Works For Me Wenesday - It's all about the sauce!

It is always a struggle to kid my kids to eat their vegetables. If it's green and placed on their plate,they will not eat it - especially Peter.

And they are completely over Ranch dressing as a dipping sauce unless there is a nugget involved.

So in my quest to get them to eat more vegetables, I tried out a new dipping sauce...hollandaise!

I love hollandaise sauce but most of the recipes I have found for it are a little too complicated for a simple cook like me.

But I searched until I found one that looked doable and I made it one evening when we were having broccoli.

The results can be summed up in one word - YUM!

It was so good that I was practically licking the bowl when I ran out of broccoli to dip in it. And the kids managed to eat a small serving of broccoli without too much gagging, so I considered it a smashing success.

Here is the recipe for Easy Hollandaise Sauce:

1/2 cup butter
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne pepper or hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons hot water

Heat butter in a heavy saucepan until hot and foamy, but not browned. In a small bowl, whisk or beat egg yolks with lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper or hot sauce. Gradually beat in butter, then water. Return mixture to saucepan and beat over very low heat until mixture is slightly thickened. Serve immediately or let stand over warm water for up to 30 minutes.

(Recipe courtesy of About.com)

If you are looking for more tips, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday.

Dave Ramsey would be so proud!

Ever since we moved into this house, almost two years ago, I have not been happy with the kitchen table.

It is a rectangle that seats four people and it can be expanded to seat 6. This was all well and good except that the space for our kitchen table is rather small and not well-suited for a rectangle shaped table.

When the kids want to come in and out of the backdoor, they have to be careful not to open the door into the table. And since they are 4 and 5, being careful doesn't come easily to them. So we have dinged up both the door and the table.

And to make matters worse, because the table is too big for the space, the light above the table is off-center and drives me crazy every time I look at it.

The rectangle table was purchased in 1998 from Rooms To Go and is made of pine. And anyone with pine furniture knows it is cheap (which is why they sell it at Rooms To Go) and that it gets scratched up easily.

And to make matters worse, the chairs were upholstered in a CREAMY WHITE FABRIC!

Why any manufacturer would ever upholster dining room chairs in the first place is beyond me and then to do them in a light fabric is adding insult to injury!

Clearly I bought these before I had kids! It didn't take long for the creamy white fabric to turn a strange shade of gray.

We don't have it in our budget right now to buy a new table and new chairs and with a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old, it isn't practical anyway.

Mom offered us an old table that she had in her basement. I took one look at it and knew it would be perfect.

The table is 100-years-old and made of a sturdy oak. It was actually used in my great grandfather's house so I know this table can withstand the wear and tear of our little family.

But it didn't come with chairs.

So we did what any good students of Dave Ramsey would do - we repainted and reupholstered our existing chairs.

Before:

After:

So, not only are we able to incorporate a family heirloom into our decorating, but we updated 6 chairs for under $70!

Now if I can just figure out a way to reupholster our ugly sofas!

Miracle Monday

It's Miracle Monday again!

If you have something to share, I hope you will write about it today. And remember, miracles can be big or small.

Last week, my friend Corey over at Living and Loving Every Minute Of It left a miracle.

Many of you are probably familiar with Corey. She is a talented photographer who really knows her way around a camera.

Last week, she posted some truly amazing before and after pictures of a girl named Michelle.

Go check them out and see what the power of prayer and the miracle of modern medicine can do to bring a little girl back from the grasp of death.

If you have a miracle to share, it's easy to participate. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below.

Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog.

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. Please come back next Monday if you would like to leave a miracle. Thanks!

Food for thought...

I have a great Bible. It's called the Mom's Devotional Bible.

It's published by Zondervan and the devotions contained in it are written by MOPS International (Mother's of Preschoolers). Thanks Heather!

This morning, I was reading one of the devotionals and it was entitled "Shaping Up Your Tongue".

The gist of the article is that the tongue is often the most out-of-shape muscle in the body but that a lifelong practice of prayer exercise will help get it in shape.

First they recommend tabulating your current rate of tongue slips to get an idea of how out-of-shape your tongue really is. As I read this I thought, I could probably use a little work but overall my tongue is probably o.k.

And then one sentence in the devotional made me cringe.

