mamachallenge | Real Solutions for Real Parents | Dallas Blog
Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo
Mama Mondays:
We’re starting off the week with a little “potty talk.”
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| Brittany from Brittany Estes, Becky from The Java Mama, ME – Autumn from Mama Challenge, Jamie from Roubinek Reality and Esther from Laugh With Us Blog. |
I mean we’re getting to the real core of the matter – we’re going to talk about bums. And this ain’t about your kids, either.
Join me today for some fun talk about your Clean Care Routine over on Mom2MomDFW.com.
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. I made this Sorrento-Style Tilapia Spaghetti for a shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.
I love to cook. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t allow it often, especially during the week when my family needs it most – at dinner. Between my work, the kids’ school, dad’s school and work and all the other “fun” things that mama has to do…dinner is a challenge. However, each school year I make the plan to at least have some quick and easy options for healthy meals that I at least made homemade…halfway. So it’s important for me to stay stocked up our staples, so I head to Sam’s Club to get our necessities for quick breakfasts, faster lunch-box making and almost-immediate dinners. Attempting to make healthier recipes, I grab items in the freezer section that can help me create meals that my family will love by just adding a few ingredients to create a real “dinner winner.”
Since my kids are young, getting them to eat fish is hard. However, when it looks and has the consistency of chicken nuggets, the are little more amenable to trying something like this amazing parmesan encrusted tilapia from Treasures from the Sea. You can have delicious fish from the freezer to the table in less than an episode of Mickey’s Mouse Playhouse with no preparation. And considering it has 9 grams and fat and less than 300 calories per serving, I was stoked that the tilapia was hitting up all our preferred food profiles!
While you totally could serve it by opening just up a can of veggies, I was feeling reminiscent of my favorite vacation I took about a year ago to Italy so I decided to dress it up a little. Add some spaghetti, tomato sauce and a few fresh veggies I had sitting around in the fridge and presto – we had a Sorrento-Style Tilapia Spaghetti in less than 30 minutes!
Are you tempted to pick up some Treasures from the Sea Encrusted Tilapia at your Sam’s? Consider trying it or another great recipe like this one during an upcoming demo at your local Sam’s Club:
September 17: Italian Style Fish and Pasta
September 19: Smoked Sausage Pasta OR Quick ‘N’ Easy Chicken Parmesan
September 24: Chicken dippers
To find a Sam’s Club location near you, visit the Sam’s ClubLocator and type in your zip code.
Gustare la ena (enjoy your dinner!)
Is it possible to get tired of coffee, Diet Coke or Red Bull to get your daily fix?
Read more about Energems in my story on Mom2MomDFW.
Disclaimer: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Post Pebbles but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #PebblesBTS http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.
Sharing bits and pieces (and in this case Pebbles) with your children is part of the fun of being a parent. However, during a trip to Walgreens I picked up a box of Post Cocoa Pebbles and my son pointed to Fred and Barney on the front of the box and asked, “Who’s that?”
Oh, Hanna Barbara. We had work to do.
Kinda a fail on my part I felt for never airing an episode of “The Flinstones,” until I was able to find only few clips of the classic cartoon online. Thankfully, iTunes gave us some options to make a real formal introduction, but it seemed like unlike the recent surge in my favorite childhood boy bands reclaiming the limelight, the Bedrock buddies I watched as a kid, had slipped into an oblivion.
After my enjoying my own moment of nostalgia, I decided to use the opportunity to talk about the Flinstones’ prehistoric period (how people did it then) with a little Cooking 101 using our box of Post Cocoa Pebbles – with both the almost-two-year old and five-year old. (I’m pretty sure my head was full of rocks.)
After a huge fight about who got to stand next to mama in the chair, who got to crack the egg and who got which apron (they are exactly the same color), we began putting together a dessert that we later would call “Bedrock Brownies,” a layered “rocky-road type” desert using brownie mix, cheesecake filling, crushed Cocoa Pebbles, marshmallows, chocolate chips, nuts and icing. And you’re right, it ain’t fat-free.
