The family that cooks together...

...eats together! As a part of recipe testing, I received an email from The Meal Makeover Moms to test a recipe they are planning on putting into their second cookbook. It was for Sweet & Hearty Beef Stew. It turned out very yummy and the kids did AWESOME, helping me out! They are now at the age, when I have MORE patience to cook with them and they actually enjoy being in the kitchen with me.

Here are some pictures with each step from that day. I loved the fact that I could prep this meal the night before and we had dinner waiting for us when we came home the next day with very minimal additional cooking:

Step 1: Cube and Brown the Stew Meat. Technically, the meat doesn't have to be browned ahead of time, but after doing so many slow cooker recipies, we like browning our meat first. It holds together better in the crock pot and it adds a bit more flavor.

Step 2: Place presliced mushrooms on the bottom of the slow cooker. You can use your hands or just dump the whole container in there!

Step 3: After the meat and juices have been transferred to the crock pot add your baby carrots.

Step 4: Carefully open your can of tomato sauce. Watch out that you don't cut yourself on the lid!

Step 5: Pour the tomato sauce over the carrots, meat and mushrooms.

Step 6: Add your Grade A pure maple syrup and cider vinegar over the top.

Step 7: Add some salt for taste, season with extra black pepper or garlic powder if you want that extra savory kick. Put the lid on and let it brown in the slow cooker for 6-7 hours on low.

Step 8: After your stew has been cooking and making the house smell yummy, mix in some thawed green peas and a little cornstarch and water to thicken the broth. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. Mix well and serve with whole wheat rolls or over white rice (as the kids ate it)!

Everyone has to try some! Taylor liked the carrots, peas and the meat. She wasn't too keen on the mushrooms though.

Daddy liked it, but he was looking for a little bit more salt in the form of beef boullion. This would be great served over garlic mashed potatoes! And maybe if we added some pearl onions or added some cubed potatoes if garlic mashed potatoes weren't on the menu.

A thumbs up from the boys! This recipe is a keeper and one we'll be serving in the near future. The boys ate theirs over rice and they ate everything in their bowl!

The countdown begins...

...until August 10 and the first day of school. Anthony will be entering 3rd grade, Jackson will be a Kindergartener, and Taylor will be in Preschool. OMG! How did this summer go by so quickly?!?!? This week the kids are with my parents so they can try and salvage the last fun days of summer. It's a bit sad because Anthony is now a "Tweener" and Jackson is a Kinder and REALLY in school and Taylor is embarking on a new school and will really be a "BIG GIRL". I'm so happy and proud for the kids but at the same time, a little sad because they are no longer babies.

But to enjoy the rest of Summer on Tuesday and Thursday they are going to see movies at The Loft. They are having various films playing to commemorate the Tucson Children's International Film Festival. Best of all, it's free WITH free freshly popped popcorn! My mom and I took Anthony and Taylor to see The Wizard of Oz on Saturday and the kids got goodie bags complete with noise makers and bubbles and a glow stick. It was loud and interactive and FUN! Tuesday they are showing the Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes movie and on Thursday it's Race For Your Life Charlie Brown. Such great movies and I can't go see them because I have to work. :-( Oh well. That's what Nana is for. :-)...To brave the wilds of screaming children and spend quality time with my kids when neither me or Tony can be around. Overall, it just makes sense that this week the kids stay with my parents because the movie starts at 10am but to ensure seats they have to be there lined up by 9:15-9:20am and then later in the day on Tuesday and Thursday the boys have Karate.

Then next week Tony is out of town on business and I think the kids will be staying with Nana and Papa again. We'll see though. And then on Sunday, August 9 is when the school has their open house and that's when we can drop off all of the kid's school supplies, meet their teachers, and get them acquainted with their new classrooms. We'll have new adventures this year and I predict all the kids will have a great school year. Tony will be coaching basketball again and practices start up as soon as school does. Of course, I'll be doing what I can during morning recess time and during lunch time on my Fridays off.

