More tokens!
I laugh in the face of use and care instructions.
I took this picture in my daughter's bathroom, and I nearly tumbled off her footstool while doing so. I'm unseasoned in the ways of bathroom mirror self portraits.
Little effort. Big reward.
Fragile
Men at Work
sometimes dinner is brag-worthy
Food: What's for Dinner?
Click here for part two: Resources
Click here for part three: What's for Breakfast?
Click here for part four: What's for Lunch?
Click here for part five: What about Snacks?
I appreciate those of you who have told me you're looking forward to this "What's For Dinner?" post; thanks for the encouragement and for reading this series!
When we made the change to eating "real" food, I found that I was able to keep many of our regular dinner meals on the menu rotation, I just had to change up my prep a little bit. (I feel like I need a disclaimer here, to remind you that I had prepared dinner as a married woman for 13 years giving ZERO thought to ingredients. Much of this stuff will seem like, "Well, duh." for those of you who have at least given a cursory glance to ingredient labels -- but until 2 years ago, I had not!)
Easy changes to old stand-bys:
Spaghetti: use single-ingredient whole wheat noodles and jarred spaghetti sauce with only real ingredients
Or, made your own sauce in the crock pot! Y'all know I love my crock pot. Omit the sugar in this recipe, we didn't miss it.
Dump the Packets:
Ditch the seasoning packets (with their MSG's, preservatives, and loads of sodium) in favor of a well-stocked seasoning pantry. Make your own seasonings and marinades for tacos, fajitas, chili and soups. The links are to some of the recipes I use regularly, but a quick Google search yields tons of options.
So before making drastic changes to your dinner menu, take a look at your favorites and see how you might be able to just tweak things a bit! Small changes count!
What follows are random things I've discovered regarding real food at dinnertime, followed by a list of our menu "regulars":
My kids eat veggies best when I purchase them raw, and then quickly sauté them in butter over med-high heat. Just enough to get them hot, but to keep them crunchy. A favorite combo is sliced mushrooms, snap peas, and sliced red and green bell peppers. Don't forget the salt and pepper.
I remember hearing a better-eating-tip that I should "shop the perimeter" of the grocery store, and that's definitely become my reality!
A basic formula of meat + veggie or fruit + starch is always an option! Figure out how to consistently prepare meat (chicken breast, pork tenderloin, pork chops, flank steak, salmon) so it's juicy and flavorful and that's half the battle. I don't have 100% success but it's becoming less often that I serve dry, tasteless meat. I had to figure out what cooking methods work for me. Ask friends. Ask Google. Experiment.
Have some easy "regulars" in your pantry, so that on nights that suddenly turn crazy you don't find yourself in the drive-thru because you don't have time to prepare dinner. (Our convenience foods include spaghetti, such as pictured above, and soft tacos served on store bought 3-ingredient corn tortillas.)
I have rediscovered my Grandmother's cast iron skillet. I use it often to sear meats (thin sliced chicken breasts and flank steak specifically) on the outside, then put it in the oven to finish cooking.
Give the kids a hearty after school snack, then give yourself permission to eat after baseball/soccer/gymnastics. It takes time to make dinner.
And when there just isn't time...the crock pot is a working mom's friend.
Breakfast for dinner is great when there's nothing in the cabinet and no time for a grocery run. I always have white whole-wheat flour and maple syrup on hand for pancakes.
---------------------
And finally....here are a few recipes that always make their way back into the rotation. An asterisk* indicates it can be made in the crock pot. (Whoop whoop!) I believe everything on this list is real food with the exception of the smoked sausage recipe. We just can't completely quit that corn-syrup-loaded stuff, and have it once a month or so. Keepin' it real for ya people.
Roasted Whole Chicken*
Carne Asada with Cilantro-Lime Rice
Pork Verde* (So. Good.)
Smoked Sausage with Potatoes and Banana Peppers
Pork Carnitas
Pan Seared Chicken:
thin sliced chicken breast
butter
mushrooms
green onion
parmesan cheese
Cook chickens breasts in butter in skillet over med-high heat. About 3 min per side. Top with sauteed mushrooms/green onion and parm cheese. Serve with roasted red potatoes. (Below.)
