overcoming the dreaded witching hour..

It has been hot, hot, hot here lately. The hottest time of the day is around 4-5PM, and needless to say that is when Luke decides to have an alter ego of a banshee, and needs to work off some energy. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on what view you support), my kid is not a TV watcher. Try as I might, he is just not interested for more than 5 minutes. He has his moments, but it is a rare thing to see him sit on the couch and watch a show. 

There are many nights that I have to get very creative in finding things to do, so I can cook us dinner. I thought it would be fun to share with you some things that I have found help to keep him cool, calm and collected until our nightly walk after dinner! 

We LOVE the rice sensory bins. These keep him busy for a good 25 minutes and they are so easy to set out for him near the kitchen so I can cook while he plays.  Here is the link on how to make the colored rice. 

Luke loves painting and he is in the process of learning his colors, though he likes to mess with me and label everything as yellow! I send packages pretty often and I love using packaging paper to hide the "reused" box, so I have a plethora of this stuff around the house. I lay some out, tape it down and let him go to town on the paper. I will typically sit with him for 10-15 minutes to work with him on shapes and colors, and then let him loose. 

Luke's favorite toy is his play kitchen. We got that for him last Christmas, and I remember thinking that maybe he wouldn't like it. Well, I was dead wrong. He loves making us dinner and whipping up the latest pizza creation. So, I try to involve him as much as I can in the kitchen. He loves to mix things and can be such a good helper. This is a simple way to get them involved while getting dinner cooked. 

Who remembers this toy? These have saved us on many road trips, airplane trips and nights where he needs a calm activity. I think I got these from the dollar store, and they are such a hit! The first time that he successfully got the string through multiple holes was a big celebration in our house! The Melissa and Doug animal string is also a fun game for him, he likes to string them on while making the animal noise (as shown in second picture). 

Similar toy here!

This one can get a bit messy. We have a big enough kitchen that he can do this activity while I am in the kitchen, cleaning or cooking dinner. We just use dish soap and a few droplets of food coloring. I put the soap in the running water, let him play with just the bubbles for a few minutes, and then let him drop the droplets of food coloring into the bubbles. Their tiny hands may get some color on them, but use a small drop of vinegar and wash hands as normal, the color should come off. He loves it! 

Listen, they don't call it  "the witching hour" for no reason! The kids are getting hungry, they are attention hungry and they want you all to themselves. Things are not always biscuits and gravy over at the semibalanced house, after we did one of these activities we had a horrible night of tantrums and outbursts (both of us, trust me)! Parenting can be such a challenging thing, it can be hard to remember the fun times, but I always try to go to bed knowing that tomorrow is a new day and he will wake up just as excited to see me as he did the day before. 

Hopefully this list gives you a few ideas to help pass the time and keep the kids out of the hot weather (or cold weather, for all you winter people)!

Happy playing, 

Meredith 

#freezerlovefriday easy lasagna

I am by no means an Italian, but I did grow up with a mother who can make an amazing lasagna! It is epic. We once missed our flight because we knew my mom had a lasagna cooking in the oven, OK there may be more to this story, but you get my point! It is good! 

When I started #freezerlovefriday I knew I would do a post with lasagna. It is the perfect meal to freeze and there is always a night where we are craving lasagna. When I made these, I was making a batch to take to our friends who had just welcomed a baby girl. I ended up having two to freeze, along with one for us to eat that night, it turned out perfectly. 

This lasagna is not the typical thick lasagna, it is perfect for 3 people, possibly 4, if you have two little ones. If you want bigger or thicker lasagna than only do two pans and double the layering. 

Don't mind the missing piece, my taste tester was EXTRA hungry this night!

Ingredients:

1 pound beef

1 pound turkey 

1 cup cut squash 

1/4 cup onion

2 jars of marinara 

2 8oz can of tomato sauce

1 t salt

1/4 t onion powder

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 TBL Italian seasoning 

2 boxes of no cook lasagna noodles 

15 oz ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1TB parsley flakes 

32 oz bag of mozzarella cheese

EVOO

Directions:

Brown meat in skillet

Cook vegetables in EVOO along with salt, onion/ garlic powder and Italian seasoning. 

