St Patty's Day--the pinch edition

St Patrick's Day didn't go unnoticed in our house, just unpublished.

Our day consisted of Jonas pinching anyone and everyone no matter the green. We only saw 3 people yesterday but he still managed to get in 6 pinches! Sometime in the afternoon he started complaining that we didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We should be wearing head to toe green and only playing with green things etc etc... If only we were all 6 years old. Jonas was obviously disappointed in the celebrations. I am all for green beer, kiss me cause I'm Irish partying but I thought the kids were a little young for that sort of celebration.
Adylynn was in the spirit of the holiday. ALL. DAY. Every single thing we did, no matter if we have done it every other day for as long as she can remember, she would proudly announce "It's St Patty's Day" We watch "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" Adylynn said "Jonas we are watching this cause it's St Patty's day" Since it wasn't the green beer making her festive it must be the 1/1000th of Irish blood in her.
I had planned to have a fun supper(without corned beef and cabbage*ahem mom ahem) but after Jonas' obvious disappointment I decided to make supper, with help from the kids, over the top.
The Menu:
Green "Buttered" Noodles(Deceptively Delicious recipe I just added the green)
Broccoli
Salad(green peppers, iceberg lettuce, spinach)
Green Grapes
Biscuits with Green Butter
Jonas LOVED it! Adylynn kept saying things like "we have green butter because it is St. Patty's Day" Steve was not impressed. Jaden is repaying me today with green poop. So we didn't have the Leprechaun box, or "magic" throughout the day but we had a good time just the same. Plus I hope that I am teaching the kids that where magic/pretending is fun isn't it more fun to help with the festivities rather than just letting them happen.

Breakfast for Supper

Adylynn and Daddy working on potatoes and scrambled eggs.
She can crack eggs better than most adults I know.

Jaden helping mom make the pancake batter

Letter pancakes

They never look perfect but the kids still love 'em

I wanted to title this Ode to the 4 slicer but I can't write poems

I love my new 4 slice toaster! It has given me 4 minutes of extra time. I am no longer tied to the toaster waiting for the toast to pop. I no longer have to choose whether to feed Ady her toast or Jaden his waffle first. I can put them both in at the same time and get both breakfasts ready with in seconds of the other. You really don't realize how valuable 4 minutes is until you have it. Since the 4 slice toaster Ady has been dressed before 9 am -without fighting- I have had the baby and all 3 kids fed before 9 am, which has now freed up some breakfast time for me. I had forgotten that toast comes in a full slice warm version not just the cold dry crusts version I had been getting previously.

Thanks Grandma for a wonderful Christmas! A 4 slice toaster is truly a gift that keeps on giving!

More festivities from the weekend

since Steve had the pumpkin carving taken care of I was free to make potato soup and get to work on the pumpkin seeds. A pretty messy task! I am beginning to dislike this annual tradition.

This year the recipe I used called for butter, salt, and garlic. Roasting seeds in 300degree oven, for 30-40 mins, turning occasionally.

I must say they turned out much better than previous years. They are nice, golden brown and have just the right amount of flavoring on them. Much to Steve's protest I decided not to bake every single seed from each pumpkin. I am very glad I did too. As it is we still have a baggie full. He forgot to take some to his parents. He has only taken them to work once this week(and he didn't share them) I did remember to give some to Lana and Aunt Shel but have since forgotten to eat any myself. We can't seem to manage the 2 cups of seeds I did make, can you imagine if I had made all the seeds.
Oh...the soup was delicious! That is a different story entirely but I am curious of what base/broth you use or thought of when I said potato soup. I am finding there are lots of varieties of potato soup. Most people either LOVE it or HATE it. I assure you mine is perfectly wonderful! AND deserves love.

Chopstick Night

We had a pre-packaged asian stirfry, Sunday night, I added tofu, some garlic and soy sauce-it was good, under 100 calories per serving too!! About half way through the meal I remembered we have chopsticks that we NEVER use. Here are a few of the kids(mainly Jonas, having fun using them) Jonas had 4 servings of stirfry!

She never did get the hang of using them with one hand.

Jonas trying to keep his other hand off. Little did we know he was planning to fall down the stair rendering the other hand useless anyway:)

YAY! GOT A NOODLE!

Two hands is the way to go!

Vegetable-Rice Skillet

adapted from Betty Crocker Vegetarian Cooking

1 can chicken broth(14 1/2 oz)
2 tablespoons butter
16 oz pkg frozen broccoli stir fry
1 pkg long grain and wild rice(6 oz)

Heat broth and butter to boil in 10 inch skillet. Stir in veggies, rice, and contents of seasoning packet. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat

Cover and simmer until rice and veggies are tender.

This is a kid friendly meal too!

Ady loves rice and broccoli stir fry(w/o water chestnuts) She and Jaden both ate it up.

Baby sized portions?

I am battling with down sizing Jaden's serving sizes. He is only in the 25% for his weight BUT he eats as much as an 8year old. Even though right now weight is not an issue am I setting him up for a lifetime battle? Right now I start him out with an "Ady" size portion, then if he wants more I give him more. For breakfast he had a slice of dry wheat toast, a handful of Cheerios, and 3 oz of whole milk. That is a typical breakfast. Yesterday for supper he had vegetable lasagna- the size of a bar of soap, tropical fruit salad-1/3 cup, some shredded cheese and some wheat bread(plain), with juice to drink. Maybe I should cut his servings in half. He gets 3 meals and 1-2 snacks a day. All of his meals he eats in his highchair. 90% of what we eat is healthy, for him it is more like 97% but I still worry that the amount of food he is eating. Should I control his portion sizes or just let him eat until he says he is done?