Sports Snacks

I'm having an issue.  First soccer game is Sat. (even though we've hardly practiced because of floody fields!!  coach got so desperate that they practiced in the rain today since it was warm rain...it's not going to be a pretty first game...) and we are in charge of snack (includes snack and drink.)  I hate when I'm in charge of snack.  I know, me, hate being in charge of snacks...food...really?  Yes, you know why?  Ok, here's my issue:

Snacks after sporting events should not include chips.  Snacks after sporting events should not include cupcakes.  They should also not include Sam's club muffins (that are even too large for an adult to eat for breakfast!), twinkies, candy, soda, or Hi-C (not even resembling fruit) drink boxes.  I kid you not, I've seen it all given as snacks after soccer games..these kids were 5/6/7...SERIOUSLY!!!

So, I'm the mom that brings the fruit water.  I'd rather not bring a drink because frankly, they need to drink the water out of their water bottle...especially in the really warm temps.  They just ran around for an hour, they need to hydrate!  So, for pure sake of not embarrassing my son that he has the mom that doesn't believe in bringing a drink, I settle for fruit water.  Really, it's not that bad and Minute Maid brand is even better than Capri Sun...NO HFCS!!  (yea, really, let's add high fructose corn syrup to water...!!!!! you people know how  I feel about that!)  Ok...so we have that covered.  Is bringing 100% juice really all that bad?  No, probably not, I mean if it's 100% juice I'm not going to have a major issue with it.  If it's all that sugared garbage, I have an issue.  No kid needs Capri Sun or Hi-C or heaven forbid Sunny D!!  I have seen Gatorade and while I use gatorade after my long runs, I just don't think it's necessary for a child's soccer game.  If it was 80+ degrees, then maybe.  It's a hydration drink, not a fun drink.

On to snack...  The kids just participated in a sporting event.  They exercised.  We encourage them to participate in activities for many positive reasons, one being exercise and promoting healthy habits (well, at least I hope we do) so let's now shove them full of sugar as their reward for playing their best?  NO!!!  Whatever happened to orange wedges?  That's what we used to bring to my sisters soccer games.  But if I brought those now, I'd be the mom that brought the healthy snack that half the kids threw away.  Well, maybe not, but it's almost socially unacceptable.  We went apple picking during the fall season and I said I was going to bring apples to all the kids. Soccer dad said don't do it honey, you'll embarrass the boy.  I'm doing it this year darn it!!  So I sit here and rack my brain as to what snack to bring 9, 6/7 year old boys for snack after their first soccer game.  Mind you, we have to be careful of nut allergies or I'd whip up a batch of homeade energy bars....those wouldn't taste good without the peanut butter :(   I think in the past I've done lower sugar granola bars or nutri-grain type bars.  Both which I'm not a huge fan of but they are somewhat better than other alternatives.  Not big on bringing fruit snacks and those are like bringing candy and let's face it, they don't fill up a hungry tummy!  Easy maybe, but like I said, I'm trying to make this a whole experience for my child...you exercise, you eat to fuel your body.  No reason to start the attitude that  a lot of adults take...hey, I worked out today, I can eat more garbage.  Not saying I haven't used that excuse ever, but I clearly don't believe in it.  Some people truly do believe in that and kids, well, they need to be taught good lessons to take them into their adult years..

Enough of my preaching.  I'm just sitting here racking my brain trying to be a socially acceptable fun mom but also a healthy mom.  Ahh...the joys of being a soccer mom :) 

What is your go to snack for kids sporting events or maybe even for yourself on the go?  peanut free of course!  If you have any suggestions, PLEASE comment them!!

Oh and as a side note...for little girlie's birthday treat today I made banana raisin muffins...lots of whole grain goodness in those babies, minus the sugar and plus the taste!!  Not sure the older boys would go for those as much as the little tikes did at daycare today!

Hoppy Easter to you!

Easter is upon us...there are many spiritual things to relfect upon on this day and I really do not want to forget those as they are very important.

However, I also wanted this to be a fun and enlightening post so I am going to concentrate on the other VERY important thing about Easter...

You got it...JELLY BEANS!!!  These Brach's classics are my all time very favorite jelly bean in the whole wide world.  I have tried them all...Starburst, jolly rancher, mike and ike (close second :), lifesaver, nerds, generic, etc. etc... we even had a jelly bean tasting contest one year.  Gotta come back to the original staple, Brach's.  Always the same, year after year...

