crazedparent

Luna Loves: Being a little devil...

Happy Halloween!

Luna's other costumes:

Pippy Luna

Cowgirl Luna

Bunny pup

Birthday girl

Breaking the Halloween-puke curse...

This morning during a morning snugglefest:

"Mom, what happens if my stomach hurts this morning?"

"Does your stomach hurt?"

"A little. What if it hurts and I have to miss the Halloween parade again?"

Under normal circumstances, I would question if Seven were trying to get out of participating in his school's Halloween parade. But no. He's sincerely worried that he may miss it. Again.

Let's review:

Halloween, 2007: Kindergarten. Seven (then Five) lost his breakfast within the first 20 minutes of class, during circle time, and in front of all of his classmates. He was mortified. I was heartbroken for him. We determined he threw up because his costume caused him to overheat.

Halloween, 2008: First Grade. Seven (then Six) came down with a 24-hour stomach flu the day before Halloween. He was better on Halloween, save for some stomach cramps, but I kept him home not wanting to spread his germs to the class.

Can you blame the kid for being slightly nervous about missing the school parade again? 

I told Seven what I've been telling him for days. I can't promise that he won't get sick again. But I did promise that I would do everything I could to keep him healthy. Feeding him "strong-boy" food (mama speak for "healthy eats). Making sure he gets good sleeps. And keeping him away from any sick kids or adults.

I also made him promise to wash his hands often; to not share food with any of his friends; and to not touch his face and nose, since that's an easy way for germs to get to him. He should be doing all of things anyway, but it was a good window for me to remind him about ways to keep germs at bay.

But now, friends, it is time for my puke-free Halloween plea. Your positive juju would be appreciated.

Dear Halloween gods, goddesses, witches and goblins,

I beg of you, please let my boys have a healthy, vomit-free, and safe Halloween parade and Halloween Day.

Thank you.

Dispatch from the test kitchen: Arugula pesto and egg pizza...

My Cuisniart mini chopper/grinder is a kitchen tool I use every single day when I prepare dinner. Cuisinart happened to be at BlogHer Food 09, and they were kind enough to give every single blogger in attendance their newest "Elite Collection"  4-cup chopper/grinder. Mine arrived in the mail on Monday and I have to say, the timing was impeccable. My old chopper is on its last leg. So thank you, Cuisinart.

I broke it out of the box yesterday and after a nice wash, decided to make arugula pesto. Easy choice, really. Our CSA had just dropped off our weekly box and I could smell the arugula as soon as I opened the door for the delivery dude.

Recipe is simple: Chop a bunch of arugula leaves (I used about 2 cups) in your mini-chopper. I find that I have to also alternate between the grind and chop to get the leaves into a nice paste.

Add 1/2 extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 - 3/4 fresh, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I use a microplane so the cheese is all light and fluffy), two garlic cloves and salt/pepper to taste.

Instead of pasta, the boys wanted fresh pizza. We made the dough and the boys opted for olive and cheese over tomato sauce on their pizza. I decided to make egg pizza because I knew the eggs would taste so, so good combined with the arugula pesto, and a nice glass of chardonnay.

I adapted my recipe from one by Mom's Pizza Dough. I brushed the bottom of the dough with the pesto, covered it with fresh slices of mozzerella cheese and a mixture of feta and lemon zest. I did not use fresh herbs. I cooked it for about 8 minutes, added the eggs, then cooked it for another 10-12 minutes because I wanted the eggs to be soft but cooked (no runny eggs!). Then I squeezed a bit of lemon juice over the top.

It's such a hearty pizza and one of my favorites. I have to admit when I first saw Kim's post about egg pizza I thought, no way sister. But once I tried it, I was hooked. And the pesto makes it divine.

Linky Loo: Things I love edition...

Focus. Focus. Focus. Also known as the Trifecta Focus. Or the TF, if you're into acronyms. That's my motto for the week as I try to get writerly, new business-y, and crazedparent house "stuff" done this week. Batch processing, anyone?

