2008 April

So, then it's not just me?

April 16, 2008 By bigbinder 5 Comments

All winter I waited impatiently for spring. I couldn’t wait to be outside, and let my kids play in the yard. To go to the store without having to start 2 hours before I left with coats, mittens, boots; running outside to scrape the car windows, then running back inside and putting on the coats, mittens and boots back on…

While I have enjoyed all of the above in the past few weeks, I also feel extremely busy. Maybe it is watching the summer calendar fill up more quickly than I want it to, or noticing how my baseboards need to be scrubbed now that the sunshine highlights all of my houskeeping errors of omission, or maybe it is just the extra energy from the nice weather pushing me into a frenzy. I can’t explain it, but I am not alone.

Tonight I was checking in on a few blogs, and within a very short amount of time came across three different posts with the same theme. The Thinking Mother wonders if the clutter she is finally has time to tackle is a sign she has been doing too much. The Mother Load reads the book “How Did I Get So Busy?” and learns some important lessons about time management vs. life management. Keeper of the Home offers a very heartfelt and honest admission we can all relate to – the most important people in our lives sometime take a backseat when life gets busy.

Maybe it’s cosmic, maybe it’s climate, or maybe it’s just coincidence. If you are feeling more harried than usual, take heart my friends. It’s a widespread phenomena. I’m going to try and nip this in the bud. Rather than skip the gym or stay up late to ‘get stuff done’, I’m going to work out as usual (admittedly this is hardly a breakneck pace) and sleep my normal schedule. If it doesn’t work, well, I don’t feel like I’m getting anything done anyway; at least I won’t have bags under my eyes, and I’ll look better in a bathing suit this summer

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Filed Under: I Just Feel Like Blogging

Special K Bliss Bars

April 15, 2008 By bigbinder 1 Comment

I have mentioned about 100 times that I am a Weight Watchers participant and also a big fan. I am always on the lookout for a new snack, especially in the low-point range. When I was asked to sample the new Special K Bliss bars, I was happy to do so. I loved the Special K Protein water and looked forward to trying the Bliss Bars.

I tried two kinds; Rasberry and Orange. They have 90 calories, 2 grams of fat, and less than 1 gram of fiber. You can go here for more nutritional information. The first one I sampled was the Raspberry. I have to be honest; I was not overly impressed. I like raspberries, but wasn’t crazy about the flavor of these bars. I also thought they were sort of – sticky. Kind of like home made Rice-Krispy treats, but with a harder ‘crunch’.

I tried the Orange flavor next and liked these much better. The orange taste goes really well with the chocolate. Maybelle asked if she could try them too, and I let her. I asked her what she thought; and she said, “Mm. Well. Sticky?”. My thoughts exactly. Having said that; they are only two Weight Watchers points, and DO involve chocolate, which covers a multitude of crunchy stickiness in my book.

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Filed Under: I Just Feel Like Blogging Tagged With: Special K Bliss

Menu Plan Monday April 14

April 13, 2008 By bigbinder 9 Comments

SUNDAY

Leftovers. Chicken Noodle Soup and Stuffed Shells. Sorry; no recipe for either. It was one of those “dump some frozen chicken breasts in to boil while you clean and chop the rest of the carrots in the vegetable drawer and get excited you have celery too” for the soup and the shells were made previously and frozen, and made an appearance this weekend.

MONDAY

Home-made pizza. I’ll use this recipe from I’m an Organizing Junkie!for the crust, and then have our standard olive and pepperoni toppings. We’re trying turkey peperoni this time. I have yet to find a great home-made sauce recipe though so I always get the store brand at Meijer.. please share if you have one!

TUESDAY

I have been ending up with an ‘extra’ meal either because we have too many leftovers, or because we eat something else. I’m not planning one day each week for this reason. I pick Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY

Ground Beef Gyros from “Mom On A Journey”. I’ll also try making hummus one more time, and attempt to make my own pita bread in the bread maker.

