Making Family Resolutions

I was a little sad to say goodbye to 2011.  Overall it was an amazing year.  I realized that as a family, we are much more successful at achieving our goals if we all are partners in the same resolutions.

We were blessed with the arrival of our son in February. Soon after, I made the tough decision to leave corporate life and become a stay-at-home mom.  I don’t believe I could have made this transition without the full support of my husband.  We decided that having a parent home with the kids was a priority, so everything else in life had to be adjusted. It was a major change for us, both emotionally and financially. While I won’t say the adjustment was super easy, I will say that I am still very happy with our decision.

As we started to talk about 2012, I knew it was important for my husband and I to share our resolutions.  We both feel strongly about getting prepared in case of an emergency, preparing healthy lunches for everyone plus a few other family goals.  As our children get older, I look forward to including them in making family resolutions.  Our three year old is just starting to understand the days of the week and the months, but a new year is a bit more than she can handle just yet.

Cheers to a beautiful 2012!  What resolutions are you focusing on this year?
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What a difference a year makes

 Kids got sleds this year from Grandma & Grandpa.  They are towing each other around the house as there is not a flake of snow in our forecast.

Then there was last year…the first of MANY snowstorms.  Christmas Day was the last time we saw our lawn until March.

Wonder what the next couple of months will bring.  You just never know in New England!
For more fun Wordless Wed posts, check out DearChrissy, and 5MinsforMom!
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Meal Plan Dec 26


Here is this week’s menu!
Monday’s Shrimp Scampi used up the extra shrimp cocktail we had from Christmas dinner.  I did an easy sauce with leftover baby tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a little white wine.  Madison surprised us and liked the shrimp, although she keeps calling it “lobster.”

The Sirloin Roast is actually in my new Pressure Cooker (noted on the menu plan with PC). Stay tuned for more pressure cooker recipes as I get more familiar with it. (update~ the 3 lb roast was slightly more done than I would like.  I would decrease the cooking time to 30-35 mins if I do this one again.  Pretty cool though to make a roast in less than an hour.)

Salmon will probably be a maple syrup glaze and baked. Easy and everyone, including the almost 11 month old little guy, will be able to eat this.  I’m all for making one meal for everyone, I’m getting tired of the purees!

Meatloaf will be spiced up with chile garlic sauce. Usually this is a grown up only dish, but sometimes Madison surprises us!

This menu plan is being shared on I’m an Organizing Junkie.

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Pull Apart Pumpkin French Toast

Need a new recipe for a New Year’s Brunch?  Or maybe a cozy breakfast-for-dinner idea on New Year’s Eve?  I highly suggest the Baked Pumpkin French Toast I found over at Simple Bites.  We made it for Christmas morning brunch and it came out AWESOME!
I set it up the night before so everything soaks into the bread.  In the morning, just pop it into the oven for about 40 minutes and you are ready for a new favorite breakfast treat.

Ingredients
  • 1 loaf hearty whole wheat bread, sliced  (no floppy bread or it will come out too mushy)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup milk or cream
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree ( I used canned)
  • 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
  • 2 Tablespoons molasses
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
Instructions
The night before…
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, pumpkin puree, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, molasses and 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend.
  2. Dip each slice of bread into the mixture to coat well, then place, one layer thick, on a 13×17 baking sheet. Drizzle any remaining pumpkin mixture on top of the bread.
  3. Place plastic wrap over the soaking bread slices and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
In the morning…
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter an 8 x 11 baking dish. (I use coconut oil to “butter” my pans, and I used a smaller circle casserole dish instead to better fit the bread)
  2. Mix together brown sugar with remaining teaspoon of spice blend.
  3. Remove plastic wrap from the soaked bread and brush tops lightly with remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle French toast tops all over with cinnamon sugar mixture.
  4. Starting with the smaller pieces, arrange the slices of bread in the buttered baking dish, propping them up on top of each other until the pan is full. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the tops are crispy.
  5. Serve at once with Molasses-Cinnamon Syrup or pure maple syrup, and whipped cream.

Both kids ate the french toast for breakfast so that always makes the recipe a keeper in my book.

