At Home with NW Kid Chaser - NW Kid Chaser

Pie Chart - but no pie...

3/12/2014

While often I hear mothers jokingly refer to themselves as taxi drivers (shuttling children between school, piano, sports, and play dates), I don't often hear them talk about the trials and tribulations of grocery shopping. But wait... I can't be the only mom who has to restock the refrigerator shelves on a never-ending basis. How do you do it?

I do love to eat, so grocery shopping isn't a bad gig. However, I have been know to complain that the payoff of this chore can be less than rewarding. To break it down clearly, this is what happens to all the food I buy each week:

You see... my husband has a mind-boggling metabolism that causes him to burn 3x the amount of calories (when he's standing-still) as the average person does (while running a marathon); my eleven year-old and I shared the same shoes size (for about two weeks in December), but now he's growing at an alarming rate; and my nine year-old appears small for his age, but eats broccoli and edamame like they are candy bars served on Halloween night. That leaves a very small percentage of the food that I plan, purchase, and prepare each week for my very own consumption. Thus, another trip to the grocery store to restock our shelves and I better get a scoop of ice cream that first night or it'll be gone before I have a chance to enjoy it.

Which brings me to a 'Grocery List' app for moms and dads who are busily trying to feed their crews. I recently discovered Grocery IQ and am happy with the results. The

best part of this app is the ability to share the grocery list with other members of the household. That means... my husband and I can work off the same list. (He adds 'Coconut Milk' and it shows up on my phone. I mark off 'Water bottle' and it deletes from his phone.) The app also lets us share multiple lists, so we've added 'Grocery', 'Hardware', 'Sports', and even 'Library'. Now, when we are out and about, we don't have to worry about forgetting the list. The list is with us (on our phones- updated) at all times.

It took me a while to get used to carrying my phone in-hand while traveling up and down the grocery aisle, but I like the ability to organize the list by aisle and mark things off my list as I go. Now, I just need need to find the setting that will remind me to eat a few raspberries -- before the boys devour them all as an after school snack.

A One of a Kind Meal...

10/15/2013

Thanks to The Busy Budgeting Mama for
this one-of-a-kind crock pot meal.

I recently bought a large pork shoulder and divided it into two freezer bags for make-ahead meals using the recipe below. Then, pulled from the freezer at a later date, one bag provided an easy and delicious meal for my family-of-four on one of those I-just-don't-have- time-to-cook crazy days.

Recipe for one bag:
1/2 an onion, sliced
3 to 4 lbs whole pork shoulder
Salt and Pepper
1 can Dr. Pepper
2 Tbls brown sugar
1/4 c water

Cook on High for 3-4 hours.
Serve on rolls.

One pot wonder...

3/1/2013

Here’s an easy variation of mashed potatoes:

Yep. You see that right.
That’s cauliflower thrown into the same pot.

Boils just the same.
Mashes just the same.
Pretty much tastes the same.
But... it adds one more vegetable to our diet.

As my son says: "It's easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!"

Summer Comfort Food...

6/27/2012

What is the most delicious way to start the summer?
With Strawberry Shortcake, of course!

Last week, we had the neighbors over for some summer yum.
Our recipe:

Fresh berries from our favorite local farm.

Fancy "baking mix" shortcakes made with a cookie cutter.

Sorry to not post a final product photo -
they were devoured immediately upon assembly!

Pizza Rolls...

4/19/2012

    Here's another recipe I often turn to when I want to stock the freezer with easy go-to foods for school lunches or weekend snacks: Pizza Rolls.

First: Prepare your bread dough.
    This can be as easy as thawing the frozen dough available in your grocer's frozen-food section or making up your own in your Kitchen Aid mixer. Here's the recipe I use:
    Mix a .25 oz. envelope of quick yeast with 2 cups of warm water.
    Add 1 TBLSP olive oil, 1 TBLSP sugar, and a pinch of salt.
    Work in 6 or 7 cups of unbleached flour.
    Let dough rise for almost two hours.

Second: Prepare your pizza 'toppings.'
    We love mozzarella cheese,Italian sausage, and spinach, but you could use anything you like (pepperoni, olives, peppers, etc...)

Then: Roll out the dough and sprinkle on the goods.
    Do this on a floured cutting board. Once everything is evenly distributed, slowly roll the dough to create a long- long pizza roll.

Last: Cut and Bake.
Using a sharp knife, cut 1 inch slices from the roll and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350' until golden.

Serve with tomato sauce or on their own. And... if your growing boys eat as much as mine do: Be prepared to make more again soon.

Halloween Candy Science...

11/2/2011

During this post Halloween season,
our sweet Grammy told us about this groovy website.

My brave boys sacrificed some of their candy
for the good of science. Here are the results:

Spelling Snacks...

9/21/2011

Reading…Writing…Spelling…Snacking…
Yep. That’s right!
Snack time at the Obery household this week
included playing with our food and literacy- AGAIN!

I bought some small stick pretzels
and asked my boys
to create letters or words
before crunching on that salty goodness.

This activity works well with kids of all ages:
Young children can create letters -
Olders can create whole words.

Best of all – it doesn’t feel (or taste) like work.

The Power of Pizza...

9/14/2011

Pizza eaters of the world love their pie, and what’s not to love? Bread, cheese, and warm-hand-held goodness. In fact, I’d like to offer this tag line to the pizza chains of America:
“Do not underestimate the power of pizza.”

How powerful is pizza? It’s powerful enough to serve as its own math curriculum. Enter: Pizza Fractions...

This game is a hit at our house. Easy enough for Kinders and just as appropriate for 4th graders, players spin, slice and build their very own pizzas as they make sense of fourths, thirds, and halves.

Food has always been my favorite way to approach this topic with school children – as everyone can relate to sharing food. It’s real life math with a purpose.

Here’s a few online games with the same focus:

Pizza Fractions from SoftSchools
Pizza Part Primary Games
Home Sweet Pie by Vector Kids

Edible Scrabble...

7/20/2011

Here’s another product I unveiled for a recent snack time:

I had heard rumors of Scrabble cheese crackers, but only recently found them at the downtown Safeway.
The if-you-can-spell-it-you-can-eat-it rule
was in effect and here were the results:

We scream for ice cream...

7/7/2011

For the past few years, the 4th of July has meant the making of homemade ice cream at the Obery house. The first batch of the ice cream season is (much like my own childhood) made using the candy canes that survived since Christmas. It's simply delicious! For me: Peppermint Ice Cream screams summer; it screams family; it screams celebration.

The ice cream maker we own is a beauty. It includes both the old-fashioned hand crank AND the hand-dandy motorized churn. That means my boys can churn like crazy until their skinny arms are completely worn out. Then, I can snap on the motor and the electric mechanism revs all our spirits back to life.

While we’ve tried several different ice cream recipes, we finally have a basic base on which we can always rely.

Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

2 quarts half-and-half cream
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 pinch salt

Combine half-and-half, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in pour into the freezer container of your ice cream maker. Churn & freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Feel free to add your own flavored ingredients (crushed candy canes, chocolate chips, fresh fruit, cookie dough, candy bars, etc…)

The name “Easy Vanilla Ice Cream” says it all: No cooking, no eggs, five ingredients total. My boys can follow the recipe completely on their own, which gives them a sense of accomplishment as well as a cool treat.

It really is the perfect dessert for Independence Day.