THURSDAY

I have Two Bean Chili With Corn in the freezer that I’m going to defrost, I don’t know where the recipe is now but it’s easy: kidney beans, black beans, ground beef, corn, tomatoes and chili powder.

FRIDAY

I have been challenged to make a main dish a recipe using cocoa by “The Simple Cajun Life. She was quick to specify that chocolate cake cannot be counted as a main dish. So here it is: Cocoa Chili Pork Ribs. I will let you all know how it turns out.

SATURDAY

Pepperoni chicken from ”Teaching Diligently”. Hopefully the turkey pepperoni goes over well on Monday, because I’ll be using it in this dish too.

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Here is my ‘Food Triangle Theory’ update (the original post is here): I am happy to report that I have successfully made white bread, wheat bread, pizza crust, and bagels in my bread maker. I have switched to big bags of rice rather than rice mixes (‘bye Zatarains! Ciao Uncle Ben! It’s been real.), and no longer use instant rice. I have yet to go all brown – because there are times that it just has to be Jasmine rice even though it’s white. We no longer have Goldfish or any other crackers except Saltines for soup. We all have our vices.

Last week as I was investigating buying a grinding mill so I could make my own flour at home I decided I had done a pretty good job in the bread and grains category and needed to move on. I can always come back to it, but it doesn’t make any sense to eat sandwiches made from lunchmeat full of sodium and nitrates on bread made of home-ground flour. Onward and upward! Fruits and veggies, here I come…

For more Menu Plan Monday, head over to Laura’s Blog.

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Wild Animal Crunch

April 13, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

One very fun thing about being a blogger is that on occasion, I am asked to review products on Big Binder. I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn’t sell my soul for rock ‘n roll; and would only review products I might actually consider buying.

Finally, a product came along that I was very interested in. I hadn’t seen it in the stores yet so it was completely new to me. Kellogg’s Wild Animal Crunch is a new breakfast cereal. The box I was sent to sample had a picture of a manatee on it. When A.P. looked at the box, he held it, then turned it over, then said “Ooh! I think it’s gonna be good!” I thought this was an interesting response because it isn’t even a cartoon animal like other breakfast cereals. Speaking of the box; it is made of 100% recycled cardboard.

Maybelle was a little confused; she thought we were going to have animal crackers for breakfast. Despite this, they both liked the cereal a lot, and I tried a bowl as well. It is chocolate-y but not super sweet. The cereal itself is shaped like animals but it’s a little hard to tell what they are. I asked my kids what they thought the shapes were. They got the elephant right, but thought the turtle was a deer, and the dolphin they couldn’t even guess at.

As I have mentioned; I tend to be a little, um, thematic in my kids’ food. The box has great pictures and information on it which isn’t surprising because Kellogg’s partnered with Animal Planet to provide the fun facts about animals. There are also trading cards A.P. had fun cutting out after the cereal was gone. I can foresee this cereal coming soon as a tie-in to a zoo visit.

Since I am on Weight Watchers, I compared it to my box of Whole Grain Total. You know what?? For the exact same serving size (3/4 of a cup), Wild Animal Crunch has exactly the same calories, fiber, and one half of a gram more of fat than the Total. For half a gram of fat, have some fun.

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Filed Under: I Just Feel Like Blogging Tagged With: Review, Wild Animal Crunch

Scholastic Warehouse Sale

April 13, 2008 By bigbinder 3 Comments

Start saving your pennies – one of the two ‘big’ Scholastic warehouse sale is in May (the other is in December). I am addicted to Scholastic. Every month when A.P. gets those little flyers from school I think “not THIS month – we have enough books”. But they are so cheap, and cute, and he really likes bugs right now (or dinosaurs, or planets, or whatever else every other little boy in the world likes so there are books-a-plenty on the subject) and now Maybelle is into books so I cave every time.