Roasted Red Potatoes:
red potatoes
jarred chopped garlic
salt
Italian seasoning
olive oil
Quarter potatoes. Place in 9x11 dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with other ingredients. Mix well with hands. Bake at 400 approx 40 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
Cliff Crew Chili:*
seasoning: 2 T chili powder, 1 t. oregano, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 paprika, 1 t cumin, 1 t ground cayenne
2 lbs ground beef
chopped onion
1 large can kidney beans
1 large can pinto beans
1 large can diced tomatoes
Cook beef and onions. Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Add water to desired consistency. Cook on low all day. Serve with green onions (so good with lots of green onions!), shredded sharp cheddar, and sour cream. Great with homemade corn bread.
Chicken Tortilla Soup:*
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (Use kitchen scissors to cube.)
1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (fresh or jarred)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 can green chile
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Serve topped with corn tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.
Great Taco Soup:
2 lbs browned hamburger meat
2 can pinto beans
2 cans whole kernel corn
1 can rotel
ranch seasoning
taco seasoning
Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with cheese and sour cream.
Many, many great recipes to be found out there. Those are just a few of the common ones around here!
What should I add to my list of dinnertime standards?
-------------
A few more pics of my packed lunches:
Rhythms for Summer
.JPG)
Food: What about snacks?
.JPG)
Reading Buddy
Saturday, June 15, 2013
I have the same reaction to going to Chuck E Cheese that most adults do. Which is to say I generally abhor the idea.
But last night it was just me and Dylan and Lauryn at home, and the two of them approached me about going to visit Chuck.
They won me over saying "We don't wanna eat dinner there....could we go somewhere else for dinner, then just go to Chuck E Cheese and play games?"
Here's what I discovered: finding a coupon and purchasing 100 tokens.....equals lots of time for mama to read.
The kids did their thing, checking back in occasionally with big smiles while dropping off their ticket hauls, and I managed to get lost in my book even in the midst of loud arcade games and screaming children. It's a win-win. Followed up with lots of hand sanitizer.
permalink | posted by Starr at 9:23 AM
I laugh in the face of use and care instructions.
Friday, June 14, 2013
I love thrift shopping.
One benefit, is that I never worry about instructions to dry clean or hand wash. If I ruin something washing it, I'm out a whole $6 bucks...but 9 times out of 10 the garment holds up just fine in the wash.
And when something says "hand wash"...it just means the setting on your machine anyway, right?
I just bought this dress yesterday afternoon at Goodwill. Threw it in the wash as soon as I got home so I could wear it on our Anniversary date last night.
No time to follow the "line dry" instructions, so into the dryer the dress went. Feels like a small victory in the oppressive, ongoing battle I have with laundry! The dress survived its spin in the washer and dryer and was no worse for wear.
I took this picture in my daughter's bathroom, and I nearly tumbled off her footstool while doing so. I'm unseasoned in the ways of bathroom mirror self portraits. I had an amazing night with this guy. 15 years. Fifteen. How is that possible? I feel like we're still kids. Just a couple of kids in love....with jobs, three children, and a mortgage.
permalink | posted by Starr at 8:59 AM
Little effort. Big reward.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
I took 3 minutes out of my busy Saturday to cut these hydrangeas off a bush in my yard, and another 2 minutes to tie some burlap around a mason jar and make it look cute.
Y'all. That five minutes has brought me so many smiles. Days later, and they still look so pretty sitting in my breakfast nook!
I nearly didn't take the 5 minutes to cut the flowers. Same old story....The dishwasher needed unloaded and loaded. The floor badly, BADLY needed mopped. Dinner needed some thought and prep work. And I was rushed, as usual, to get it done before the next commitment was upon us. But I just stopped in the middle of all that same-old-story to pick some flowers, and I'm so glad.
I wonder what else I "don't have time for"...when actually, the reward would be so worth the minimal effort required.
An email to a friend.
Forsaking scrolling through Instagram in favor of reading a book of Proverbs.
Taking a quick aside from housework to play a game of UNO.
Stopping. Five minutes. And enjoying the benefits long after.
permalink | posted by Starr at 11:17 PM
Fragile
Friday, June 7, 2013
I had such a vivid memory today, of standing with one of my Jr. High BFF's in her older sister's bathroom while we primped and prepped, getting ready to go somewhere. It wasn't the level of Garth Brooks concert preparedness, just normal-everyday-makeup-and-hair-poofing. Oh the 7th grade bang poofing.