I'm seeing so many fun, lovely, wonderful things online right now that I had to quickly share. I trust you'll do some investigating;

• DIY Candy Corn: You must look. You must, I tell you. The photo will entice you. But the minimal ingredients list and simple instructions will make you want to try this out...WITH OR WITHOUT YOUR KIDS. (Also, Tasting Table is a quite a cool site. Think Daily Candy for Foodies.)
• Moms Pizza Dough Dry Mix: My pal, Kim, is the gal behind Moms Pizza Dough. (Her husband has crazy Birds Nest skillz.  You can now buy the dry mix online -- it is delish and a simple way to have a homemade pizza without having to make your own dough from scratch. 
• Dia de los Muertos shrines: I'm making one this year. I have my spot all picked out and just need to add a little amor to it. I love Crafty Chica's idea for a matchbox memorial. Sweet and yes, simple.
• Print and fold Halloween crafts: My boys are all up in my grill to make Halloween decorations and I'm all, dudes, I am busy MAKING YOUR COSTUMES. I spied this print and fold craft template on Craftzine and viola, 20 minutes of quiet kids. (You're welcome!)
• The cute Glee club coach. What more can I say? I don't even have a tv but I've caught a few episodes on Hulu and I love it. Mostly because Mr. Schuester sort of floats my boat in a geeky rrrawrr way. Witness:

Can I get an amen? Now if only he'd sing Jessie's Girl.

Word up: Using Bananagrams as a pre-reading tool...

Whenever Seven and I have a lunch date, we always bring a little travel game with us. Last week it was Gobblet. Yesterday, we brought out Bananagrams because I'm still a Bananagrams addict. Nearly a year has passed since Seven and started playing the game, and it's been neat to watch his spelling skills improve. More so, I love the words he uses in a round. Back in January, he would get frustrated because he couldn't think of words fast enough. Now? He is a speedy Bananagamer.

Q. has been showing signs of wanting to learn how to read and write. He asks for words to be written out ("Big and lowercase, Mama" and sounds to be repeated. He grabs a pencil and paper and attempts to scribe words. Being able to read and write is so empowering at all ages. But when little kids realize they can read a book and write a word, it's pure magic. And I am nothing short of ecstatic at the chance to help open up that world to Q.

Monday afternoon, I found Q. playing with the Bananagram tiles, trying to spell out small words: CAT, STOP, FUN.  But he'd stuck because he couldn't think of words to try to spell.

To help him along, I wrote words on index cards. All of the very simple three- and four-letter "at," "it," "op," and "ap" words. He was left to search for the letters and sound them out while he created the words.

Scrabble tiles will also work, natch. But I love the Bananagrams tiles because they fit in that nice, small pouch.

Any fun tips/tools you used to help your kids learn to read?

Dispatch from the test kitchen: Turkey Mole a la William Sonoma

Blustery fall days inspire afternoons of cooking slow-cooked meals. Of late, I am immersed in Latin recipes, especially as we approach Dia de los Muertos. I end up thinking about my abuelita when I'm in the kitchen, remembering the wonderful moments we shared at a kitchen counter while I watched her create culinary magic.

Salvadoran recipes are few and far between, so I end up branching out to meals from Mexico and South America.

One of my favorite Mexican dishes is mole, a wonderfully rich cacophony of flavors in an elegant, simple sauce. It's such a treat to make mole with the grinding of fresh spices and nuts, the roasting of red peppers, the chocolate.(There are other non-chocolate types of moles, which are all delicious, but I love poblano mole...the only kind with chocolate.)

Some mole recipes require several hours to make the sauce. I adore those recipes. But I'm equally impressed with recipes that can be made quickly while still preserving the goodness of a true mole.

I've been testing out a new cookbook from William-Sonoma, "The Weeknight Cook," which is targeted at parents who want to make healthy family dinners without being a slave to the kitchen. It had a recipe for a poblano-inspired Turkey Mole, which I made last weekend. I knew things were off to a good start when Seven saw the photo of the meal and asked if we could have it for dinner.  

The recipe is simple and doesn't require any grinding of spices or roasting of peppers. In fact, there are no peppers in the recipe. This made me sad -- I will be adding them next time!

