Breakfasts are getting better!

A while back I asked for and got some great suggestions for breakfast foods. I've been allowing the kids to help me make breakfast on a one-to-one basis. This morning, Megan and I made toasted half-bagel peanut butter and banana sandwiches with gian strawberries on the side. The kids had Bubble Juice to drink. Yummy!

Bubble Juice AKA Omega-3 Supplement

My tip for getting the kids to take their Omega supplement is to mix it in their orange juice to make Bubble Juice.

Egg burritos- make mine Buzz Lightyear!

Now that the kids are out of school for the summer and I don't have to rush out the door in the morning to sit in the drop-off lane, I've been making a warm breakfast. I forgot how good it feels to start my day with something other than a banana and a Luna bar in the minivan on my way to work.

We purchase our eggs in the 18 count boxes because of our family size. Shortly after Easter, I came across these eggs with Disney Characters already stamped on them. After checking them out, I decided to give them a try. After all, it adds fun to whoever is helping me when they get to pick the eggs.

So Daniel loved helping pick an egg for each person earlier last week when we were making egg burritos.

Ingredients:

Eggs

Shredded Cheese

Whatever chopped veggies are laying around (we usually have a bunch in the fridge)

Whole Wheat tortillas

1. Scramble eggs, in the last minute or so, toss in the chopped veggies - I like 'em to stay a bit on the crunchy side.

2. Warm tortilla for a few minutes (I just keep the toaster oven on low and pop the tortillas in and out as needed).

3. Pile in center of tortilla some scrambled egg/veggie mix, sprinkle with some cheese, wrap and enjoy!

We keep a little salsa and sour cream on the table for dipping if needed.

I really need to make some and freeze them for mornings that I need to get to work early. We also have this for BFD some nights.

Pizza yumminess

I just thought I'd throw out a brag that my husband makes the best home made pizza ever. He makes the dough from scratch - but he won't let me have his super-secret recipe. Although, it totally cracks me up when he calls me at work to ask if we need anything else from the store because he's out of King Arthur Bread Flour. He's going to be a great Mr. Mom come July when he's finally done with his service in the Coast Guard.

He makes bread dough at least once a week, and a huge batch of it at that! We probably eat pizza at least once, but mostly twice a week. He takes the kids to the store and has them help pick toppings. They've come home with different colored peppers, banana peppers, olives, mushrooms, turkey pepperoni (which I'm not a big fan of any pepperoni, but they are), roma tomatoes and some fun speciality cheeses. I'm not sure if we'll ever order delivery pizza again!

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie

'Bout time I post another recipe! Sheesh... Really, we have been eating some yummy, yummy stuff around here.

With no further ado - Peanut Butter Pie

1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup peanut butter (we use all natural pb)
8 oz. cream cheese (at room temp - don't even think about using fat free)
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 small jar hot fudge
1/2 cup sugar

1. In the Kitchen Aid stand mixer, beat together the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar.

2. Gently fold in the Cool Whip.

3. Spoon mixture into pie shell.

4. Cover with warmed hot fudge (be sure to save some to garnish!)

5. Put in fridge for a few hours (I did overnight).

6. Just before serving, spread additional Cool Whip on top.

7. To garnish - I took a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, and a few tablespoons of hot fudge and warmed them together, smooshed them into a plastic baggie, snipped off the tip and doodled on the top of the pie. It looked lovely. Unfortunately in my haste to serve the pie, I did not get a picture. So you're just going to have to make it to see how yummy it is!!

Very valuable job interview tip

Yikes, I'm complaining twice in one night.

But I seriously have to get something off my chest. I'm in the process of interviewing for a nice position with nice benefits at one of the top employers in my state, and one of the top 5 hospitals in the nation. I am less than impressed with the lack of interview skills people are coming to my office with.

So, please, promise me that you will never, and I mean never ever, bring a Burger King sandwich to your interview and then proceed to eat it in my office.

That's your friendly tip for the day.

RSVP now for the pity party being thrown tonight!

Alright, so I know this is ridiculous, but I just need to stick it out there...