My friend Amy said, "Okay, you've gotta stop pulling your hair back like that. No more wearing ponytails at the base of your neck. If you're going to wear a ponytail, at least make it a cute ponytail on top of your head."
I remember being glad she told me, seeing as that had been my go-to look for a number of weeks. If I wasn't rocking that low slung ponytail as much as I thought I was, it was her responsibility to tell me. That's what BFF's do.
Aside: That memory was brought on by my lamenting to Amy via text today that the wearing-of-the-ponytail is, I believe, giving me headaches. What's up with that? Getting older stinks. Am I so dainty that a ponytail brings on migraines?!?
I smiled big at that memory today: the low-ponytail-chastisement. My friends were so precious to me in that time of my life, and we silently gave each other permission to say whatever needed to be said. We might agree. We might scoff. And yes we might argue, but we came out still clinging to each other fiercely on the other side of the argument.
It made me ponder too, the difference in friendships made in adulthood vs. those made in childhood. Adult friendships have to be held with softer hands somehow...treated with more care. They are just more fragile. I have made some amazing friends here in Georgia, but I wouldn't look at single one of the women I've met here and say "Sorry. Not feeling that haircut. You gotta get a different hairstyle immediately." Partly because 35 year olds have more tact that 13 year olds do....but you get my point.
I'm grateful for the times every couple of years that I can be with those lifelong friends, with strong bonds formed in childhood. There are a thousand and one ways to describe those friendships, but fragile isn't one of them.
Grateful too that God is faithful, and He is slowly weaving my life together with new friends who are molding me and shaping me, and playing an important part in the new chapters being written. He is good.
permalink | posted by Starr at 10:39 PM
Men at Work
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The boys got hired to dogsit this week. Cute little trio! Love that they get the chance to show some responsibility and earn a little cash.
permalink | posted by Starr at 6:30 PM
sometimes dinner is brag-worthy
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
I love when dinner is a genuine success.
This was pat myself on the back good. (Or, I could give the recipes I found on Pinterest credit where credit is due. And I could mention that Jonathan did the actual grilling. But whatever.)
Coconut Curry Chicken garnished with lime and cilantro. Grilled pineapple with a lemon-honey-black pepper glaze. And a pasta salad with red wine vinegar and kalamata olives that didn't make the picture but was also great.
 |
| I'm no photographer. Just trust me that this dinner cries out to be better photographed and thus more truly represented. |
Curry Coconut Chicken (I omitted the sugar and the ground coriander.)
Pasta Salad: throw some together with any variety whole wheat pasta, plenty of raw veggies (I used tomato and bell pepper), olives, parmesan cheese, doused with olive oil and red wine vinegar and a good dose of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper
permalink | posted by Starr at 9:00 AM
Food: What's for Dinner?
Monday, May 20, 2013
This is part six in a series.
Click here for part one: Food, Glorious Food Click here for part two: Resources
Click here for part three: What's for Breakfast?
Click here for part four: What's for Lunch?
Click here for part five: What about Snacks?
What's for Dinner?
I appreciate those of you who have told me you're looking forward to this "What's For Dinner?" post; thanks for the encouragement and for reading this series!
When we made the change to eating "real" food, I found that I was able to keep many of our regular dinner meals on the menu rotation, I just had to change up my prep a little bit. (I feel like I need a disclaimer here, to remind you that I had prepared dinner as a married woman for 13 years giving ZERO thought to ingredients. Much of this stuff will seem like, "Well, duh." for those of you who have at least given a cursory glance to ingredient labels -- but until 2 years ago, I had not!)
Easy changes to old stand-bys:
Spaghetti: use single-ingredient whole wheat noodles and jarred spaghetti sauce with only real ingredients
Or, made your own sauce in the crock pot! Y'all know I love my crock pot. Omit the sugar in this recipe, we didn't miss it.
Dump the Packets:
Ditch the seasoning packets (with their MSG's, preservatives, and loads of sodium) in favor of a well-stocked seasoning pantry. Make your own seasonings and marinades for tacos, fajitas, chili and soups. The links are to some of the recipes I use regularly, but a quick Google search yields tons of options.