Combine all together including marinara sauce and tomato sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes and let cool.

Combine ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley flakes. 

 My noodles were not the right size do the 8in foil pan, so I ended up having to break some off. Make sure to measure and try yours before you start loading them up! 

Spray bottom of pan lightly with Pam. 

Order:
Light layer of sauce

Noddles

Sauce 

Ricotta mixture

Cover with mozzarella cheese

Noodles

Sauce 

Mozzarella cheese 

Spray a piece of foil with Pam (so cheese does not stick to foil) and cover dish.

Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes.

Uncover and cook for 15 minutes more.

Enjoy! 

Freezing directions:

Spray foil with Pam spray

Cover dish 

Cover with Saran Wrap completely

Place directions on top and place in large ziplock bag. 

Cool completely and freeze for up to 2 months. 

If cooking when lasagna is frozen, it will require up to 2 hours at 350 degrees. I typically will take mine out of the freezer 48 hours in advance and place in  refrigerator. It is not necessary to unfreeze, just easier on your oven! 

The bottom left was the freezer version and I was giving the other three away, so placed foil (ready to bake) with the plastic lid that pan comes with!

I could not even get him to look up! He was so hungry, and he always loves his peas! 

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! 

Happy freezing,

Meredith 

big boy future

The day has come! My baby is no longer in his crib, and I am not sure how to feel about it. This age is so much fun, every day is something new and exciting to him. He is almost speaking full sentences and his facial expressions have always been animated, but they have reached a whole new level, lately! 

I did a side table a few weeks back, and let you all know that I had a big project coming up. Well, I had found a toddler bed on a garage sale site, and was immediately drawn to the cheap price and the potential. When we bought the bed, the color was grey, while I love the new grey fad, it just didn't go with his room at all. I ended up going with Olympic - Star Spangled (in satin) for the color. I did not want a nautical blue but still wanted it to go with the decor I already had in his room, so opted for a bit of a deeper blue. I am very happy with how it turned out! 

Luke has been watching me prepare and paint the bed, and has been so anxious to see the finished product. We gave him his new quilt a week ago and let him sleep with it in his crib, to help the transition. Luke LOVES sleep, so needless to say I am a bit nervous to change anything up out of his routine. What if he didn't go to sleep on his own anymore? What if he wasn't excited for the change?  Of course there are days where it takes him a bit to fall asleep for nap, or nights where he is a bit wired, but for the most part he enjoys his sleep time.  

 I used the same method as I did for the side table, using the liquid deglosser. Though I regret using white primer, I feel like it made it mandatory for me to do 3-4 coats of the blue. 

After one coat of the blue. Have y'all seen those handy pour paint lids, invest in one, quickly! 

Also, with our monsoon season, it took FOREVER to dry. It is so important to let the coats dry completely before moving on to the next step. Patience is a virtue, right?!? I did change up the sealant a bit, using a paint on option instead, Valspar Clear Protector. Definitely more time consuming than the spray on, but I like the outcome! 

Here is the bed after the clear sealant coat was added, it took about 2 hours to dry to the touch. 

Sunday was the day, everything was dry and we were motivated to make the change! Luke helped Ryan take apart his crib and the changing table (I know, he hasn't fit on it for like a year, but it was so easy)! He also semi helped to assemble the bed, which made it so fun. Tool belt and all! 

Here is his new room, I really didn't change much except for the bed and added a few more updated pictures, as well as throw pillows. 

Lampshades were a great find from Target, a few years back. Here is a fabulous DIY, to make your own Chevron print lampshades. Seems super simple and fun!

Update!

 We found this giraffe picture at Kirklands, and knew it was the perfect addition for his new room! And it was on sale for $13.00, can't beat that!

Alphabet Mobile is Pottery Barn Kids and unfortunately no longer available. Here is a similar one, and from a small business, so double score!  

We also decided to do an incentive program for him staying in his bed. The kid loves stickers, so we went that route. I made a little sign and hung it on his door, and we told him if he stayed in his bed, than he would get one sticker in the morning and after nap. This morning he was so excited for his car sticker. As I type this, he is happily napping in his big boy bed, anxiously awaiting his car sticker. I hope it has not been a fluke that it has gone so smoothly, but am thankful anyway! 