'A slip of the tongue is anything you wouldn't say in the presence of Jesus.'

Hmmmm...well when you put it that way, perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut!

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." - Luke 6:45

Please don't tell me to get her a baby doll!

I found this in Sarah's room this morning...

Here it is from another angle...

And what is it, you might ask?

Well, let me show you...

It is a turkey that Sarah made in preschool last year.

After I left her room last night, she lovingly placed the pillow beside her bed. She gently placed the turkey on top of the pillow and delicately covered it with a Kleenex.

Who needs 37 baby dolls and doll accessories when you have a paper turkey and a tissue?

And Sarah calls this turkey a chicken. She's been calling it a chicken since she made it last year.

I guess she has a touch of poultry confusion!

Here she is in a picture I took of her yesterday afternoon.

Yes, it's mid-October and she's wearing a sundress. But it was in the high 70's here yesterday and it's going to be in the mid 80's today.

If it wasn't for the skeleton hanging in my house, I would think it was July!

Sundresses, skeletons, and turkeys...just another day!

Miracle Monday

It's Miracle Monday! Instead of highlighting a miracle today, I thought I would highlight a portion of scripture.

As the stock market is crashing and retirement funds disappearing and as gas prices are at an all time high and many people are worried about how they are going to pay their bills and feed their families, I just wanted to remind everyone of this...

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:25-34

God will give us all that we need, all we have to do is ask him, trust him and believe in him.

*Thanks to Alicia for the inspiration for this post.

If you have a miracle to share, it's easy to participate. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below.

Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog.

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. If you have a miracle you want to share, please come back next Monday. Thank!

A sure sign there are too many political ads...

As Peter was drying off after his bath tonight, he looked in the mirror, puffed out his chest and said, "I'm John McCain and I paid for this message!"

I'm a rock star, baby!

I ate lunch with my son again on Friday.

Between volunteering for Spanish Enrichment where I am in all 4 Kindergarten classes every Wednesday, volunteering in my son's class every Thursday and eating lunch with him whenever he can convince me, it feels like I am always there.

And I guess volunteering to help with Spanish Enrichment isn't such a bad thing because in addition to getting a better understanding of exactly what is going on in my son's class, I am getting to meet all of the Kindergarteners.

And it makes me feel like a rock star.

As I was walking through the cafeteria yesterday, kids were waving at me, yelling out "Hola, Miss Beth" and tugging on their friends shirts and pointing in my direction.

Several kids even came up and gave me hugs. HUGS!

I think next week I'm going to take my Sharpie in case any of them ask for my autograph.

And just think of all the money I could have saved by NOT sending him to preschool!

After volunteering in my son's class today, I ate lunch with him.

He was munching on an apple when I asked him what his favorite part of school was.

He thought for a moment and then answered me. "Lunch," he said with a giggle.

"What's your next favorite thing?" I quizzed him, a little uncomfortable with his Sweathog response.

"Going to the playground!" he answered with some hesitation.

"And then what?" I asked him, hoping for an answer that at least resembled something academic.

And with no pause at all, he answered, "Coming home!"

I had been eagerly awaiting the start of Kindergarten because I knew Peter was going to love it. At least that was my hope.

He really enjoyed preschool and it only seemed to follow that he would enjoy Kindergarten. But that doesn't seem to be the case and it worries me.

People are continually asking me how Peter likes school.

And I continue to give them the same half-hearted answer, "He doesn't like getting up early but I think he's enjoying it."

I had a conversation with Jennifer yesterday and she thinks it is because he's bored.

She volunteered in the class (her son Colton is in the class too) earlier in the week and she said that Peter and Colton both already knew everything that was being taught in the center that they were working in.

At lunch today, I asked him why he didn't like school very much. And his answer was, "We are working on letter sounds. I already did that in preschool."

So, perhaps Jennifer is right. Perhaps he really is just bored.

So now when people ask me how Peter likes Kindergarten I guess I'm going to answer them with a hearty, "He's completely bored because he already knows it all!"

O.k. maybe I won't answer it like that but I'll be thinking that in my head while I give them my standard response.

In the meantime, what am I supposed to do so that he doesn't lose interest in school and decide at the ripe old age of 5 that he hates school?