We talked about measurements, learning patience (all of us during the process), taking turns putting in the ingredients and of course, stiring the mix. Things were going pretty well at this point until my oldest asked if we created another episode of “his cooking show.” Always happy to share my blogging adventures with my kids, I was elated to go behind the camera to direct while he set up for his intro…
Unfortunately after about the 20th take, I gave up on this time creating the next Bobby Deen. He was tired, I was tired and by this time the toddler had escaped with a couple of tastes of the mix and fled to the living room to play with her dolls. We just needed these sweeties to get done, so we could break “brownies” together.
You too can create this Yabba-Dabba delicious dessert that is creamy, chocolately and crunchy. It’s so good you might consider running your car around the block with your bare feet in order to burn off the calories just so you can have another one.
It’s a whole new way to eat your milk and cereal!
Travel Tuesdays:
Disclaimer: I was provided the use of of Toyota Highlander for the purposes of this review and adventure. No other compensation was provided and all comments here are my own.
This sign we started to take down in my son’s room last week inspired me to take my son on his first road trip after he made a sweet statement about Texas. I felt it was important he not only go on an adventure with me, but he needed to understand what Texas is and Texas was.
So being that he now was five-years old and I was in need a little mini-vacation, it was time to venture out on the highway and show Jackson what Texas had to offer him. Hence our first road trip – just mama, the boy and my mama. Three generations ready to take on the open road. (Buckle up!)
Since we only had three days, we made a plan to venture south to some of my favorite parts of Texas – Hill Country.
Our route included:
But before we could get going, it was time to get acquainted with the 2013 Toyota Highlander! I can tell you checking out all the fun features of this seven-passenger vehicle was an adventure in itself and over the next few posts in our #ReoRoadTrip (the official hashtag of our escapade), we will share our favorites.
First of all, it was definitely the space the Toyota Highlander provided. Like any mama, I’m always preparing for the things that are going to happen, so I need lots of space for STUFF like a first-aid kit, napkins, games, shoes, bags, wipes, snacks…well, you get the picture. We want space. I loved that there was tons of room and many adjustable cup holders (that can be changed to fit the size of the cup.) An added bonus is that my son’s feet aren’t able to kick the back of my seat while I’m driving (total plus for me.) You can tell accomodating a family was a #1 priority in the design of this SUV.
Unfortunately, the little town was known for its amazing Czech culture and heritage until earlier this Spring when a large fertilizer plant exploded. It was a horrible accident with mass destruction, many people killed and several hundreds more hurt. Since the explosion, the town has been rebuilding itself for months now and thankfully through many donations (including ours that day), the town will continue to rebuild and carry on the traditions they have kept alive for so many years.
Now in the words of Willie Nelson, it was time to get “On the Road Again.”
Follow us on the rest of our #ReoRoadTrip adventure in the Toyota Highlander 2013 over the next few weeks!
Try-it Tuesdays:
Disclaimer: This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Huggies, but all my opinions are my own. #HuggiesSlipOn #pmedia http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO
It was one of those days that I woke up thinking, it might be a great day. The house was clean, I had a warm shower all by myself and I actually wasn’t dreading anything in the next eight hours. I could hear a little Mary Chapin Carpenter singing, “I Feel Lucky” in my head.
Then I went upstairs.
I had spoken too soon.
My daughter had done her business. Then she peeled the tabs off her diaper and ripped it off.
And then proceeded to use my carpeted staircase as her personal roll of Quilted Northern.
I was devasted. Maybe because I had just gotten the carpets cleaned. Maybe because I had just taken a shower and I didn’t want to get dirty. Or maybe it’s because poop all over my almost-white carpet is just gross.
While cleaning it all up was my next step, I had to figure out what I was going to do to make sure this wasn’t going to happen again. NEVER. EVER. AGAIN.
