Homemade "Lunchables" A Nice Way to Keep the Peace!

If your child goes to public school and is anything like mine, he/she wants Lunchables.  

Ammo...I Mean, Art With Pine Cones

I have an admission:  I have trouble letting anything go to waste.   As I cleared the many, many, fallen pine cones from my front yard before mowing, my mind started clicking about the possibilities.  

Lots of Ammo, I mean, Pine Cones!

Yes, I could just pile them in a heap in the back yard for my boys to have a pine cone war.  As much as I know they would LOVE this, I decided to try a gentler approach.  I scoured the web-o-world for pine cone activities that my guys would actually enjoy.  

Apple Cinnamon Delight aka Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats

There are about a zillion Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats recipes out there, all delicious and moderately healthy.  The only trouble is, my kids WON'T eat Steel Cut Oats, but they WILL eat Apple Cinnamon Delight.  A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but if it's called OATMEAL, my kids want nothing to do with it.

I love waking up to the smell of cinnamon and vanilla in the mornings.  I also love waking up and not having to think about what I'm going to make my family for breakfast!  

Our Apple Cinnamon Delight recipe calls for more cinnamon and vanilla than others, but that's the way we like it.  If you prefer less, just adjust the measurements for your taste.  Also, we don't peel the apples.  The extra texture and fiber of the apple peels give the oats a nice complexity. 

Ingredients

1 c steel cut oats
2 1/2 c milk
1 c water
2 apples
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp flax meal
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt

Optional toppings:
Shredded coconut 
Dried fruit/nuts 
Honey/Maple syrup 


Directions

1.  Rub the inside of your slow cooker with butter.  This will help prevent oat-stickage.
2.  Core the apples and cut them into 1 inch chunks
3.  Combine all of the ingredients (except the optional toppings) into the slow cooker
4.  Give it a stir or two to mix
5.  Cover and turn on low for 6-8 hours (overnight)
6.  Stir and serve with toppings and sweeteners of your choice

Randy will sometimes stir baking cocoa into his.  He's from the tribe that holds chocolate as a main portion of the food pyramid! 

There you have it!  Apple Cinnamon Delight!

Keeping Myself on Track - Weekly Schedule Printable

I don't know about you, but I go in phases of being on the ball with my household and totally slacking.  Usually this is because the weather is nice, and I want to get outside with the boys!  

One way that I attempt to stay on top of the mundane household duties is my Weekly Schedule Flipbook. 

The Land of Unfinished Projects

I thought it might be time for me to come clean.  I generally write about projects I've completed and recipes that went well.  I don't share my mile-high laundry pile and unmade beds, because you really don't want to see that.  Trust me!  

I tromped around the backyard yesterday afternoon taking pictures of *some* of my unfinished projects.  I could list the many excuses and reasons they are unfinished, but you've heard them all before!  

On a positive note, all these unfinished projects give you a little taste of what's to come from me!  Ever wonder how to solve your lack of water faucet problem?  How to plant an apple tree?  How to fancy-up your patio while also making it usable?  Or up-cycling garage sale finds?  Look no further than my unfinished projects!

"Made With Love" Photo Scavenger Hunt Monthly LInky Party

I'm so glad I stumbled upon the Photo Scavenger Hunt at Made With Love.  My boys and I had such a fun time looking all over town when we were out and about for items on the list.  

In fact, they enjoyed it so much that I created a Kids' Photo Scavenger Hunt just for them!  

Here's our pics for the January list:

J is for jar

This is at our local cupcake/candy shop!

Mikey's First Scavenger Hunt

 We planned a trip to the Fine Art Museum.  In hindsight, this might not have been the best choice for the first scavenger hunt with a three year old.  My Mikey is can be temperamental, as can any three year old, and the day we went to the MFAH, Mikey put me and the museum docents through their paces.  

January Kids' Photo Scavenger Hunt

I linked up to a great photo scavenger hunt over at Made With Love.  She hosts a photo scavenger hunt every month, and my guys and I had the best time taking pictures for it.  In fact, they had such a good time that I asked if she minded me borrowing her idea to host a Kids' Photo Scavenger Hunt.  

There's a button to add to your post under the list, if you choose to use it, and the link up is below that.

So, without further chatter, here's the list for January! 

Earthworms and Marmalade...Getting to Know You!

I used to have another blog, Two in the Nest, where I shared a lot of the same type things as I do here.  The main reason for the change was that my sister, Elaine, and I wanted to start making and sharing together.  

We have many common interests, but also areas where our focus is different.  I've done quite a bit of canning, where she has done a lot more fermenting.   

We both love gardening and growing our own food.  I live in the Gulf Coast area of Texas, whereas she lives in the Hill Country.  Our climates and soil vary greatly.  She has to grow in raised beds as the ground where she lives is pretty much rock.  Also she lives in a very rural area on the top of a hill, and I live in a suburban area.  We will be able to bring different aspect of growing, cooking, and general making to the blog.  What works in my area may be different for her, so we can share our different takes on what works for us.