You start off by sauteing onions with sliced almonds and spices (cumin, oregano, etc.  I used Mexican Oregano for extra kick). I didn't have sliced almonds so I just chopped them in my mini Cuisinart. It worked out fine but I lost the smoothness of a traditional mole. Also, the recipe calls for two tablespoons of bittersweet chocolate. I used four tablespoons because if it's going to be a chocolate mole, it needs to have a nice amount of chocolate! (Note: Telling your kids they are having chocolate in their dinner is a sure-fire way to entice them to eat this meal!)

Here's the the best part: After making the sauce (all of 20 minutes, you dump a few turkey breasts (bone in) into a pot and pour the mole over it, turn on the stove, and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. It makes your house smell amazing.

The turkey breast was delicious, tender and so flavorful. I served the turkey mole over rice, with fresh corn tortillas in case anyone wanted to make a taco, a side of fresh guacamole and chips. Truth be told, I had a few too many boquitas (bite-sized treats)-- it is tough to resist fresh guac:

We had enough turkey breast left over (about 1 1/2 cups) that I used it in a chili the next day...was so delicious!

I was pleased with the way the Turkey Mole dish turned out and like any recipe, you amend it to suit your taste preferences.

Now I just have to wait for the perfect weekend to moxie up and make my abuelita's tamales.

Luna Loves: Seeing dogs in rain coats (alt title: How to walk your dog in the rain)...

Luna is embarrassed for this canine companion. Luna covers her muzzle with her paws and hides her eyes. Every shred of alpha is gone while sporting a  yellow rain slicker. And the pet owner's bank account weeps for the squandered funds.

Since we're dealing with some early fall storm action in Northern California, I've been doing a lot of walking in the rain. I need the fresh air and since I'm maintaining a running routine, I am forcing myself to get outside, rain or shine. It doesn't take Luna but a second to start doing a shimmy-shake dance when she sees me with her leash and collar. Luna hesitates at first and then charges ahead while jumping over big puddles.

Dog owners take note: Your mutt can handle rain drops. In fact, your dog might even like walking in the rain. You just have to do it. Don't stop walking your dog because of a mediocre storm. Your dog needs the exercise. Think of it this way: You get cabin fever. The same thing happens to your mutt.

Some tips if you're walking your dog in the rain:

• Put some blankets/towels out for your return. You don't want to be searching for something to dry your wet dog when you get home. Have them ready beforehand -- you and your dog will be much happier.
• Plan a shorter walk than normal and go for routes that have some trees to offer respite from big drops and steady sheets of rain.
• Have a quick-return plan in case the storm gets worse. Know your short cuts!
• Upon returning home, offer extra treats, lots of cuddles and a warm spot to dry off.

Easy peasy. No need for crazy pet rain gear or dog umbrellas. Just get out there and walk!

Luna also loves:

Luna Loves: Raw ground beef (alt. title: Deciding to grind our own beef...)

Dog Eats: 5 healthy snacks for your mutt...

Seeing mutts in doggy dogjorns...

Easy DIY Halloween costumes: Be a Pirate, matey...

If your kid wants to be a pirate this Halloween, know that this is a really, really simple costume to make, even for the non-crafty folk.

Here's what you'll need:

• Black sweats (You can find a cheap pair of Hanes sweats at Target for $6)
• Black or red long-sleeve shirt
• White oversized t-shirt
• Black or red solid-colored bandana
• Red and white stripped satin fabric, 1/4 yard
• 1 roll red satin ribbon, 1/4" wide
• 1 roll black satin ribbon, 1/4" wide
• Black fabric paint ($3)
• Black fabric pen 
• Small piece of red or black felt  (for eye patch)
• Rhinestone skull & crossbone iron-on patch or something similar (I picked this one up at Michael's Arts & Crafts for $3)

Easy stuff first. Iron the skull & crossbones patch to the bandana. I made the mistake of ironing it on to the middle of the bandana, width side. Don't do this! Fold the bandana over so you form a triangle. Place the iron-on in the middle along the flat edge of the bandana (not the point). Makes for an easier do-rag.

 

The t-shirt: It's all about pirate chic, so you'll be roughing up this shirt up a bit. Let's get the scissor work out of the way. Cut a slit up each side of the shirt; stop about an inch before the armpit.