Extra-Curricular Activities this year include: Karate (both boys), Art Classes (both boys), Dance (Taylor), Basketball (Anthony), Soccer (Jackson) and the occasional weekend family swim and library time. I'm very hopeful that all of this activity will keep the kids away from the T.V. as we are trying a new "Gray Family Unplugged" during the weeks that school is in session. This means No T.V., No Video Games, No Computer Time (except for work and homework) Monday through Thursday nights. Friday, Saturday and Sunday only AFTER activities, chores and errands are completed. Even Tony and I are adhereing to "Gray Family Unplugged" and we can't be anywhere near the T.V. or playing video games until AFTER the kids are asleep. Hee hee, at least we have the D.V.R. and the new episodes of LOST don't start until February 2010. :-)

I'm excited to start a regular morning workout routine again. Tuesday and Thursdays are my Krav Maga days and Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings after dropping off the kids I plan to go back to Westward Look and workout or swim. Hmmmm, when will I go grocery shopping? I guess that'll be a Sunday morning thing. Hmmmm, when will I clean the house? I guess that'll be...at nights when I get off from work?!?!?! Afterall, we are "unplugged" so I have no more excuses. But the one thing we are looking forward too is College Football season! That's when Tony and I usually have "Date night". Even when the kids attend the games with us, we have a blast and turn our "date night" into family bonding time. It's a win-win all around. We definitely have our "Jock" in Jackson who thinks that The UofA Wildcats are "The BEST Team EVER!" And then for Anthony and Taylor they like to go to the games to snack on the junk food and look through Uncle Tommy's Binoculars. I can't say that I blame them...I enjoy the junk food as well.

Stay tuned for more adventures in "Gray Family Unplugged"...I'm sure we'll have a lot of growing pains and a lot of future stories!

You be Toot, I'm Puddle...

I'm sitting at my mom's house working today, yes on a Saturday. The location where I work is in a huge walk in closet that is converted into a craft/scrapbooking/office area. I get the best signal for Internet in there of all places in the house. Anyway, the closet is connected to the bedroom that has been converted into a playroom for all 3 grandbabies to enjoy.

So I'm sitting here working and Jackson and Taylor are playing in the playroom watching Toot & Puddle on Noggin. As the introduction music is playing, I hear those two negotiating who is going to be Toot and who will be Puddle. It's the cutest thing EVER! At first they each wanted to be the same character until they saw that one was a boy and the other was a girl so they each took the respective gender role. So now as they watch, they are trying to mimic the scenes from the show and are trying to grab the same toys from their playroom that the characters on the show are playing with. So if Toot grabs a race car, Jackson will go and get one. If Puddle says "Let's go to the pond", Taylor repeats the same line and Jackson (Toot) will follow. Anthony is in the other room reading Spiderwick Chronicles so he's not involved in the Toot & Puddle play.

The boys do the same thing with the TV shows and movies they watch together but they usually end up in a verbal fight because they each want to be the same character. With Jackson and Taylor since they are different sexes they don't fight about the characters as much. Anthony and Taylor don't usually do this because their age range differ so much that they watch different TV shows and movies.

Kids are the greatest!

WhooHoo...I won!

I can't believe it, I actually won something online. :-) I listen to a podcast called Cooking With The Moms and I filled out an online survey. My name and information was picked at random for an apron and tote bag. The podcast is great, they take everyday recipes and "make it over" to much healthier/kid friendly fare. Please check out their blog where they actually mention my name and share my "Picky Eater" tip. These ladies give tips and tricks and share their recipes for all kid friendly meals. They are yummy and very nutricious. Thank you Meal Makeover Moms, Liz and Janice! Keep more great recipes and content coming for the rest of us to learn.

What to read?

This summer we have "hit the library"! Everyone (except Taylor) has their own library card. Each kid is allowed (mom's rule) to check out 5 books each. Anthony is plowing through his books and so every week we have been going back to get some more. Jackson is not fully reading but we are trying really hard to foster the love of books in him as well as in Taylor. We do try and do "storytime" each night before bed and each kid can pick out a book for mom and dad to read....no more than 20 pages if it's a long chapter book.

Tony is picking out all sorts of Science Fiction books and audio books. I go for the parenting, knitting/crocheting and cooking books but I'm looking for more "fun" books to read. Audio books would be great since I can listen and do other things at the same time. My problem though is that unlike Tony, I don't have a favorite genre or author so I spend my time searching endlessly for the parenting, crafting and cooking books. Hee hee, sometimes I'd like to say to others that I had a favorite author or genre and become more well read. I guess I'll have to start searching the Internet to find the Best Sellers list of fiction books. I'm not sure if I could really get into Romance Novels or Mystery but you never know, I may just surprise you. :-)

The hunt continues...

