MOPS

I mentioned before that Mindi would be talking at our last meeting about doing some playdate ideas. Unfortunately, she was not able to make it to the meeting last time because of weather and terrible traffic. She has great ideas brewing though, and I think you all will love them.

Mindi has been working on compiling a list of activities that the MOPS moms can do together, including, but not limited to, trips to Chesterton library, story time at Barnes and Noble, meeting at the park when it is warmer, Chuck E. Cheese's, Liberty Zone, and other fun play date ideas. She will be handing out an activities calendar at the next meeting (this Thursday) provided that weather cooperates. :) It is our hope that you all will be able to pick and choose from the activities and find some extra opportunities to connect with other moms of preschoolers on a more regular basis. If any of you are interested in potentially hosting a play date at your house sometime be sure to mention that to Mindi on Thursday.

Love you mommas. See you this Thursday.

Darling mommas,
I am having one of those weeks...okay, months really. I feel like I am the very last person to be giving anyone any kind of advice on how to "live the life". :) I thought I would open the floor today and make it all about what you have to offer. Everyone, please think of one thing you did today that seemed to work for you, your kids, or your husband and share that. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering. You never know, it just may inspire another mom.

I'll start, with a little one for me this week.
I took my son to the Valparaiso library today for toddler time. For just $3 he can go to 6 sessions and he LOVES them. At each session they do songs, a craft, a video, and read a book, as well as other activities. Preston has really learned to sit down and be a big boy this time around. (we had a little trouble last time when he was not quite three years old yet, and could not bear to part from his momma) He also happens to love Miss. Mary, the librarian. :)

Okay, your turn. What worked for you this week?

For those of you who faithfully check back to this site, I apologize for my absence. I am struggling with morning sickness from time to time. Then we had to get ready for Keely's one year birthday. Then we HAD her birthday party. Then, my parents came from out of town. The night they left we found out Preston had pink eye. The next afternoon we found out Keely had an ear infection. :) Things are pretty wild here in our house these days. Lots of excitement! :) I am planning to get a recipe on here for tomorrow for our Food on Friday. I also intend to get the calendar on here that Mindi made up and passed out at our last meeting. Hope to get around to that tonight. Have a great rest of your Thursday! Hope your family is healthier than ours. ;0)

This recipe is actually a Pampered Chef recipe. It reminded me of the White Castle cheeseburgers. My husband calls them sliders. He LOVES sliders. It's a different way of making the classic cheeseburger. It's easy, it's fun, and it's tasty. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 medium onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I did not use fresh)
1-1/2 lb. 90% lean ground beef
1 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp. salt
6 slices American cheese
8 hot dog buns
24 hamburger dill pickle slices (I ignored this part, since my family would not eat pickles)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Finely chop onion and parsley using food chopper. Combine beef, onion, parsley, garlic and salt in a medium sized bowl; mix well. Press beef mixture evenly over bottom of Large bar pan or 9x13 pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until beef is no longer pink.

2. Meanwhile, cut cheese into quarters; set aside. Slice buns apart neatly at seam (do not separate tops from bottoms). Trim about 1/4 in. from each bun end to square off ends. (discard trimmings). Cut buns into thirds for a total of 24 square mini buns; set aside.

3. Remove bar pan from oven. Pour off juices, if necessary, and place on cooling rack. Cut beef mixture into 24 squares, using pizza cutter. Top each burger with one pickle and one piece of cheese. Place one fun top onto each burger; top with one bun bottom.

Cover bar pan with aluminum foil and bake 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and buns are warm.

4. To serve, place one burger with bun top onto one bun bottom using a mini serving spatula. Repeat with remaining burgers and bun bottoms. Serve immediately.

Big time thank you to Mindi for planning fun MOPS activities outside of MOPS. Here are the ones for this next week coming up (March 15-21):

Monday, March 16: Playdate at Mindi's.
Please RSVP to 926-6219. I will not post her address online, but if you need to get directions you can ask Mindi when you call to RSVP.

Tuesday, March 17: Shamrock Shakes at McDonald's 11am
Will be at the McDonald's on Rt. 30 next to Wise Way. Kids can play in play place. Come enjoy a shake or for eat your lunch together.

Thursday, March 19: MOPS meeting at VNC 9-11 am (YOU BETTER BE THERE!)

Friday, March 20: Barnes and Noble 10 am
Barnes and Noble is next to Pier One and across from Target. They are featuring the book "Guess How Much I Love You" and Little Nutbrown Hare will be making an appearance.

