Lately my youngest is ridiculously difficult. Tantrums, frustration, and yes, anger. Most of the challenges seem to be a lack of communication. It’s almost like he doesn’t understand the meaning of simple words, yet words that change the entire meaning of what we are saying. For example: I’ll tell him he CAN have a granola bar and he flips out screaming that he WANTS one. Or I’ll ask if he wants something and he’ll say NO, when in all actuality he DOES. Oi vey, I need a beach to sit and stare on for awhile. The daily routine here is making me feel as if we are both going crazy!
Last night we had a huge eye-opener. We kept asking Bean to “eat one peach(slice) and then you can be finished with supper”. He kept bucking and bucking us. So what does a good, consistent parent do? Calmly, and unshakeably reminds him to have one more peach. This went on for a good 15 minutes. Finally, Bean looked at his Dad (who had just repeated the routine for the umpteenth time) and asked “Dad…which one is my peach? Where is it?”
He didn’t know what his peach WAS! After his Daddy pointed it out, he ate it up in a jiffy. The night went on. As parents, we were floored.
How often do situations like this happen? Not only with my 3 year old Bean, but perhaps the older ones? Or we could go Seminary Object Lesson and pontificate on how many millions of situations could this be happening?
I recently received “Teen Cuisine” by Matthew Locricchio to review. I am a picky girl about what I will review, but this seemed like a fun opportunity to work with my pre-teen daughter Tiny. We cooked, we laughed, and Tiny is super excited to ‘guest’ blog here at ThingsToLearn!
The BEST things about ‘Teen Cuisine’:
My #1 favorite thing is the format. It is written Step-by-Step. Priceless when you’re working with others in the kitchen. It kept us going in an organized and forward direction (like reheating the oven before we’re ready to put things in…or combining dry ingredients before starting, etc)
For my #2 favorite? Definitely the pictures! Makes a huge difference when you say the name of a recipe and your family looks at you cross-eyed. When you have the pic to share, everyone was picking food based on the colorful and delicious images.
Next, I love love LOVED that the recipes were leaning toward gourmet, but not so out there that my family actually WENT cross-eyed. Hee! Our picture is a good example: Grits and Cheddar Cheese Souffle. I love Grits, but never have them unless I’m out of town (in the South:) This was a delicious way to introduce them to my family, and my daughter learned about using eggs, egg whites and tricks of a Souffle.
Last, there must be a mention of the special sections. There was Safety, Kitchen Essentials, Metric Conversion Charts (good for Mom too!) and Kitchen Equipment and Utensils. These covered facts and information that anyone needs to know in a kitchen. I learned a lot and I’ve been in the kitchen for many moons. They also had diagrams that helped my daughter a LOT!
I could go on and on when it comes to the recipes. (my 3rd point above). There were 3 styles of pizza: Chicago, California and New York. Coast to Coast! With detailed explanations of how to work the dough, which ingredients and baking for each kind of pizza. Desserts, breakfast, and appetizers were also included. Ok, ok, it’s not a report. I am just excited because I was pleasantly surprised by the many good things in this book.
Now, for Tiny’s review:
What a book and to review it!? Wow. We, as you can see, made chedder gritz. Two words: YUM and r-r-r-ich! Thats only one recipe, though!! I’m so not finished yet!! The pictures, first of all, sooo persuasive! The author really worked hard! (It totally paid off!!!)
I like how it is organized,too. It had one whole section for sandwiches! When it introduced a new section, It had a mini table of contents for just the section! Talk about orginization! In a good way!
I enjoyed this book in another way, it had ”Chef’s Tips” and explanations of where the recipe came from and/or how it tastes. When you look at the recipe, you see the explanation, ingredients, “On Your Mark…” and instructions, and ”Get Set…serve!” and instructions. Organized!!!
It has been a pleasure reviewing this book (and trying the recipies…) Thank you so much for the opprtunity!
The makers of the MonsterMeter (which was listed in the top 500 Apps in the Sunday Times. woot woot!) very generously donated 5 promo codes to ThingsToLearnAtHome! yay!
If you would like to receive one, use the ‘Contact Me’ tab to submit a request. The first 5 will get ‘em, so hurry up!
My life is changed FOREVER! We are huge potato-mongers, as in eating pounds and pounds a week. This is my favorite tip to share with you in my food history on this blog!
(If she looks familiar, that is Dawn Wells. MaryAnne from ‘Gilligan’s Island’. Maybe she learned this potato peeling tip while she was stranded.)
This morning, thanks to a great friend (Cherish! Check her out at DipMakesMeHappy), we received our first Bountiful Basket for the year. It was glorious! After washing and setting out for a pretty picture, my kids immediately started chowing. That’s a VERY good feeling.
In the pic is everything I received (minus two bunches of bananas which my hubby misplaced. whoopsie!) for $15. Here’s what you see:
(2 bunches bananas)
1 Seedless Watermelon
2 Zucchini
Green Beans (I’d guess 1/2#)
3 Apples
2 Mangoes
1 Pint Strawberries
3 Bunches Asparagus
1 Bunch Lettuce
6 Oranges
6 Tomatoes
I would highly recommend teaming up for these. We can take turns picking up every other week. Also, you can switch out items you might not like as much. For example, this week there were Bell Peppers as well this week. We prefer having more Asparagus, so we swapped! I would be hard pressed to get this much good looking produce from the grocery store for $15. Hope you are able to enjoy a delivery location close to you. You can find them here: Bountiful Baskets
Do you have things to learn that you can share? If they are tangible, simple, mini-lessons that prepare little people I would love to have your guest post!
Do you have a product to help a family that you'd like me to review?
Contact kristen {at} thingstolearnathome {dot} com. I promise I'm nice!
After washing and setting out for a pretty picture, my kids immediately started chowing. That’s a VERY good feeling.