For that perfect reusable water bottle. Thus far I believe I have been able to switch our household over to using BPA free reusable water bottles. Each kid has their own widemouth Nalgene BPA free plastic water bottle 16oz that they use for camp. The one thing that I notice is that the outside of the bottle is starting to look cloudy and if they aren't careful about how they fill (refill) them, the water will get on the threads for the top and stay there causing water to drip out and leak when they are carrying it around or drinking from it. MINOR inconvenience when they are at camp and are hot and sweaty and dirty anyway. I'm upset with the cloudy exterior because when you fill it with water it appears as if the water inside is yucky because it looks cloudy. Believe me, I've tried soaking it in hot steamy soapy water, washed it in the dishwasher, hand washed it, scrubbing the outside, still the cloudiness will not come off.

I also have a widemouth Nalgene BPA free 32oz bottle and LOVE it! However, I put one of those Guyot universal inserts into it and it still leaks on me a bit while drinking out of it and it sweats like the dickens when I have it filled with ice cold water. Granted I do have an insulated tote/sling for it which catches the condensation and keeps the water colder longer. And I've also crocheted a water bottle holder for it but my complaint is that it doesn't fit well in the cup holders in my car.

I also have the widemouth Camelbak BPA free plastic water bottles with the sippy top spout. That was great until I put gatorade in mine and the left it in the car...YUCK! The gatorade (red) stained the straw and the sip spout. It also made the plastic that holds the sip spout disgusting, I couldn't get it cleaned out well enough even taking the sip spout OFF. I had to replace the lid and decided to get a flat screw on top. Well even with a Guyot universal insert, it still leaks when I drink from it and with the lid tightly fitting, water will seep onto the threads and it'll start to leak. I'm also not sure if it's the material but the neoprene cover made to fit the Camelbak bottle doesn't keep the liquids ice cold for longer than 3 hours. Still great and better than nothing in this AZ. heat but I wish it was double insulated. The only problem is that the 24oz bottle sometimes isn't enough liquid on hot days but the 1 liter bottle won't fit into a cup carrier of my car.

I also have the oddly shaped Thermos BPA free plastic water bottle. I opted against the Stainless Steel one after seeing Jackson's metal Thermos water bottle leak it's liquid and start to smell really bad after leaving apple juice in it. Anyway, it's nice, no need for a separate insert for drinking water as the lid has this all built in and I can put all sorts of ice cubes into it. BUT, the cover doesn't always lock well enough to stay and it's top heavy so you have to be careful how you set it down or it will tip over. Thus far it hasn't leaked as much as the others when the lid is capped and locked but it's only 18oz or 20oz of liquid and I want more. Even though it does fit into the cup holder of my car, it moves around and sometimes falls out when full due to the funny shaped design.

The one plastic sipper straw water bottle that I LOVED was not BPA free and thus we trashed them, however I recently saw at Target that they have a BPA-free version on the market. The problem that I had with this one is that the straw part was too short for the inside so you couldn't drink all of your water w/o taking off the lid for that last sip. And then if you tried to put the straw down a bit so it did touch the bottom of the bottle, it had the potential to fall out and get jostled by the ice inside thus having to reach into the water to replace the straw again. MINOR inconvenience but still enough where it was annoying. I did love this water bottle because it was double insulated and DID NOT sweat.

So now I'm looking into another stainless steel type water bottle and trying to decide between the Klean Kanteen 27oz/40oz size or the Sigg 32oz size. Both water bottle brands appear to be able to fit into a car cup holder. I'm leaning towards the Klean Kanteen brand because I like the new sport cap design and it has a wide mouth opening (according to product specs) so I can stick regular sized ice cubes into it without having to purchase the thin cylindrical ones and make my own every night. I know that I'll also have to get a neoprene water bottle sleeve for it as it's single walled so it'll get really cold and sweat or very hot depending on the type of liquid you put into it. As well as to protect the bottle from dings and dents if it falls or I drop it. A con that I did read a few times is that the sport top "whistles" while you drink from it. Not a big deal, most sport tops do. I do like the colors and variations of the Sigg bottles but I've read some reviews about the inner liner peeling and coming apart after constant use. Also, I have seen that the bottle mouth is not that wide so you have to use the slim cylindrical ice cubes with it...PAIN! However, I do see that Nalgene just put out a Stainless Steel water bottle. Hmmmm, interesting. it's so new that I haven't seen any reviews on it yet. Although the 32oz size may fit in my car cup holder. Wow...there really must be something about Stainless Steel water bottles because Camelbak now has one as well however only the 16oz size is insulated...NOT the 1 liter size? What' up with that????

Hahaha, Tony just shakes his head at me when I tell him I'm on the search for my "perfect water bottle". I keep likening it to the search for my "perfect purse". There are several out there that I like and use often, but I haven't found my "old faithful" just yet.