So before making drastic changes to your dinner menu, take a look at your favorites and see how you might be able to just tweak things a bit! Small changes count!
---------------
What follows are random things I've discovered regarding real food at dinnertime, followed by a list of our menu "regulars":
My kids eat veggies best when I purchase them raw, and then quickly sauté them in butter over med-high heat. Just enough to get them hot, but to keep them crunchy. A favorite combo is sliced mushrooms, snap peas, and sliced red and green bell peppers. Don't forget the salt and pepper.
I remember hearing a better-eating-tip that I should "shop the perimeter" of the grocery store, and that's definitely become my reality!
A basic formula of meat + veggie or fruit + starch is always an option! Figure out how to consistently prepare meat (chicken breast, pork tenderloin, pork chops, flank steak, salmon) so it's juicy and flavorful and that's half the battle. I don't have 100% success but it's becoming less often that I serve dry, tasteless meat. I had to figure out what cooking methods work for me. Ask friends. Ask Google. Experiment.
Have some easy "regulars" in your pantry, so that on nights that suddenly turn crazy you don't find yourself in the drive-thru because you don't have time to prepare dinner. (Our convenience foods include spaghetti, such as pictured above, and soft tacos served on store bought 3-ingredient corn tortillas.)
I have rediscovered my Grandmother's cast iron skillet. I use it often to sear meats (thin sliced chicken breasts and flank steak specifically) on the outside, then put it in the oven to finish cooking.
Give the kids a hearty after school snack, then give yourself permission to eat after baseball/soccer/gymnastics. It takes time to make dinner.
And when there just isn't time...the crock pot is a working mom's friend.
Breakfast for dinner is great when there's nothing in the cabinet and no time for a grocery run. I always have white whole-wheat flour and maple syrup on hand for pancakes.
---------------------
And finally....here are a few recipes that always make their way back into the rotation. An asterisk* indicates it can be made in the crock pot. (Whoop whoop!) I believe everything on this list is real food with the exception of the smoked sausage recipe. We just can't completely quit that corn-syrup-loaded stuff, and have it once a month or so. Keepin' it real for ya people.
Roasted Whole Chicken*
Carne Asada with Cilantro-Lime Rice
Pork Verde* (So. Good.)
Smoked Sausage with Potatoes and Banana Peppers
Pork Carnitas
Pan Seared Chicken:
thin sliced chicken breast
butter
mushrooms
green onion
parmesan cheese
Cook chickens breasts in butter in skillet over med-high heat. About 3 min per side. Top with sauteed mushrooms/green onion and parm cheese. Serve with roasted red potatoes. (Below.)
Roasted Red Potatoes:
red potatoes
jarred chopped garlic
salt
Italian seasoning
olive oil
Quarter potatoes. Place in 9x11 dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and sprinkle with other ingredients. Mix well with hands. Bake at 400 approx 40 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
Cliff Crew Chili:*
seasoning: 2 T chili powder, 1 t. oregano, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 paprika, 1 t cumin, 1 t ground cayenne
2 lbs ground beef
chopped onion
1 large can kidney beans
1 large can pinto beans
1 large can diced tomatoes
Cook beef and onions. Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Add water to desired consistency. Cook on low all day. Serve with green onions (so good with lots of green onions!), shredded sharp cheddar, and sour cream. Great with homemade corn bread.
Chicken Tortilla Soup:*
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed (Use kitchen scissors to cube.)
1 onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (fresh or jarred)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 can green chile
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Serve topped with corn tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.
Great Taco Soup:
2 lbs browned hamburger meat
2 can pinto beans
2 cans whole kernel corn
1 can rotel
ranch seasoning
taco seasoning
Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with cheese and sour cream.
Many, many great recipes to be found out there. Those are just a few of the common ones around here!
What should I add to my list of dinnertime standards?