Works for Me Wednesday message: Instead of taking on something new, get caught up with the things you have been meaning to do since December. :) Remember a long long time ago when we ate that delicious breakfast together and everyone went on and on about the STUFFED FRENCH TOAST? That day we had mentioned that we would get that recipe up on the blog. Well, 3 months later...here we are. Thank you to the dear Moppets worker who reminded me to get this recipe up, because I had completely forgotten. Thank you also, to Stephanie for getting the recipe to me so quickly once I remembered to ask for it. ;)
Works for me Wednesday this week: get caught up on what should have been done a while back and then sigh a sigh of relief. It'll feel good. Alrighty mommas, here's the recipe you have all been waiting for:

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST
Recipe from: Stephanie Anderson

Ingredients:
Texas Toast or French Sour Dough Bread
2 tsp cinnamon
5 eggs
Salt (pinch)
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1-8oz pkg cream cheese
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ cup sugar

Layer 9x13 pan with bread.

Mix cream cheese, vanilla & sugar. Put tablespoon on center of each piece of bread.

Top with another layer of bread.

Melt butter and mix in cinnamon and brown sugar and pour over bread.

Beat eggs, salt & milk and our over everything.

Cover and let sit overnight refrigerated.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Enjoy.

If you were at MOPS this week you heard me talk a little about freezing meals and how that can save time, money, and energy. One mom questioned what kinds of foods freeze well and what kinds of foods don't. My friend answered this question today on mealplanningmommies.com, so if you are interested in reading up on that go here. Our meal for today is a meal that can be frozen and eaten later. Make a huge batch of this and fill up several bags and you'll have dinner for several nights. (not in a row) ;0)

Our freezer meal is called Cheesy Filled Shells and you can find the recipe with pictures here.

Monday:March 23rd, 10am Barnes and Noble Disney Day - come dressed as your favorite Disney character. (sorry I am getting this on here after the fact, Hope you all had fun today!)

Tuesday, March 24th - Moms Night Out - El Saltos in Chesterton. Mindi has yet to hear from anyone on this so if you are planning on going let her know.

Friday March 27th, 10am - Westfield Mall (shopping, play, walking, eating... whatever you prefer)

Due to lack of response, Mom's Night Out has been canceled for tonight. If you had been planning on attending, please contact Mindi.

Better late than never, right? Thankfully I know that all of you can appreciate a busy mom who is forgetful from time to time. My excuse is "Spring Break Brain." I am enjoying a certain amount of laziness that's not a part of my normal routine and my brain decided to take a break as well. My apologies!!

Today's entry isn't a testimonial type-I have no idea if this would work for me on Wednesday or any other day of the week for that matter, but I'd love to give it a try!

As I listened to Alisha describe freezer meals and a food co-op at MOPS last week, the idea became very appealing to me. I wondered if anyone else out there might be interested. Just imagine . . . even if only 7 people swapped meals, there's the potential of no cooking for a week!! Or, spread it out and enjoy a night off for 7 weeks . . . the potential for a break is there. I'm wondering if anyone else is interested.

So, it's your turn! If you'd like to explore the possibility, leave a comment here. It won't commit you to the idea, but we can start to explore the idea and the options if a lot of you are interested.

One other item I'd like to leave you with is an excerpt from an e-mail that I received from MOPS International. Check it out. You can earn rewards and maybe even cash just for signing up!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Disposable diapers...child safety seats...collapsible strollers...baby monitors. All these products exist because of new moms like you.

Okay, mommas, here's one you can make a bunch of and freeze to use later. Waffles. If you have a waffle maker you can do this one. I think I got my waffle maker at Walgreens for like $5 or something, so mine is super cheap, but there are some really nice ones out there. Any waffle recipe will freeze well really, but I am supplying the one I made this morning for those of you who are interested. It uses whole-wheat flour, so you can feel good about it. ;) I doubled the recipe to make for several waffles, but if you go by these directions you might get 8-10 waffles. You could also triple or quadruple the recipe if you have enough room in your freezer.

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Lightly beat together wet ingredients in another. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Pour batter onto lightly-oiled waffle iron and bake until done.

We served ours with sliced bananas, crushed walnuts, and syrup. Yummy!

To freeze, let them cool and then stick 5-6 in each freezer bag. To thaw, just pull them straight out of the freezer and heat in the microwave, in a toaster oven, or in the oven.