If you’re been reading along for a while you already know that I go crazy at these warehouse sales. Remember to sign up for a Fast Cart Pass so you can get in and get shopping quickly, and also get $10 off of a $50 purchase.

Here is the info:

8280 Broadmoor Se
Caledonia, MI 49316
(800) 451-7181

Thurs & Fri, May 8 & 9, 9:00-8:00
Sat, May 10 & 17, 9:00-3:00
Mon-Fri, May 12 – 16, 9:00-6:00
Mon -Wed, May 19 – 21, 9:00-4:00

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Scholastic Warehouse Sale

Something to make.. Chicken Soup?

April 12, 2008 By bigbinder 1 Comment

As you know, I try and bring a fun craft to you each Saturday. Sadly, my husband came home from work yesterday feeling sick. He woke up with a full-blown sore throat and fever. I’m pretty sure it’s strep throat. He’s pretty sure it’s not, but that whatever it is – it is fatal. Naturally, he won’t go to the doctor, who may not only disagree with his diagnosis but worse yet – confirm that mine is correct.

Frankly, I’m a bit relieved. He has been less than totally pleasant to be around for the past several days and this at least gives him an excuse. In desperation, I was actually trying to figure out how to crush up a few Midol and sneak them into his Mountain Dew.

I took my kids to the library this morning where I got some great news. The summer reading program – and you know I am a huge fan – launches Monday, June 9 and goes through Saturday, August 2. It’s called “Catch the Reading Bug”. There are a lot of great events coming to the Grand Rapids Public Library locations (sorry I don’t have any KDL info yet), and I’ll fill in the details as the date gets closer. One thing I do want to mention is that on Tuesday, July 22 and Wednesday, July 23 there is a program called, “Insects Do The Strangest Things”.

Professor “Anson Pantz” of the Kalamazoo Nature Center will teach kids about the strange things insects to. Dr. Pantz’s real name is Pete Stobie and he is an award-winning naturalist. When I lived in Kalamazoo I volunteered at the Nature Center and was privileged to work with him. He is AMAZING with kids, I am so excited that he will be here as part of this program. Put this one on your calendar for sure.

I had planned on watching an episode of Reading Rainbow called, “Watch The Stars Come Out”, reading along while we watched, and then making a star-mobile craft I found on the website. It’s simple, but thematic. My favorite. However, I would be a big fat liar if I told you we made anything but Chicken Noodle Soup today. We also watched the Reading Rainbow episode, but no craft, no book. At least it’s kind of educational… and the soup is good.

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Filed Under: Something to Make Saturday Tagged With: Catch The Reading Bug, Kalamazoo Nature Center, Reading Rainbow, Summer Reading Program

Things to Do

April 10, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

Sadly, Spring Break is almost over. We have made the most of it. Today we went to Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium at Celebration Cinema South as part of the Dove Family Film Festival. They kids got a nice haul from the “Spring Break South” I wrote about before in the Spring Break posts. This goes on through tomorrow, so if you go to check it out, your kids can expect the following:

A piece of cake.
Two lollipops.
A piece of candy.
A mini camera/viewmaster thingy, a little pencil, stickers, and a notebook in an Adventure Pack.
A package of cookies.
A craft station to make a foam picture frame.
Assorted stickers, coloring pages, bouncy balls, and spinning tops.

Just a word of advice. Not that this happened to me, of course. If you happen to have a screaming headache and you shut your eyes during the movie for just a second to meditate on the Extra Strength Tylenol you left in your car (stupid! stupid!); make sure you are sitting on the end of the aisle in case your 4 year old son decides the movie is a little slow and he wants to “go up to the top of the theater to see the thing that the movie is coming out of”. This way, in case you have nodded off for just a second, he will wake you up when he is trying to get past and you can pass it off like nothing happened so the Other People in the theater don’t think you are a Terrible Parent.

Many of the other Spring Break events are still going on tomorrow, so check them out. For activities next week and throughout the month, head over to Big Binder’s Calendar.