There is absolutely nothing healthy about these babies, but Easter comes once a year.  This is my true chewy candy weakness.  So, I will stuff my self full of them on Easter and then run extra hard the next day!  (good advice from a trainer, huh? :)

What jelly bean will you enjoy most this Easter?  OR...are you one of those VERY WEIRD jelly bean haters?  Your favorite Easter candy would be.....?

Egg Hunt!

So this past weekend I decided to host an Easter Egg Hunt.  I think they are so much fun and the kids are old enough now to really have fun with it.  So, I gathered LOTS of plastic eggs, some candy, some change, some stickers, some silly bands, some bouncy balls and stuffed eggs.  Then....I "hid" them all.  We did the younger kids in the front yard and older ones in the backyard.  It was a lot of fun!

Now, I couldn't just stuff eggs, hide them and have everyone go home, right?  Right!  I may have turned it into a small party...but it was super fun!  My friend Heather was here with her nice camera and decided to take lots of pictures and do a post on her blog about my party!  I've really never been featured on another blog, so I am a little giddy about it...it's a big step in my blog life :)  So, if you'd like to see details about my little egg hunt party, you are going to have to go here!  While you are there you can browse some of the fun parties, crafts and gifts that she has done...she is one talented mama!

Thanks for featuring my party Heather!  Your pictures are much better than mine :)

More Homeade Larabars

Time for another healthy post!! 

I finally got my act together today (well, kind of...) and made some more Larabars.  I think I struck gold today, 2 very yummy flavors...

Apple Pie Larabar:

-1/2 cup dates
-1/2 cup dried apples (non sweetened)
-1/4 cup almonds
-1/4 cup walnuts
-1/2 tsp cinnamon (or to your liking)
-1/4 cup raisins

Put all in your food processor and blend for 2-3 minutes.  I always dump onto a piece of wax paper and then press into a bar form.  These make 2-3 bars.  I made 2 but they are huge!!  But...soccer dad likes himself a hearty snack. 

Banana Bread Larabar (seriously tastes just. like. banana bread!!!!)  might be my new love :)

-step one....if you can't find unsweetened dried bananas...do this:  cut up a ripe (the riper the better) banana into think slices.  Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet (if you don't they will stick like crazy!)  Bake for about 2-3 hours at 200 or until they dry out.  So..do this when you are going to be home for the day and you want your house smelling like bananas :)  I did a couple so I could make a couple batches or have some for snacking.  Way better than those oil and fat loaded banana chips (that my kids happen to LOVE!)  Can also use a dehydrator if you are so lucky to have one :)

now for the actual recipe:
-1/3 cup dates
-1/3 cup almonds
-1/3 cup dried or dehydrated bananas

Place ingredients into food processor for 2-3 min.  Press into bar form.  I got 2 nice size bars out of this and boy oh boy...it was like eating banana bread.  I am so excited for morning snack tomorrow!

Let me know if you've tried any others...there are lots out there.  I think my next endeavor might be the Key Lime.  One of my co-workers was eating one the other day and he kept saying how good it was...now I just need to figure out the right ratio...there is a little more to those... I'll keep you posted!

Happy Healthy Snacking!

Teacher Easter gift

I have been missing my crafting, a lot!  So, I took some time the last week or 2 to get my craft on!  I saw this idea here and immediately put the items I needed on my shopping list.  It seemed easy, I had most of the supplies already and it was darn cute!  I decided these would make a super cute Teacher Easter prezzie.  I love the saying "egg"stra special, so I used that to complete my gift.

 These particular baskets went to the preschool teachers today.  We won't see them anymore before Easter so I made sure to get them ready for today.  These handles look super crooked in the picture but I think I sort of molded them a little more before they left the house.  Using the wire, it is really easy to play around with it.

The teachers both "awwww"ed over them and said how cute they were.  They were also happy with the chocolate.  Apparently a rainy, sleety, cold April day produces teachers to crave chocolate. :) 
And my little girlie was so happy and proud to give these to her teachers.  She was very particular about which teacher got which basket...even though I thought they should be opposite of her, I let her pick.

In our baskets are just some paper grass, a bunny cookie that we made over the weekend, a couple reese's peanut butter eggs and a plastic egg full of jelly beans.  I tried to fit more in there but it wasn't working and I wanted it to still present nicely.

I pretty much followed Stacy's tutorial exactly.  I used the different kind of craft glue but it's what I had.  (note...don't use just regular old craft glue...the wire won't stick well to the ribbon...need heavy duty craft glue!)  You can really change these up to suit your needs or to make them for whomever you wanted.  I do know one little girl that would probably LOVE that rainbow ribbon so I may have to make a few more. 