Next up, cut about an inch from the each sleeve and then shred them. To make them look rough, I made 4-5 slits, 1/4" inch each and then let my kid rip the rest of the fabric a bit. Do the same to the bottom of the shirt (along the waist edge). Lastly, cut the collar off the neck of the shirt.

Next up, dressing up the sides. User your scissors to gently poke five holes along the edge of the shirt. The holes should be created about 1/4" from the side of the slits, and through both pieces of fabric. Then, take your black and red ribbon and thread it through the holes like so...(you'll use about two-feet of ribbon.) Tie a loose knot at the bottom and let the remainder of the ribbon hang.

Next, put a piece of cardboard or thick newspaper in between the front and back of the shirt. Then, use a fabric marker or black marker to lightly sketch a rough skull and crossbones design on the front of the shirt. Then, fill in the outline with your fabric paint. Use a light layer -- this stuff gets heavy. (Alternatively, you can just use a fabric marker and color it in versus using fabric paint. Will save you some money and mess).

Okay, here's how it looks all put together. Layer the white tee over the black long-sleeve shirt to keep your kidling warm on Halloween night. Tie the red/white satin sash around your kid's waist.

Side view of the cool ribbon.

Finally, the face! Arrr, shiver me timbers matey. Tie the bandana around your lil' pirate's head, iron-on patch face forward. Use some eye make up to draw a mustache and goatee.

At the last minute, we decided to make an eye patch using red fabric and leftover black ribbon. If you choose do this, please use good-quality felt, NOT craft felt. Craft felt will make your kid's eye ITCH LIKE CRAZY. Good felt is sold on a ream at a fabric store. Craft felt is the stuff you find in stacks on shelves, sold as individual sheets.

All told, this costume cost about $25. Granted, you could pick up a costume at Target for 10 bucks, but they are not great quality and often rip after one wear. One of the reasons I like these home made costumes is that your kids will end up wearing them again, either for imaginary play or just wearing the sweats in the winter. Plus, my kids enjoy the process of making the costume as much as I do!

Related Halloween goodness on crazedparent:

Easy DIY Halloween costumes: Scary Skeleton...

You've been boo'dYou've been boo'd business

You've been boo'd

Easy DIY Halloween costumes: Scary Skeleton...

 I like to make Halloween costumes for my boys. It just is.

Last year, I was a costume-making machine because as part of my Yahoo! Shine gig, I spent 7 hours being interviewed by about 17 morning news programs across the country. I meant to post a semi-tutorial here wow, after all of those interviews (and being up for 20+ hours) I was a little Halloween-costumed out.

A year has passed. It's safe to say that I've recovered.

If you are looking for an easy DIY Halloween costume for your kid (or yourself!), here's a little info on how to make a skeleton costume on the cheap.

Skeleton Costume

Because I needed to make costumes for Shine, I made sure to create ones that my kids would actually wear that year. Seven selected a skeleton costume -- called Mr. Rattles -- from FamilyFun.com. You can get the step by step instructions from their site, but I wanted to share a few tips photos  of how it looked along the way:

I picked up a cheap pair of Hanes black sweats ($6) at Target, along with black glow-in-the-dark skeleton gloves (in the boys' department - a two-pack cost $5 last year). I had a tough time finding a simple, long-sleeved black shirt for my son. Seems they didn't carry them in the boys' offerings, but I found several in the girls' department. I found one on sale for $8. We had black socks and shoes on hand. The only other supply we purchased was white contact paper ($6). Grand total? $25. And the clothing items would be used all winter long. (Confession: I took the mittens. My kid didn't miss them.)

Working with Contact Paper can be a pain. I used the templates that I downloaded from FamilyFun.com and traced them onto the paper using a pencil. I started with the torso because it had the most difficult pattern to cut out. You may not need to use all the "bone" pieces if your kid is younger (and small!) -- the shirt may not be big enough to fit it all. I first laid all the pieces onto the clothes for placement. I removed the backing and secured them once I knew how they would all fit together.

Note: The contact paper will stretch and move a bit when your kid puts the costume on. Don't fret; it's very easy to adjust.

Remember how I just said all the pieces might not fit? Check out the arm; I had to cut one bone in half. The costume calls for the placement of two bones (like a real arm, of course).

