Here is a quick easy appetizer or snack that can stay simple or be added to. These go great with all kinds of meals. I serve them with everything from enchiladas to steak to chicken. Can’t go wrong with jalapenos.
- 4 jalapenos (halved and seeds scraped out)
- 4oz cream cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (fresh grated or right out of the shaker)
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375*. Use a fork to combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese. Fill your jalapeno halves with mixture. Set on baking sheet, lightly sprayed with cooking spray. ( I actually put foil on pan and spray it so cheese does not melt onto pan) Bake for 15 minutes, until jalapenos are tender and cheese starts to brown. Serve warm.
If you want to change this recipe up add cooked ground Italian sausage or bacon crumbles. You can change the cheese to any kind you would like. Sometimes I use sharp cheddar, I’ve used mozzarella, I sometimes add the bacon or sausage and you can add more cream cheese if you want them a little fuller. I honestly don’t go by a recipe normally with these. I just mix whatever cheese sounds good to the cream cheese and they never turn out bad.
I have been lucky enough to experience motherhood at two completely different times in my life. I have a daughter who is in her first year of college and I have a son in kindergarten. Having kids later in life has good points and some not as pleasant.
In my younger years I worked and had so much more energy. Who needs sleep. I worked full time. I would look forward to weekends as much as the kids did so we could go hiking, fishing, to the park, swimming, whatever we could find to do that we could afford. Then start right back into the work week.
Now, I don’t have that same energy. I really need sleep. I still work and look forward to our weekends, but hope that it will include a little rest also. We still go camping, hiking, to play basketball or just work outside together but it takes a little more “mental” motivation to go do some of those things. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing these things with my family, but I could easily be convinced to just sit on the couch and stare at the TV or read a book all weekend.
Now I will say that I appreciate my time with my kids more now that I’m older. When you’re younger you think you have forever. Let me tell you that you don’t get a chance to redo things. You need to enjoy every moment you can with your family while you can. Time goes by fast so go build those legos and play go fish for the hundredth time, someday you’ll be glad you did.
When I look back at some of the things I did or let my kids do the first time round I wonder how we made it. I definitely put a little more thought into my parenting skills now, although still not perfect by any means. My youngest child is a little more spoiled than my older kids but he also gets a lot more one on one attention than my older kids probably did which is a plus for him. I would say though that if you’re going to have one kid you might as well go for two. I always think I wish he would have been twins, one pregnancy with two kids. We kept putting it off until it was a little late and I think that it would have been easier to have a playmate at times. Luckily he has friends and cousins that gets to come hang out sometimes. We live where we have no neighbors so we have to make a point of staying involved at school and some outside activities with other kids.
I feel that you are capable of being a much better parent when you’re older though and wouldn’t change anything. So many women wait until they are a little older now to have kids, it’s become a little more “normal” now. Be warned though that you may get mistaken for a grandparent on occasion and you have to be able to laugh it off and move on. I have, on more than one occasion, been out with my teenage daughter and my son and had people assume that he belonged to her instead of me, haha. She finds it hilarious. I go to events at school and a lot of the parents are the same age as my oldest son. None of this matters though because we’re happy and so much more mature to handle all of the things that come up as parents.
Side Note: If you’re worried about a big age gap like I have with my kids…..don’t. They love each other just as much and they will fight with each other like all other siblings do. You’ll forget that one of them is an “adult”, I promise.
I love fajitas! They are a quick easy meal to whip up at the end of a long day. Plus they’re a great way to get keep you on track with eating healthy. You change them up by using different proteins so you don’t get bored. Fajitas are so versatile, so feel free to change recipe to whatever you have on hand.
- 1 lb of chicken, beef or shrimp (cut chicken or beef into thin strips)
- 1 Red Pepper
- 1 Green Pepper
- 1 Onion
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tbs Olive Oil
- Tortillas
Chop veggies into strips. Heat oil in frying pan. Add veggies and cook on medium heat until partially tender. Add meat and spices and continue cooking until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. Serve on heated tortillas. If your really watching your diet skip the tortillas, it’s just as delicious on its own. Feel free to add to them with salsa, sour cream or cilantro. Enjoy.
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Well you have to be one of two types of people. You’re either that person who is completely organized, recycles their mail as it comes in, files everything else right away and knows right where everything is when needed……or you’re not. I’m not, unfortunately, but have decided that I am going to tackle my stacks and become that person, I hope.
I tend to bring the mail in, put it in the mail pile. A week or two later I go through it and separate in to the next piles of now and later. My later pile then moves elsewhere and I forget it. Eventually I either go through it or I throw it in the box that I’m planning to go through. Terrible, I know. Not sure why I don’t just do it and get it over with. Well today I decided to deal with it. I have tackled the pile and the box!