It's different living in Florida vs. living on a small island in Alaska. Let's face it, when you live in a community with only one major grocery store, everyone really gets to know one another. Now I'm really struggling with how BIG Florida is. Don't get me wrong, we've lived here before. But here's a little secret - when you leave, time really does go on. People marry, or divorce, or have kids and devlop way different parenting views than you; basically - we are all in a process of changing the person that we are. Sometimes true friendship can look past these things, and sometimes it changes the person that was once your friend so much that the friendship isn't exactly ruined, it's just not the same.

Don't get me wrong, we've got friends, we've got family, we've got a nice life. It's just that Florida is just so BIG, that it's not what I'm used to. I want to go to the bookstore tonight and get a decaf drink and browse books. I wish I had a girlfriend that lived close by to call up and invite to go with me.

That is all - just my sadness that the close friends that we had when we left Florida have all changed. Or maybe it's me that's changed. Not horrible changed, but just different changed. And the new friends I'm making through work - all seem to live in 6 different directions.

Interesting how the Coast Guard life really fosters friendships because everyone gets to know everyone else after a while, and chances are when you are restationed somewhere, it's pretty likely that either you'll know someone there, or you'll know a friend that knows someone there and you'll automatically have at least one person to hang out with. Now that we are all but out of the Coast Guard, it's starting to feel a little lonely out here.

I'll be okay. I'm still going to the bookstore in a little bit after I put the kids to bed.

I'll never get to quit working, ever.

Today was the last day of school for my 6 year old and my 5 year old. I decided to take a late lunch and pick the kids up from school and transport them home to daddy. Megan was all excited about the last day of school. She wanted to know if it was my last day of work. I was going to tell her that it was not my last day of work, but Joshua answered for me by telling her that grown-ups never get a last day of work, they have to work every day forever. Boo, that's a sad thought.

Sadder though, is that if I plan to retire at 65 years old, I have another 32 years of working. That's one year less than I've been alive. Interesting to look at it that way.

As Providence would have it, I'm feeling more and more like I need to enroll in classes for my Masters degree. And lo and behold, the tuition reimbursement advisor was at the cafeteria today when I was grabbing some oatmeal for breakfast at the hospital. How's that for a push in the right direction. Because seriously, if I finish a Master's program in 2 years, I'll still have at least 30 years of working to use it. :)

Finally, a good picture of me!

As done by my fantastic 5 year old daughter. Notice my big smile. I love that that is how she sees me. She doesn't see my muffin top or my split ends. She just sees my smile.

Cheating while making cookies!

Seriously, if my kids waited until I had time to make cookies from scratch, it might never happen. I do have days when I can go all out and do everything from scratch. But the reality of it is that I am a full-time working mom, every once in a while I need a little help.

Help last week came from The Immaculate Baking Company's awesome oatmeal raisin cookies. Oh.my.goodness...my house smelled fantastic while these were cooking, and the texture is just absolutely perfect. My kids loved these cookies. In fact, they point them out at Publix every time we are there.

One thing I love about these cookies is that the company is really into promoting folk art. We've got some awesome folk artists here in Central Florida, and I'm crazy excited (that's like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch excited!) about promoting Folk artist.

Okay, I'm done raving. Just know that when I can't find the time to make my own from-scratch cookies, this is absolutely what I'm reaching for - healthy, no trans fats, awesome cookies!

Dude, where ya been?

Pardon my temporary hiatus while I continue to work on next school year's curriculum. I've actually decided against purchasing a big box curriculum and have now decided to do more of a "unit based" school year.

By breaking the year down into 2 week increments, it is a whole lot less frightening. Especially considering that it will be my husband that will be home with the kids during the day while I'm at work. We plan on using a tag-team type of approach.

I have so, so much to blog about -
*I'm actually brave enough to write my own homeschool curriculum.

*I think I'll apply for Spring 2010 entrance for a Masters in Nursing Leadership.

*I got a new treadmill for Mother's Day - and I've been using it.

*Although, I did gain 5 pounds and am back at 150 - I'll readjust my side thingy later. I had zero willpower when I got all sorts of foodie gifts for Nurses Week.

*My husband and I have been cooking together and I have a bunch of yummy recipes to share.

*I volunteered to co-lead the 3 year old Beginners group at our church for the next school year. It's a really challenging room, and it needs a ton of help. The parents are really disconnected in there.

So there you have it.

Am I the only person that volunteers for way too many projects at once?