A few more pics of my packed lunches:
 |
| Salad with baby spinach, chopped red bell pepper, cheese, kalamata olives, raw mushrooms and leftover salmon. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. |
 |
| Leftover whole wheat noodles with kalamata olives, green onions, and parmesan cheese. Served cold, pasta salad style. |
 |
| This was "use up the veggies before they go bad" day. Cucumbers with red and green bell pepper, sunflower seeds, and vinegar and oil. I also had an apple and banana that I ate earlier in the day, and was still pretty hungry when I got home. Have had to learn that feeling hungry is okay! |
permalink | posted by Starr at 3:43 PM
Rhythms for Summer
Saturday, May 18, 2013
I love long days and swimming pools and picnics at the river and trips to Sonic for strawberry slushes. All the stuff that screams SUMMERTIME!!!
We have some fun plans for this summer and I can't wait to have more time to spend with this crew. I'm tweaking my work schedule a bit, and accepting less speech therapy patients, so I can be home more often.
Along with all the fun, I'm committing to incorporating a few rhythms, routines and schedules as well. (Not my strength.) (Not at all.) But to go all summer without once thinking about multiplication facts would be a disservice indeed, so I need a plan.
We're tried and abandoned many a chore chart around here, but I have high hopes for a consistent, workable schedule for this summer! We can do anything for 10 weeks...right?
Hope to include daily reading, semi-daily math review, and daily/weekly chores. Feeling optimistic!
.JPG)
permalink | posted by Starr at 8:51 AM
Food: What about snacks?
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
This is part five in a series.
Click here for part one: Food, Glorious Food
Click here for part two: Resources
Click here for part three: What's for Breakfast?
Click here for part four: What's for Lunch?
What about Snacks?
Fruits and raw veggies are easy and quick. The kids have open access to apples, oranges, and bananas. Those three fruits go in the grocery cart weekly, and I change up other fruits as they are on sale, in season, or just look good at the time. Most fruits and veggies can be cut up in advance and stored in the fridge to be ready to eat when you're ready. Here are the fruits and veggies we regularly rotate thru:
cantaloupe (use a melon-baller for quicker prep than cutting)
watermelon
pineapple (How to cut a pineapple.)
kiwi
grapes
grapefruit (How to eat a grapefruit.)
strawberries
avacado
baby carrots
cucumber
bell peppers
sweet peppers
snap peas
frozen edamame
Obviously there are lots of other options, but this is the list that works for the Cliff Crew. I've found, for example, that peaches and plums don't tend to get eaten around here, and cherry tomatoes go bad before we get thru them, so I don't often buy those things. (So don't give up if you stock your fridge with expensive produce and then it doesn't get eaten; keep experimenting with quantities and types of foods that work for your family.)
 |
| Kids picking strawberries at a local "pick your own" strawberry patch. This was totally out of the ordinary and just for fun --- most of the time our produce comes from the grocery store! |
Outside of fruits and veggies, there are a few other standards. After school nearly every day, the kids make smoothies. If you don't already have a blender you love, may I recommend the Ninja. You can get one for less than $30 bucks, and we love it.
The standard smoothie for Ryan and Lauryn is frozen mixed fruit + juice; either apple or orange. That's it.
.JPG)
Dylan and I like ours with spinach leaves and frozen bananas, so after Ryan and Lauryn serve their smoothies we throw in the spinach and banana to the remaining fruit smoothie and blend it up again.
 |
Obviously being forced to pose with their smoothies.  |
It took a while to convince the kids to try "green smoothies", and only Dylan has come around to really enjoying them. You win some you lose some!
Other snacks:
popcorn (Popped fresh, not the microwave stuff. We have a whirly-pop and like ours popped with coconut oil.)
dill pickles
nuts
cheese and crackers
homemade granola
plain yogurt flavored with real fruit preserves
raw veggies with homemade ranch dip
When you're in the grocery store and those candy bars are calling your name at check out, look for better options that still fill that "snack" need. Pistachios, peanuts, and sunflower seeds are usually right around the check out as well!
 |
| Pistachios. Making it a teeny bit easier for me to say no to the Snickers bar. |
Hope you found an idea or two for snack time!
permalink | posted by Starr at 9:17 AM
Reading Buddy
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Love having a reading buddy. I have to pause every few pages of my book to listen to a funny part of hers...but I don't mind that much. Precious time!
permalink | posted by Starr at 7:36 PM
I'm Starr Cliff. A domestically-challenged mom, climbing over mountains of laundry to bring you my stray observations and amusing stories about my kids. (more)
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