Be thankful you didn’t really go anywhere for Spring Break, because if you had, you would probably still be sitting in the airport trying to get to your destination as flight upon flight is cancelled…

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Filed Under: Things to do Thursday

Putting my Menu Plan Monday to shame

April 9, 2008 By bigbinder 1 Comment

I just came across a new blog called Rice, Beans & Mixed Greens that I have found fascinating. It is written by a woman named Maria who is undertaking a challenge of spending only $30 total on food between April 10 and May 9. She will then donate the difference between this very small amount and what she usually spends to Blandford Nature Center and Mixed Greens. She is also doing it to raise awareness of the dietary limitations facing people on a low income.

Although Blandford is no longer part of Grand Rapids Public Schools, Mixed Greens works very hard to connect kids with local food production systems through on site programs at Blandford as well as school vegetable gardens and kitchen classrooms.

I am a definite ’feeder’. I like to cook for people. The charities that always pull on my heartstrings most are those that provide food for people who need it. It is hard for me to see people hungry, either by choice or by circumstance. I have the urge to send Maria food. Unfortunately, she has set up a list of rules that would not allow for this. She will, however, allow herself to forage for food. Maria, come on over. I have a cheese and crackers tree in my back yard; have at it!

I am going to add this blog to my blogroll while the project is current so that you can follow along as well if you are interested.

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Filed Under: EatLocalChallenge Tagged With: Blandford Nature Center, Mixed Greens

Olives, of course

April 8, 2008 By bigbinder 3 Comments

I mentioned previously that my Silly Sister in Law gave me the information about Sparta Lanes having a Spring Break special with $1 games and free shoe rental. Although we are not related by blood – let me tell you that we are related. We must be. We are both left-handed. We are relentlessly frugal. And we create the most beautiful children in the world. OK that last one may be slightly biased.

Back to the frugality. In addition to the bowling hook up, she had a stack of free kids’ meal coupons. We met at the bowling alley and with the kids, (five of them in all with ages ranging from 2 through 9) bowled up a storm. I will admit that our confidence was bolstered by the bumpers. It was more like pool than bowling, with the ball ricocheting off of the bumpers to pick up the spare. We kind of just let the kids take over because half of them couldn’t keep score, or ended up in the wrong lane. We were just there for those super cute bowling shoes, anyway.

From there we headed over to the Olive Garden. I asked Maybelle what she wanted to eat for lunch. “Olives!”. I should have known. This girl is an olive freak. A.P. was easy – his new love of meatballs was a perfect fit for Olive Garden. Once we were there, the seating arrangement only took the kids about what seemed like 45 minutes to get straight. We also had my Sister In Law’s mom and brother with us, so we really had quite the crowd. Her kids were great. The helped my kids with their lunches, and ate most of their own.

My kids were not. It turns out the ONLY thing Maybelle would eat were olives, and not the surrounding salad or pizza. A.P. did not want meatballs after all. He wanted my kids’ meal grilled chicken and steamed broccoli I had cleverly (I thought) ordered for him, and then switched with the adult spaghetti and meatballs entree. My sister in law had done the same thing, with the same results. Since when do kids reject spaghetti and meatballs, and ravioli, and ask for grilled chicken with broccoli instead?? I guess the other thing we have in common is weird kids.

As we walked across the parking lot to the cars, the kids lined up in order of height and held hands. It was a very sweet sight – all of the cousins were thrilled to be together. I hope all of our Spring Breaks are this fun!

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Filed Under: Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: Cousins, Olive Garden, Silly Sister In Law, Sparta Lanes

Win Tickets To Dr. Grins Comedy Club!

April 8, 2008 By bigbinder Leave a Comment

GR Now is giving away one of five sets of 4 tickets to see Jimmy Shubert at Dr. Grins Comedy Club at the BOB this weekend. Here is the entry form; good luck!

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