Recovery Mode

My last post was before M’s big singing performance, and it went very well, thank you. Her singing was lovely and she was happy with it. It appears that this evil bug has passed by the adults of our household. Meanwhile, I dropped some balls in the course of nursing sick children and fretting about … [Read more…]

A Festive Day

We hit not one, but two fests today. First it was the Schenectady Kids Arts Fest, then the St. Basil Greek Festival in Troy. We usually try to visit the arts festival, and I’ll tell you more about it later, but since this was our first time at the Greek Festival and it continues tomorrow … [Read more…]

Miscellaneous Horrors

I went to a Board of Education meeting tonight, where I heard about the various budget cuts. They include a plan to combine 4th and 5th graders into one class, which will also increase class size from about 20 to about 27. Yowza.  Honestly, I think that a combination class might be good for M, … [Read more…]

Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

At dinner tonight, 3 out of 4 members of the family love-love-loved the main dish. Alas, J wouldn’t even taste a smidgen. Her loss. She ended up eating bread and butter and grapes for dinner. You can’t win them all. So, I had food on my mind, and then I manipulated M into eating asparagus … [Read more…]

Cookie Crisis Averted!

Every year I order Girl Scout Cookies from my neighbor and then I find out that Cute W’s ordered from coworkers’ kids, and next thing you know we have a lot of cookies. I know, I know: what’s the problem? Well, I just try to limit the number of completely irresistible items in my house. … [Read more…]

Another Healthy Recipe

I took advantage of Cute W’s absence yesterday to try a new (to me) vegetarian recipe from my sister. The girls got a frozen pizza (don’t judge me!) and I made Navajo Stew from the Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers cookbook. Basically, you roast a bunch of veggies. Then you puree tomatoes, cilantro, and chipotles in … [Read more…]

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Sunday was Cute W’s birthday, and we ended up having an impromptu lunch party at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Troy. We’d visited the one in Rochester, but this was my first time here in Troy. Yes, I know: I try all these vegetarian and vegan recipes (like here and here), but the truth is, I love … [Read more…]

Maple Syrup Candy

Yesterday I decided to make some maple candy, Laura Ingalls-style. This was mostly for my own mysterious reasons, which I choose not to share at this time, thank you. The silly thing is, my kids don’t even like maple syrup. I don’t know why. I think they’re crazy. Every time we have pancakes, I curse … [Read more…]

Toxic Dip!

I know that I’ve been offering up detox dips, but in honor of the upcoming Super Bowl, I thought I’d share our favorite party dip, from my friend J. It is toxic, health-wise, but supremely delicious. Buffalo Chicken Dip Ingredients: 1 package cream cheese (we usually get the 1/3 less fat stuff) 1.5 lbs. chicken … [Read more…]

Detox Dips #4

Wow, that’s some serious snow.  The girls were doing all of their bring-on-a-snow-day superstitions, which seemed a little. . . unnecessary. But we’ll see. I think that this is my last Detox Dip, and it’s Black Bean and Corn Dip. This is a variation of my sister’s recipe, although I don’t know where she came … [Read more…]