If you haven’t checked out Simple Bites yet, head on over as there are so many other delicious recipes waiting for you!
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Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday,
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photo by Nikki Amara Myers

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Which Wrapping Papers can be Recycled?

sheet music wrapping paper

Next week is always a major trash haul with post party rubbish and the remnants of boxes and gift wrapping. Much of the wrapping paper used can be recycled, but a few will cause havoc in the recycling process.  Here is a quick run down of what to avoid throwing into the paper recycling bin when it comes to gift wrap.

  • No Foil Lined Paper.  It’s pretty, but not recyclable.  Try to reuse it for another gift instead.
  • Glitter paper is also a no go
  • Take the tape off if possible to make it easier to process
  • Some paper is heavily dyed also not recyclable, this one is a little bit tricky to decipher. If it’s made with soy based inks, you are in the clear.

If the wrapping is made from recycled papers, it can be re-recycled.  A couple of alternative to traditional wrapping paper are using sheet music, maps, a grocery reusable bag, kids artwork and of course, newspaper.

Any other clever ideas to share?


Happy Holidays to all.  Thank you for taking time to read my stories.  I have enjoyed your comments and encouragement in the past year and thankful to have this opportunity. Blessings to you and your families.
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Easy Last Minute Christmas Decorations

Happy Holidays to all as Hanukkah arrives and Christmas is just three days away.  Here are a few quick and easy holiday decorating ideas for anyone that needs some last minute inspiration.

Use your Scrabble trays for a holiday greeting.
Can’t go wrong with food as decoration
Holiday cards on a ribbon tree 
Our Nativity set made from toilet paper rolls, fabric scrapes and cotton balls.


This post is being shared with the Green Resource at SortaCrunchy.net, Tidy Mom, and Frugally Sustainable.
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A Little Baking Inspiration

Mayan Chocolate Sparklers

As this week includes multiple baking sessions, wrapping nights and dinner planning, I’m a trying to stay calm and focused on the important things this season.  I’m spreading some blog love and sharing a few sites I get my baking inspiration from.  We made the cookies above today and they are delicious!  The recipe is from Under the Highchair, which is written by Aimee, the editor of Simple Bites.

Here is the run down of my favorite baking sites this month.

These sites offer not only amazing recipes and photos, but also adorable ways to package and gift your latest confections.

Any other favorite sites to share?

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Preparing to Travel with Young Children

We recently traveled to Florida from Boston with our two kids, one at 9 months and the other at 2.9 years.  Getting organized to get through the airport and the flight took time and some strategic planning.  Here are my tips to help make your trips go a little smoother.

  • Pack plenty of snacks for all age groups.  Even better if they can share the same thing.  We packed lots of the new Plum Organic products, such as the Super Puffs and the Mish Mash squeezies.   The squeeze packets are awesome to spoon out just what you need for a feeding instead of packing heavier glass jars.
  • Buy kid size headphones. They will not deal with the ear buds (been there, done that) and the in flight head phones are too big.  We generally fly Jet Blue to Florida and love having the TVs.  We bought the adorable Panda Bear Headphones which were a huge success this trip.     
  • Pack entertainment into your Ipad/Iphone that is age appropriate.  My daughter is a little too fluent in navigating the Iphone, but we used it to our advantage for the trip.  Her favorite new apps are the Monkey Preschool and the Dinosaur Train.  We also downloaded the Bubbles app, which was great for adults too!
  • Pack empty water bottles for everyone.  Buy the biggest water you can find in the airport to fill them up.  I find that is better than taking the mini plastic bottles during the flight, which are gone in a minute. 
  • I packed a bunch of flannel wipes.  They clean up messes in flight when you may not have a napkin handy. We had laundry available to us on the other end so this was an easy option for us.

Little miss did great on the plane ride.  I think having her own seat made a big difference.  She is enjoying her Jammy Sammy, which is a healthy snack for both travel and after gymnastics class.

Good luck if you are traveling this week.  What are some of your best travel tips?

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Disclosure: I was provided samples of the Plum Organics products to review. This in no way influenced my opinion. 

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