to lunch for busy days!)

Milk Bread

I had some friends over the other day and decided to make some bread (cheating of course by using my bread machine) and had many requests for the recipe after. So here it goes, this is for a medium-size loaf. Sorry no picture, it was devoured too quickly.... in a lady-like fashion of course.

Milk Bread

3 C bread flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp dry milk

1 1/2 Tbsp butter

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/4 C milk

1 tsp dry yeast

1. Put all ingredients in

2. Push all the correct buttons (M loaf, bake mode...)

3. Wait a few hours and become intoxicated by the smell of fresh bread

4. Slice and eat

I also made some apricot whipped butter (simply whip a stick of butter, then add some apricot jam and whip it good). My sister and I saw the Barefoot Contessa make it with orange jam and we couldn't resist trying it. I used apricot jam (probably about a half of the jar) from Trader Joe's.