Now, my box of papers is not just mail. The box includes all of the art projects, worksheets, school newsletters and magazines that come home daily. So this is my plan:
- Bring the mail in and go through it right away.
- Mail dispersed immediately to where it belongs, husband, office, etc…
- Deal with what’s left for myself immediately. Pay, file, recycle.
- Kids work will go into a box which I will go through at end of school year.
- I will then sort this into work and projects that I want to keep. This work will go into a box that I plan to keep.
- Everything else goes! You cant keep every worksheet they bring home!
- I will then start a box for the next school year and repeat this process.
- By the time they graduate there will be only one box of saved things for them to have.
I realize this sounds like a minor problem that should not be an issue, but I can’t be the only person that can’t seem to get with it. There is so much junk mail, so many worksheets, so much stuff I just don’t need! Join me in decluttering your life one pile at a time. Good luck!
Kids love to go on an adventure. My son loves to get a backpack with some water and snacks and head out to check out nature. Well he doesn’t actually like to carry a backpack, he would prefer I take that part on. He would rather concentrate on locating the next spot to take a water break.
We just went on a small hike near our house. We had quite an adventure. We were only gone for about a 1/2 hour but in that time we found a caterpillar, a beetle, lots of birds and a whole pocket full of rocks. What kid isn’t happy with rocks!
Little hikes like this are the best activity ever with your kids. No matter how many times they take the same walk they always seem to find something new. The bonus is that it doesn’t cost you a penny and you actually get a little exercise yourself. It’s a win win for all of you.
You don’t have to pack up and go on some all day hike with your kids. The important part is getting outside and enjoying time with them. If you live someplace that doesn’t have any nature trails that’s ok. Kids have great imaginations. Pack your backpack and go on an adventure in your yard or head to the park. Nature is everywhere! You can live in the city and still find bugs, birds, trees and flowers. Set the scene in your kids mind and they will take it from there.
These are some of my favorite times. It is so nice to just tune out of technology and everyday life for a little while and enjoy your kids. Point is if you can get out in nature with your kids, do. You’ll feel refreshed and your kids will appreciate the family time. If you can’t get anywhere then bring the adventure to you right at home. Get creative, have a campout in your living room, sit outside and watch the clouds. The important part is to quit worrying about everything else for a little while and focus on your kids. Day to day life goes by quick sometimes and you need to just take a moment to slow down and appreciate the small things in life. Everything else you deal with whether work or those dishes you didn’t want to do earlier will still be there when you get back, I promise.
Fast food play lands are both a god sent and a nightmare. All kids love going to the play land. They just want to get in there, play with other kids, hear their screams echo and make endless trips around and around the same route up to the top and then down the slide. Kids don’t get bored with this, they could stay there all day.
Parents on the other hand like the fact they can sit and actually eat a meal while the car is not in motion and maybe check a few emails or just zone out for a moment in your own head. It’s a moment of peace in the most unpeaceful place on earth. If you can tune out all of those shrieks, the sound of all the little feet running through tunnels and the terrible echo that all of these places have then you are definitely a parent because no sane person could ignore those sounds and find any peace in this chaos.
Now I am really torn sometimes on how much I should worry about germs in these places. You can look at it in two different ways. One, just relax, all kids need to build up their immunity. What a better place to do this. They are potentially exposed to everything from the common cold, to the newest stomach bug, to pink eye or if your really lucky, lice. Second approach is try to keep your kids ingestion of these bugs limited. Sanitize their hands, your table and keep their shoes and jackets with you at all times. Sanitize again as soon as you leave. But if you go this route then don’t forget it does not do any good unless you plan to clean their hands every time they run over to the table to put a fry in there mouth. This also doesn’t cover the fact that while they are in the play land you have no control over how many times they rub their face, put their hand in their mouth or touch their eyes. There are no guarantees that your going home with no bugs.
I guess you just have to relax, let them have fun, enjoy your few minutes of peace and do your best to keep them somewhat clean by washing before they eat and after they are done playing. In reality it’s no worse than your next stop, the grocery store, where you’ll be exposed to a new variety of germs the second you walk in and grab your cart.
Enjoy it while you can though because before you know it you’re going to wish your child was young enough to get that excited about a couple slides, some cheap food and really still appreciate getting a day with mom. Everything is still so exciting. Kids aren’t picky, they just want to spend time with their parents and have their full attention. Appreciate all of the time you have with your kids. It’s easy to get busy and think you’ll make time later but before you know it they’re grown up and you missed it. Go hug your kid and be excited to go to that play land and listen to their laughs.