Then just like that — mama was able to redeem her day…for the most part. I prevented another snail trail incident from happening all over my carpet all thanks for the Huggies Slip-Ons.
Now I just need to work on getting the Mr. Clean Fairy to show up to help me with the carpet.
Are you ready to make your diaper diasters turn into diaper dreams?
Now consider this your special Fairy Godmother with a giveaway for $25 Giftcard from Target so you can try your own Huggies Slip-Ons (and maybe a little something for mama, too!)
Wow-Mom Wednesday:
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Netflix.
When I was growing up I always had drive-in theatre in my own hometown. I have many fond memories of our family watching movies, sitting in the car with the crackle of the attached speaker on the window and a bucket of popcorn in my lap.
Fast forward to now. While drive-in theatres are back in vogue even in the big city, my kiddos are still not ready (or at least I’m not) to take on the summer fun adventure of two children under 5 in the car for two hours plus and at least $40 out for refreshments.
So we’ve opted for the next best thing – our own drive-in movie night at home using Netflix.
Rolling out the TV to the back patio, the kids rolled up their cars and mama brought out the popcorn.
Now to choose what to watch!
Using the NEW Netflix.com/Families features, we were able to look through so many categories on our Apple TV including Family Movie Night, Are We There Yet and TV for Curious Kids. While there were so many to choose from, the love of Mickey Mouse won them over with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally. (And at only 48 minutes and no commercials it was ideal for my two-year-old!)
And just for the occasion, we broke out the ears! Even our Lab, Birddie, got in on the fun.
We had so much fun with just changing where we were watching TV with Netflix, we decided to make it a double-feature and watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
What an inexpensive night of fun – and all for $7.99 a month. (That’s still less one ticket to the movies!) And doing the math for a family of four and treats, it’s a big budget item for only two hours out of the house when with Netflix, you can get it unlimited!
I’ll admit I don’t know if we will roll the TV out come August in Texas, but it doesn’t matter where we watch Netflix. Between our iPad, iPhone, Apple TV and the good ole laptop, Netflix is just a few clicks away for family night fun.
About Netflix
Netflix.com/Families is a new destination designed to meet your family’s summertime entertainment needs. On Netflix.com/Families, parents can find lists of movies and TV shows for all kinds of special summer moments.
Visit www.Netflix.com/Families for more information on the best ways to stream as well as videos from families using Netflix.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Netflix.
Want-It Wednesday:
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.
The summer time brings a much-needed slower pace for moms. Well, not really, with all the activities and events planned from the moment the kids are out of school until the day they get back. However, it does give you a reason to enjoy some of the sweet things in life like brownies.
One of our family favorites, I was looking to jazz up the baked chocolate concoction with something a little more fun, flavorful AND QUICK. But it’s too hot to sit in the kitchen for hours, so with the help of a brownie mix, some cupboard staples and my International Delight Almond Joy Creamer, I was able to whip up a dessert like our family favorite 7-Layered Bars, but this time was even better with Almond Joy Brownies.
QUICK ALMOND JOY BROWNIES
Ingredients:
1 Box of Fudge Brownie Mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 cup almonds (I used slivered, but you can use chopped)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup of International Delight Almond Joy Creamer
Directions:
Make brownies as instructed on the box, but opt for the cake-like brownie recipe.)
Bake for about 15-18 minutes until the brownies are set, but not necessarily cooked.
Take the brownies out of the oven and begin layering. First with the coconut and then the chocolate chips.
Next add the creamer over the brownie mixture.
Last add the almonds.
Bake the brownies for 20-25 minutes at the same temperature or until the toppings look browned.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool before cutting.
TIP:
Unlike chocolate chip cookies, these brownies get even better after some time out of the oven. We ended up putting these in the refrigerator for a day and when they came out again, I couldn’t get everyone to stop eating them. The added coolness gave it a little crunch and with the heat of summer, it was nice to bite into a cool brownie. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!