Legs! This was, by far, the easiest part of the costume. Again, notice a half-bone by the ankles.

Scary! Seven (then Six!) loved this costume so much. But guess what? He never made it to his school's Halloween parade because like the previous year, he got sick with the stomach flu. Only instead of throwing up in class on Halloween morning, he threw up in  the car the day before Halloween.I kept him home on Halloween and since he was feeling better, I let him put the costume on to visit a few neighbors.  (PS: If you notice something funny in this photo, be the first one to comment on it -- and you're right -- and I'll send you a cute coffee cozy!)

This year, Seven has decided to be a vampire-count and this afternoon, I'm off to our local fabric shop to pick up some taffeta to make his cape. And I'm already sending my good health prayers to the sky so that he doesn't miss another Halloween parade.

Tomorrow: I'll show you have to make DIY pirate costume. So so easy and the kids can even make it with adult supervision.

Other Halloween fun stuff on the cheap...

You've been boo'd

You've been boo'd business

Luna Loves: Raw ground beef (alt. title: Deciding to grind our own beef...)

"Should I make chili or a pasta casserole for dinner?" I asked the boys on Monday afternoon while the sat at the kitchen table drawing pictures.

"Chilli!" yelled Q.

Seven, however, had a concerned look on his face. "Mom? Chili is okay, but can you use  Kim's recipe?"

"I don't have any turkey," I answered. And I quickly realized he was thinking about a discussion we had on Sunday afternoon about ground beef.

Seven saw me reading a New York Times story, "E. Coli Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection." He wanted to know why the young woman on the front page of the newspaper was in bed. Why she was in a wheel chair. How hamburger meat could cause her to almost die. I thought about how to approach this topic with him, but he was reading the paper over my shoulder. I couldn't sugarcoat it. Nor did I want to.

And so we went on to have a lengthy chat about meat, processing plants, germs, and how they can hurt you. It was easy for him to understand; my husband and I suffered a bout of food poisoning in 2007 after spinach we ate was tainted with E. Coli.

Seven was struck by the fact that the young woman in the article would never walk again because she ate a hamburger that contained germs. He couldn't understand why companies "were selling beef without being safe." And the doozy question of the day: "Why did God create a bacteria that could kill people?" (I had to table that one.)

My husband and I were honest with Seven about this safety issue with ground beef. I also shared with him that while I didn't want to be a vegetarian -- I love red meat -- I was considering giving up burgers and using ground beef in cooking until I could learn more about how our butchers at Whole Foods ground their beef every day.

But I had a pound of ground beef sitting on the kitchen counter that I needed to use. I hate wasting food, and I felt okay with the batch that I had just purchased from Whole Foods. I also was trying to balance respecting my kid's concerns while not causing paranoia.

"If you don't want me to use meat in the chili, I won't. If you decide that don't want to eat meat, I will help you with that," I said."But not all ground beef is bad. Just remember that."

"Did you find out if they (Whole Foods) are safe?"

"Let me do a quick check online," I said. My search query was: "How does Whole Foods ground their beef?" The result? Pages and pages about the company's recall of ground beef one year ago.

"Honey, we're going to pass on using this meat," I answered. A seed of doubt was now in my head.

I returned the kitchen to get the meat. The wrapper was empty.  And there was our canine character, Luna Lovegood, standing below the counter licking her chops and savoring the last remnants of one whole pound of raw ground beef.

Back to the laptop I went, only this search query was: "Is it okay for dogs to eat raw ground beef?" The result? Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes! Not only is it okay for dogs to eat raw ground beef, it's good for them. Dog crisis averted.

As a person who loves to cook, I really can't imagine not using ground beef in recipes that not only call for it, but where ground beef makes or breaks the meal. So we came up with a solution. I have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a simple food grinder attachment will allow us to ground our own beef. In the end, our grocery budget may go up a bit because of the cuts of meat we'll be buying. But it will make our family feel safe about what we put into our bodies.

When your kids love food, you do what you can to foster a love of healthy eating.

So no chili on Monday night. Pasta casserole won, even if by default. (And judging by the look of victory on Luna's muzzle, she felt like she hit a grand slam.)