So if any of my blogging friends and readers has a comment for their favorite water bottles, PLEASE leave me the suggestion w/pros and cons. I have come across this link that rates the different water bottles on the market so I'll be reading this. However, I'm a shopper that likes to touch and feel the merchandise before purchasing and some of these may not be available in stores near me. :-)
THANKS!

July already?

The time between our Orlando trip and July 4th was a very fast blur. When we got back from Orlando, the boys had 1 week of school left in the school year. They did great! Anthony brought home all A's and B's. The boys then had one week of downtime before starting summer camps for the 2009 summer.

On May 30, Taylor had her dance recital. She did GREAT! I laughed and cried at the same time. All the girls were so cute. They all danced most of the dance. Taylor was either a few steps behind, a few steps ahead, did her own dance or didn't dance at all. But hey, she didn't run off the stage or cry and stayed backstage throughout the whole recital. It was a wonderful experience for her as well as for me. The stress and worry of dance class, dress rehersal and recital day was all worth it in the end because Taylor was so great up on stage.

Taylor at Dress Rehersal the afternoon before Recital Day.

All Prima Ballerinas need gifts and "loot".

Aunt Helen, Jordan and Addy came to see Taylor dance.

Aunt T.J. and "Uncle" Albert came into town to see each other as well as to see Taylor dance.

The Prima Ballerina and her brothers.

Granny, Granddad and Grandma with the Prima Ballerina.

Nana and her Prima Ballerina.

Family picture with our Prima Ballerina.

Showing off her costume.

Showing us ballet arms.

Anthony did 3 weeks at all day camp at the Northwest YMCA. We would drop him off by 7:30am each morning and he would ride the bus 3 days a week up to the Triangle Y and participate in day camp activities. He learned how to play kickball, dodge ball, rock climb, archary, and horseback ride. They also had arts and crafts time as well. On the 4th day of camp during the week they would go on field trips. He went to the movies to see Journey To The Center Of The Earth. He and Tony went to Colossal Cave. And the last week they went to Peter Piper Pizza where they made their own pizzas and played video games. On the 5th day of day camp each week they would stay near the NW YMCA and walk over to Pima Community College to learn about and participate in Science Projects. Everyday, I would pack him a lunch and 2 days a week when he didn't have Karate, he would stay a bit later and swim with the other campers. If he didn't stay to swim, Anthony's day ended at 3:00pm.

Jackson also did 3 weeks of camp at the Northwest YMCA. We would drop him off at 11:00am and he would do Kindercamp until 3:00pm. Two days a week the kids would swim in the pool. They would have snack and lunch as well. They also did a lot of arts and crafts and one day a week they had movie and "treat" day. Jackson also did an indoor soccer camp and had a blast. The coach of the camp is a coach with Tucson Soccer Academy (TSA). TSA is an elite private soccer club. So it was nice to have a coach from there to see the skills and drills they work on with the kids. Jackson did great and had a great time!

In the middle of June Tony and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. On our actual anniversary, Friday, June 12, we got family portraits taken by one of the moms in my moms group. Maia did an awesome job! Our photo turned out great and I can't decide which ones I want to order. Check out our photos on Maia's website. On Saturday, Tony took me to McMahon's for prime rib dinner. Then we went Barnes & Noble to kill some time before heading over to Chuy's for a moms night out with my mom friends from our group. One of my friends and her family got their military orders to leave the state and this was her last MNO out with our group. Then we came home and crashed.

Now the boys are doing camp at Westward Look Resort. They are there for half day and are learning all sort of different sports. They play tennis everyday. They play soccer, capture the flag, golf, kickball, dodge ball. They get picked up during lunch time and relax before going to Karate later in the afternoon. Last summer Anthony did this camp all day long which included swimming but he would come home so tired at the end of a long hot day. This year since both boys are doing the camp, I decided to shorten their day and have them attend for half day. They have one more week of camp together and then they split up again. Jackson moves on and will do AYSO soccer camp with the UK coaches. Anthony will continue on for the last week at Westward Look.

In early August, we are hoping to take the kids up to Pinetop for their first fishing trip. I invited all of my mom's side of the family who I know fish so we'll see if they can join us and show us the ropes.

The boys will be back home without activities other than Karate for 3 weeks and then they are back to school on August 10. We are almost completely ready for the new school year. Their uniforms have been purchased and they are folded and put away. Most of their school supplies have been purchased and are set aside for Open House on August 9.