We both love cooking healthy meals for our families.  Our focus in the kitchen is on real food that we grow ourselves or buy locally.  We read seed catalogs, cookbooks, and gardening manuals like romance novels!  Hahaha!


Anyway, I pointed out to her we needed to let folks know who's behind the post.  Sometimes we'll comment on each others' post and it looks like one gal talking to herself!    I suggested that we mark an E or an M at the bottom of the post as her name is Elaine, and mine is Margaret.  She laughed and said, "I can be the Earthworms, and you can be the Marmalade!"  We both started laughing!  When I chose the name for the blog I never noticed the initial letters matched our names, so now we really are Earthworms and Marmalade!


Thanks for stopping by!!
M

Happy New Year! (And a Bit About Me)

This quote really grabbed me at the end of this past year.  I know I have been so many people in my short 39 years.  I have been a pendulum swinging from confident to uncertain.  I know what I like, but am usually too timid to share my thoughts and interests, mostly because I think others will find it boring.  Also, I tend to keep my opinions to myself more because most of my opinions have changed throughout my life, and I've had to eat my words!

I've never been fond of debate because I can too often see both sides.  If I had lived my life in someone else's shoes, had all of their experiences, I might have the same ideas and do the same type things.  So now, I fear that I am viewed as boring, not sharing a lot.  

But another issue I have is that when I find people annoying or tiresome, I often think it's because they have a trait that I see in myself.  I don't want to be the kind of person that talks incessantly or only talks about certain topics or politics.

I am very excited to start up this blog again.  I mean it to be a place that I can share what I think and feel.  A place to, as it is said, "Let my geek flag fly," and not worry about it, because if you are here, it's because you want to be!  

But back to the quote, I have managed to retain a lot of friends and acquaintances from the different lives that I have lived, and am often embarrassed when I talk to them after a long time.  I think it is because I am not the same, and I think others expect me to be so.  Or maybe I'm embarrassed about how I used to be and don't want them to hold me to my old actions.  What choice have they though?  That is the only "me" they ever knew.  

Before I quit teaching a had a coworker get *very* surprised to hear me utter a swear word.  I just chuckled to myself and thought, "If you only knew..."

Any-who, it's New Year's Day.  Time for new beginnings and fresh starts.  I'm not so good with resolutions.  I'm more of a goal setter.  Here are the goals I am aiming towards this year:

1.  Learn the pressure canner

2.  Can my own tomatoes this summer

3.  Set aside a 15-20 minute reading time for the family each day

4.  Have a 'No Technology/TV' day once a week

*5.  Be me and don't worry too much about what other people think about it.

And there you have it. A little peeky-poo into more about me.

I'm sharing...This is kind of a big deal to me!

Here's a New Years Eve pic of Ran and me.  :)

I hope you all have a **stellar** 2014 where all your goals are met and your children never whine! ;)

Homey Rituals and Comforting Routines

A fellow blogger asked about morning rituals...

Jane and Company Designs on Etsy

My morning ritual consists of me in bed until my husband brings the coffee into the bathroom, turns the light on, and cracks the door so that I wake up gradually.  

(This after I've hit snooze about 180 times.  :D)  

I know...I'm spoiled.

But I do have a favorite mug, Randy got me a mug with a Jane Austen quote, which sums up my thinking exactly:

"There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort."

Isn't that great?!

What makes your morning peaceful?

M

Starting our Advent Calendar (or How Mommy Was Scrambling the Night of November 30)

I have to admit, there are things about which I procrastinate.  One of these things are holiday decorations.  I looove holidays and enjoy decorating for them.  The problem comes when it is time to take down these decorations.  I must admit that as I write this on the evening of December 1st, I still have strands of spider and pumpkin lights hanging from my iron gate outside and a Happy Halloween garland in my entryway. 

 I think I just have trouble letting go....something to ponder I guess.  So now my home is in a holiday morph.  Part Halloween.  Part Christmas. 

Super Cute Advent Calendar

 I was getting ready for bed last night when I realized that it was the last day of November.  The last few years we have created an advent chain on which an activity for the day would be printed, but this year, I got a super cute advent calendar with little doors.  The plan was to have the activities in each door with a bit of candy for the boys.  

Some of the Yummies

So this is where the scrambling comes in.  There I was frantically snipping the activities out and placing them in the doors.  Things settled down a bit for me once I broke out the Dove chocolates to hide behind the doors....wonder why?  The only part I need to go back correct is matching the activities to the correct day.  I attempted this last night, but I suppose in my dark chocolate feeding frenzy at midnight, I didn't do so hot.  Thank goodness my Kindergartener is still learning to read, and mommy had to take over!   We were supposed to get churros and visit the airport to watch planes take off and land, but mommy forgot that we had lots and lots of plans today.  So we bought a new ornament for the tree instead.  All's well that ends well, don't ya know!

Here's a link to the activities I put in the calendar:

Advent Activities