He was so excited to go to bed Sunday night, it made us so happy and a bit sad too. Growing up is part of life, but I feel so unprepared to see baby lukey (as his friends and cousins call him) grow up. All we can do is hope that we are molding them into good, sincere human beings, and preparing them as best we can for the future. For now, I will still sneak in the cuddles when I can and wait for the next big milestone! 

Happy parenting, 

Meredith 

summer popsicles

Luke is a pretty good eater, he loves to clear his plate and one of his favorite foods to eat is broccoli. I still try to make veggies fun, and I try my hardest to hide them in nearly everything I make. We tried to keep him away from sugar until recently, for many reasons, but mainly I didn't want to lose my "good eater". And let me tell you, when he discovered sweet sugar, his life was changed. If we mention the word cookie, his face lights up like it's Christmas! His latest love is ice cream, and while we limit it as much as we can, there is nothing better than ice cream in the summer! 

The other morning, I was making Luke one of his favorite smoothies and had an epiphany, why not turn this into a Popsicle? It has loads of spinach in it, and we had so much fruit that was ready to eat. I dug through my pantry and found the set of Popsicle forms that I had bought a few years ago and got to work. 

Luke's morning smoothie! 

Ingredients:  

2 cups of watermelon 

1 cup mixed berries (I used blackberries and blueberries) 

1/4 cup water 

1 tbsp Agave in the Raw 

2 large handfuls of spinach 

Directions: 

Throw all ingredients (minus the spinach)  into the blender, blend well. 

Add in handfuls of spinach and blend together. 

Pour into the Popsicle forms and freeze for at least 2 hours. 

Run the Popsicle sticks under water for a few seconds to help the Popsicle come out of form. 

These are so simple and so yummy. They proved to be the best summer treat for not only Luke, but us too!  We enjoyed them outside (they were a bit messy) as an after nap snack, while waiting for Dad to get home. I can say that these will be a staple in our house, and I look forward to making some new variations to share with you all!

Happy blending, 

Meredith 

how do you shred?!

We live in Tucson, which means that Mexican food is a staple in our diet. One of Luke's first words was taco, and to this day if you ask him what he wants to eat he will quickly reply, "TACO!" I like all meat involved in Mexican cooking, but the healthier version of me leans towards chicken based dishes.

 I love how versatile shredded chicken is. I can use it in so many recipes and I can use whatever I have left as the protein in my daily salad. Now, just because I love shredded chicken does not mean I love the process. This use to be a "Ryan only" job, mainly because it took forever and I don't have that kind of patience, (remember, he is the ying to my yang and well his patience knows no limits)! Then one day I had the brilliant idea of slow cooking the chicken, AMAZING. Now I know this idea (and maybe even a similar recipe) is out there, but this is what we developed in the Nye house, and I feel like I need to share this easy idea.

I will typically empty the tomatoes into the slow cooker, add my seasoning and stir that up. I then add 3-4 chicken breasts, place the beans on top of the chicken and start cooking. If you want more tomatoes, add more, or if you want to add in some corn, feel free to do that too. I like these base ingredients because they go with pretty much any dish I make. Keep in mind you can also do plain chicken, just add a bit of chicken broth or water. That way you can dress up the cooked, shredded chicken any way you want! 

Frozen chicken typically cooks 6-8 hours, while thawed chicken is around 2-4 hours. I always do mine frozen and set my slow cooker for 6.5 hours, it is perfect for mine but yours may differ slightly.  This is my slow cooker, and I love it! Specifically because of the programmable option, so I have no issues leaving it cooking throughout the day! When it is done cooking, use two forks and shred. This process takes all of one minute! Here is my finished product:

This is the easiest way to shred chicken! If you have a busy day, cook this during the day, come home and make tacos or quesadillas! The possibilities are endless. Whatever I don't use that night, I typically refreeze in a Ziploc and know that an easy dinner awaits. 

Directions:

3-4 Frozen Chicken Breasts

3 TB Taco Seasoning

1 Can Black Beans

1 can of Mexican Style Tomatoes

Combine all into a slow cooker. Cook for 6-8 hours or into chicken easily shreds apart. 



Happy Shredding,