Hoppy Crafting :)

Where I've Been and What I've been doing...

Where I've been:  (no where exciting by the way!)
Home, work, kids schools.  Grocery store, target, home.  Work. Schools.  Store...REPEAT!!!  I'm pretty sure I live in a time warp. 

What I've been doing:  clearly not blogging!!!
Cleaning, working, dropping off kids, picking them up, letting them play on the playground (while the weather was nice anyway...)  Enjoying the weather while we had it (it's now gone for a while) cooking, blog reading, planning parties (yes, more than 1), planning school functions, and trying so hard to not let my laundry overtake my house!

I'm really not sure what has happened to the last couple weeks.  I realized today that tomorrow is mid-April, officially.  I remember saying that about March...um, yesterday it seems!!

Somehow I managed to make these tonight (only because one of the "parties" is this weekend.  By the way, not a party, an egg hunt with a twist...can't reveal too much, some of those invited are readers!)  Highly recommend them, especially if you are needing a quick, fruity sugar fix!  Anyone that knows me knows that I am obsessed, really like jelly beans, so it had to be done.  If not today, tomorrow, or next week, they were going to get made!!  Why put off until tomorrow what you can bake today :)

So, in a nutshell, I've been being me.  Really and truly.  I've been doing all things that Soccer Moms do best...except one thing..going to soccer!  That starts next week.  I'll probably have to do another one of these same posts in like 3 weeks but then I'll be including soccer AND baseball in it.  I'm kind of excited... my blog name will hold true starting next week.  I am going to have to be super creative with my meals and hope that some sort of miracle will drop in front of me giving me exceptional organization to get healthy meals on the table even with crazy nights.  I'll let you know.

I am in the midst of attempting some new endeavors at work, hopefully I can post about those soon.  Happy Spring Days to you all...may the weather be nicer where you are!!!

Ready for Spring!

I don't think I can take it anymore!  The winter blahs (even though technically it's spring...) have not gone away!  I mean, they started to since I was visiting my parents this past weekend and they actually had spring weather but here in WI...it doesn't exist!  It's coming, I know it's coming (I mean, it BETTER be coming!) so in the meantime I must do things that make me happy and festive around our house.

I've been decorating for Easter with the brightest and most pretty colors I can find!  But I needed flowers.  I think it'll be a while before my tulips actually bloom and I needed something pronto, so the little girl and I whipped up a couple vases worth.  One for the kitchen (aka..my room) and one for her room.  They are beautiful and make me smile.  By the way...I asked my girlie what she wanted to do today on our "home day" and she immediately replied..projects!  (aka crafts) so I needed to be a good mom for her today and sit down and craft!  We did a few other things too but I can't quite show those just yet :)  I was very happy to put all my other work aside and just do projects.  It made us both very happy!

Now, these may be replaced with actual flowers next time I go to the store, but for now they will work!  You can find a very easy tutorial here!

Happy (hopefully very soon) spring!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

FACT:  I LOVE BANANAS
FACT:  I LOVE OATMEAL
FACT:  I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER

why haven't I actually used all these things before for my actual breakfast?  Actually, I think I did it one other time, on accident.  But today...on purpose!  I've made these bars before and while they are "breakfast bars" I usually use them for snacks but they combine all these yummy favorites. Today, it was my actual breakfast.

What inspired my creation?  Um, my banana sitting on the counter waiting for me, the peanut butter knife still on the counter from my son's breakfast and my craving for oatmeal since I was at home this morning.  I took a little taste off that peanut butter knife and went, mmmmm...gotta do peanut butter this morning, so I combined the three.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal (1 serving)
-1/2 cup quick oats
-banana (cut up in small chunks)
-1/2-1 T natural peanut butter (I used my FAVE...Trader Joe's Natural Chunky, salted.)
-cinnamon (to taste)
-1 cup water (or milk)

-Place oatmeal, banana, cinnamon in bowl and add water.  Mix around.  Add peanut butter and swirl into oatmeal mixture.  Microwave (because I can't wait for my oatmeal to cook on the stove...when I'm hungry, I'm hungry!) and 2 min. later (for my micro) I have my breakfast.  A delicious delightful, filling breakfast.  I usually add about 1-2 T skim milk after it's done to cool it and get the consistency I like, but that's just me.

YUM!  a nice alternative to my traditional oatmeal, cinnamon, raisin (or banana) and walnut.  I enjoyed the break from the walnuts this morning!