What’s Your ID? International Delight is looking for their most passionate flavor fans. Put your ID on the map to enter to win a Magical Trip, play games and discover more unexpected delight. Share your ID flavor at http://whatsyourid.com.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.
This is a sponsored post on the behalf of Invisalign. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Everyone (except maybe Heidi Klum) has had their ugly duckling period.
Normally it is also the time puberty kicks in around junior high and to make your self-esteem really go downhill, your parents decide this is the right time for braces. Then thankfully about your senior year of high school you get your braces removed just in time to show your new perfectly straightened pearly whites for graduation photos.
I wasn’t that lucky. Although I was so glad to get braces, I didn’t get mine “installed” UNTIL the end of my junior year of high school. To make it even more fun, I got my first pair of glasses the following week. While my top row were “clear” ceramic braces, my bottom set were the traditional metal braces and my graduation photos would definitely have me with my braces and so would my first year of college…
Super. (That’s not what I said at the time, but you can imagine what I was thinking, right?)
While I wasn’t happy to be “Braceface” and “Four Eyes” all of a sudden, I didn’t mind it near as much as the pain I had when my wires needed adjusting and started poking me in the sides of my mouth. I can still remember the feeling now as well as the huge amounts of wax I just kept sticking into my braces so it would stop hurting just for a little bit. During the first four months I had those babies on, I ate nothing but egg drop soup because it hurt too much to eat and/or would probably get stuck in my teeth anyhow.
Thankfully technology has changed and made days of throbbing teeth, ugly graduation photos, and wondering “what’s stuck in my teeth” a thing of the past. For instance with Invisalign, patients can watch their winning smile evolve instead of waiting to see the final result when the traditional metal brackets come off. Invisalign patients can start to see improvements and progress in as little as 90 days.
And best of all, no more wires and brackets required – Invisalign is the clear alternative to metal braces that uses a series of virtually invisible and removable aligners that gradually move teeth over time. The benefits include no food restrictions, ability to easily maintain healthy dental brushing habits, minimal interference with sports or other activities, and teeth get straightened without most people knowing you are in treatment.
Try-it Tuesdays:
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of NETFLIX. However, all the comments here are my own.
When I was a kid I waited all week long until Saturday mornings so I could get my cartoon fix.
Now fast forward to today: my kids never have to wait for cartoons to come on one day away because NETFLIX gives them the accessibility to watch what they want, when they want. All mama has to do is turn them on whatever device makes sense like my iPad, computer and of course, the TV. Gotta love streaming video, right? All I have to do is hit up the dedicated kids section (designed by Common Sense Media for kids ages 2- 12) on NETFLIX and press play.
Happy kids means a happy mama.
In the mornings to get the kids ready for school they request always ask for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Road Rally. When they get home and we have snack time, it’s always a little Jake and the Never Land Pirates for both of little sweeties. The four-year-old boy dominates the watching choices for both of them – at least until the 20-month girl can talk. And then it’s all over! Until then she seems to enjoy Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Takes although her brother “lets her watch” Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue – even though I know he secretly likes it, too!
But the favorite show of both of them is without a doubt Thomas & Friends: Go Go Thomas. We are definitely a “Thomas” family since everything from my son’s room, all his toys, even his lunch box are all Thomas. So no doubt we treat Thomas like a special occasion everytime we watch it. His presence on the screen is like Friday night at the movies. And until my kids get a little older, Netflix makes it possible to have Family Movie Night without paying an arm and a leg. And of course, begin the movie at 6 pm so we can still make bedtime AND bathroom breaks WITHOUT missing the movie!
What are you watching on TV with your family? Netflix has family favorites from Disney, Disney Jr., Hasbro, Cartoon Network and Dreamworks that are available to stream anytime, anywhere.
And streaming is easier than you think! Download the free app on your iPad, click on the Netflix app on any gaming device, go to the website on your computer – and you’re in business. Check it out here!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of NETFLIX.
This article also posted on Star-Telegram.com/Moms.
