by Sarah | Jul 24, 2013 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Molly, All of Us
*This is a recycled post from a couple of years ago. I thought with school starting it would be a fun re-do for school lunches. All those [amazon_link id=”B00DE2PVTG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]bento boxes[/amazon_link] out there makes this possible!
(L – top to bottom. Cheese cutouts, Peanut Butter w/ banana strips. R – top to bottom. Peanut butter w/ orange marmalade folds, PB & grape jelly rolls, Nutella rolls.
Even my teen will make his own version of this for himself. Molly, the pickiest eater of them all, cleans her plate when I make this kid-friendly sushi. Since it was requested on twitter…I thought I’d post how I make them. And it’s super simple…and to be honest I got the idea from Pinterest and ran with it.
*~*
First, the supplies. Bread (1 slice makes 4 mini-rolls), a [amazon_link id=”B0000VLY7C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]rolling pin[/amazon_link] (pizza & pastry roller if you have one), whatever fillings/toppings you want.
Cut off the crust (I keep mine to feed the birds) and roll the bread flat, or cut into strips.
Get your toppings on your bread. For fun I used a mini cookie cutter to cut the banana for some of the strips, and for others I just cut it in half and length-wise. I used my leftovers for a bowl of cereal 😉
Roll them. I rolled some in spirals. I’ve read that you should roll these tight, but w/ the jelly I actually roll loose otherwise all of the jelly is squished out. For the orange marmalade I rolled in both sides and then folded to the middle (securing with a small strip of peanut butter between the two edges).
Last but not least for a little extra fun I used [amazon_link id=”B000U3NHD4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]some little cutters[/amazon_link] I had lying around to cut out shapes in cheese (I nibbled on the scraps).
Usually I make less sushi and include some small strips of carrots for a well rounded meal. My kids totally scarf these down faster than you can blink.
Some other ideas I have yet to try, but plan to…
- Butter & cucumbers rolled
- Jam w/ sweetened whipped cream cheese strips or folds
- Herbed whipped cream cheese with cucumbers strips
- Carrot peel & herbed whipped cream cheese rolls
- Nutella and Strawberry strips or rolls
- Whipped cream cheese (sweetened) w/ blueberries
These do not take me a ton of time (Well, this one did but I was taking pics and making more than I usually do)…and the kids love them. They are SO worth a shot!! Try them!!
by Sarah | Jul 22, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Indiana, All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us
The weather is still in the 90’s.
The sun is still shining more days than it’s not.
But school starts in just 3 weeks here.
Right behind that is fall.
The summer is well past half over.
2013 is over half over.
Where did the time go?
I’m shopping for school supplies when just yesterday we were starting our summer reading lists.
Just don’t mention Christmas yet.
My heart can’t handle it.
by Sarah | Jul 15, 2013 | All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me
This past school year, Kennedy was fortunate to have a pretty awesome teacher.
Among the many things she did to make the year amazing…
<—this took the cake.
She had the whole class work together. They composed a theme, and then they each wrote stories and illustrated them.
Then she had it published into a book.
Not only did it give the kids something to be proud of.
Not only did it make them interested in reading something.
It lit a fire in my baby girl.
She wants to be published before she graduates high school.
“Like you, Mom,” she says with a smile.
I love that.
I’m so proud of her and the imaginative story she wrote.
I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
by Sarah | Jul 1, 2013 | All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me, All of Us, Crap, Random
Most days I’m good with my age.
I’ve done things in the past couple of years that make me realize I’m in my prime. I have a good life now, and I’m happy and fine with where I’m at.
Then the baby of the family brings home a time capsule on her last day of school set to be opened at graduation.
And I see the date.
2024
And I realize…
That’s 30 years after I graduated.
Now…
I feel old.
My youngest will graduate almost 30 years to the day after I did.
~whimper~
*~*
(More on the what I know of the contents on another post)
by Sarah | Jun 28, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Clever Girls, Sponsored
We don’t road trip too often in this family.
You’d think maybe it was because the challenge of entertaining three children of various ages was tough.
Or because on her first road trip, Molly literally cried the entire 9 hour trip.
All 526 miles.
Non-stop.
Never sleeping.
Just…Crying.
You’d think that was the reason.
Or the regular stops for the bathroom.
Or the frequent cries of boredom.
Why on earth don’t they play car games like I used to?
Or maybe the gas money.
These days that one hurts.
Still, is it any of those things?
Nope…it’s…
This guy—>
The loving husband.
Molly gets her wonderful car trip joy from him.
More than an hour in the car and poor Erik struggles to remain calm.
Go over three hours and he’s in trouble.
So we have to figure out the best way to run.
Especially since road trips are so much easier than flights.
*~*
It took a bit of finagling, but we found the secret formula.
For the kids, it’s a good DVD player, and lots of movies.
The boy gets his tablet.
A huge supply of homemade trail mix.
For Erik?
Comfort and lots of space to stretch out and just fall asleep.
Even if it means three rows of seats, the teen next to me, and Erik fast asleep in the very-way-back by himself.
It’s a magic combination.
A normal care doesn’t cut it…so we’re on the lookout for something better.
We’ve got our eye on a Kia.
I like the Sedona, but Erik is anti-minivan…so he’d rather have the Sorento (and I’m apt to let him).
So long as it’s got a third seat, I’m a happy camper.
*~*
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
by Sarah | Jun 21, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us, Autism, Cystic Fibrosis, Failure to Thrive (FTT), Special Needs
In the land of skinny genes, cystic fibrosis and oral aversions – we’ve got three kids rocking the low end of the growth chart. The words “Failure to Thrive” are bandied about on a regular basis and we are constantly checking little one’s diets to make sure they aren’t just getting calories, but healthy fats and plenty of vitamins and minerals too.
The universal consensus for adding all of these things to help my kids grow & gain weight like they should?
Doctors across the board have pushed us to full-fat Vitamin D milk. It’s all we’ve got in the fridge, and we go through 3-4 gallons a week between the kids and hubby.
Before this FTT world hit my life I knew so very little about milk because I wasn’t allowed to touch the stuff (still can’t) due to an allergy (allergy, not intolerance). These days I’m learning a lot about milk beyond my family’s obsession (seriously, the husband can’t stop drinking it)…because I like to know about what goes into my family’s bodies – especially if it’s meant to promote their health.
One thing that I love learning is how drinking milk is likely to help my own state and community. After all, Indiana is home to over 1200 dairy farms – 97% of which are family owned (and I’ve met some of those families). I was also surprised (and happy) to learn that most milk travels less than 100 miles from the farm to the grocery store.
Of course, the biggest thing I made sure to learn about and know really well is that both plain and flavored milk contain nine essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium, phosphorous, protein, riboflavin, niacin and vitamins A, D and B12. Considering my kids needs, this is of utmost importance. It means that they’re getting vitamins and nutrients that either they refuse to eat, or that their bodies are leeching from them.
And the only factor that matters to me, personally? Indiana – well, it ranks second in the nation for ice cream production. Because, I can only tolerate 1 serving of dairy a day…and you better believe it’s in the form of ice cream.
*~*
*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Indiana Dairy. This means I was paid for it, however all opinions are mine and true based on my own experience. You can’t pay me to lie about my family’s health…it’s too important to us all.
