Mama Doe Days

The most commonly used among adults and older kids are probably these:

The durable thread/fabric covered ones. They are great for Fawn 1. 

Then there's these things:

Totally worthless for anything past the 'I'm determined to get these 10 wispy hairs into a ponytail' stage. For us, these were ok till about 18 months. Past that hair growth stage though, they just weren't strong enough to keep their hair up, and the 'no pull' feature just made them slick enough fall out. 

Enter MY mom. 

She turned these:

Cut the fingers into little rings, about 1/4-1/2 inch wide. That's it. The PERFECT hair tie for 1-3 year olds who still have that fine toddler hair that refuses to stay put. 

I've probably mentioned before that I'm a 'see what I can make with what I have on hand' kind of baker. I've had some culinary home runs, and few strikes. There was also the day that I couldn't convince myself, Mr. Buck, or my toddler fawns that the chewy, flavorless mass of bananas, oats, and raisins was a cookie. It really was awful. 

Today, I found ingredients to make what I'm calling Blueberry Cobbler Bars. Not so sweet that I'd consider it a desert (though give me another try or two and I'll remedy that), but sweet enough that you can consider it a 'treat' for breakfast. And really, served warm, they didn't really hold up as bars very well. 

There's two separate recipe lists, but they're almost the same ingredients. 

For the base:

4c quick oats

2/3 c brown sugar

2 sticks melted butter

3 tbsp cinnamon

Mix and press into a sprayed 9x13 pan. I prefer glass always. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. 

While this is baking, mix your topping. 

Filling:

21 oz can pie filling, any flavor will work. I used blueberry. 

Spread the pie filling onto the baked base. 

Topping:

2c quick oats

1/3 c brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon 

2 c milk

1/2 c flour

Let soak for 10 minutes or so, mostly to let some of the milk absorb into the oats to soften them. 

Pour the topping mix onto the blueberry layer. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your main method to test if it's done will be the jiggle test. :)  Shake your pan and if the center jiggles, keep baking!

Serve warm or cold, maybe even with some heavy cream or whipped cream for a sweet treat! 

After 2 nights of almost no sleep (thank you baby Fawn), I was hoping to get away with something nice and easy for breakfast for my two older fawns. Cereal? No. Oatmeal? No. Toast? No. 

Now, don't start thinking that I'm some sort of cook-to-order mom who takes requests every morning. Most mornings, it's 'this is what you are eating or you can wait till lunch'. 

No, I'm not a mean mom either. Since I was very young, I have not been a breakfast eater, something I seem to have passed on to my kids. So, if they don't want to eat a particular something, it's usually not because they don't like what I want them to eat, it's because they just aren't in the mood for breakfast. 

This morning however, even in my 'I have a 4 month old' zombie stupor, I decided to get creative and bake something. Fawn 1 had asked for cinnamon rolls, but I didn't have any on hand. So, I grabbed a tube of croissant rolls I had in the fridge. 

I can bake most things from scratch. Yeast Breads are not one that I've felt brave enough to try yet, so pre-made it is!

Spray your pan with butter flavored spray... A good dose, almost pooling on the pan (I'll explain why in a second). 

Unroll the croissant rolls onto the pan so the bottom has a good coating of the butter flavored spray. 

Spray the butter flavored spray onto the unrolled croissants. *You can use actual melted butter for this, but the spray is easier, faster, and has no calories.  

Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the unrolled croissants. How much to use is your call. I use quite a bit! I'm kind of addicted to cinnamon!

Roll up the croissants as usual, starting at the fat side. 

Bake for 12 minutes at 375 (or however long the baking instructions say for whichever brand you are using). 

When they come out, they'll have a dark crisp crust to them... Similar to the ones you'd buy at a bakery. This is what that pooled butter spray does to them. Instead of coming out white and super soft (almost doughy in my opinion) like they usually do, you have a much more 'ritzy' look to your rolls. It's also flakier!

Mix together powdered sugar and milk to make a glaze for them. Start with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp of milk. Mix it up. You may have to add more sugar or milk, depending on what consistency you like. In the end, for mine, when I lifted the fork out of the glaze, it coated the fork nicely, but still slowly dripped off. 

The thickness of your glaze is, again, personal preference, but, you don't want it to be too thin or the milk will absorb into your rolls, making them soggy. 

Use your fork to drizzle the glaze over your rolls. Go ahead and give them a good coating!! 

Enjoy them! Fawn 1 did... Fawn 2 still hasn't decided if she's going to eat breakfast this morning. 

What will your kids remember about their childhoods? What will they remember about you, their parents? What will they remember about the way you acted towards them?

Sometimes, I really have to scale back my frustrations with my little fawns. I often tell my older two fawns that they need to check their attitudes...and I need to start taking that advice too sometimes. 

It does get frustrating when you've finally scrubbed every last spot and splatter off of the kitchen floor, only to have one of the kids squeeze ketchup all over the floor, ...and table, ...and wall, because they were trying to get their own while you're nursing the baby. 

After finding this 20+ year old newspaper clipping in my mother's jewelry box, I've been able to 'check my attitude' a little better. 

Now, when ketchup goes flying or soap ends up all over the bathroom sink, I do my best to thank my girls for doing their best to help themselves when I couldn't. When they are upset with themselves for spilling, I remind them (and myself) that they are young and still learning how to do so much!

I'm often amazed when I think about how much a child actually learns in his or her short first four years. I have to remind myself that there is still SO much for us to teach them. But, I want them to remember not only the things I taught them, but the way I taught them. 

I want my house to be the happy house. 

I love sweet breads. Cinnamon, Amish Friendship, Zucchini, and even Banana Bread. That last one makes me laugh a little at myself, because I don't care for bananas much, or banana flavored anything at all. 

But, I do try to make sweet breads as often as I can. They aren't too hard, you can easily make several loaves at once, and, wrapped in a little plastic wrap and foil, they freeze great! 

So, in an effort for even more variety, I decided to sweeten the deal even more! 

I grabbed this tried and true recipe http://www.simplyrecipes.com/m/recipes/banana_bread/  and added my own twist. 

You will need:

3 or 4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Sometimes I really blend up the bananas. Sometimes I hand mash them, then hand mix the rest to leave big banana chunks. I find that the bread with the banana chunks tends to be a dryer bread, but it has nice little banana surprises (for the banana lovers) throughout. 

Spray a bread loaf pan with non-stick spray. I prefer the butter flavored spray for some added flavor to the crust. 

Pour your batter in till the loaf is 1/2-3/4 full. This batter rises quite a bit as it bakes, so make sure you have enough space above the pan. Too close to the top of the oven or another baking rack and you're in trouble! 

Bake for an hour at 350 degrees. 

When the top of the loaf has deep cracks in it, it should be done, but feel free to double check by sticking a knife in the center. 

I tip it out of the baking pan and put it on a cooling rack or cutting board right away to prevent over baking.... Plus, then I can taste test it! 

I love this with cream cheese, peanut butter or butter spread on it, but it's great plain too!!! 

It's no secret , I love to bake. I could probably have a blog only about baking, but I love to try cooking new things too, and crafting new things, and learning new information etc., so a general blog it is. 

But, this post is about baking. 

You will need:

A large can of pumpkin pie filling or 2 small cans

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 sleeves of graham crackers, crushed

4 tablespoons of cinnamon, divided into to 2 tbsp portions

2 eggs

1 can of evaporated milk

1 stick of butter/margarine, melted

Butter flavored cooking spray 

The eggs and evaporated milk were what my can of pumpkin pie filling called for, so you may want to see if yours says something different for preparing pumpkin pie. 

To make:

Preheat your oven to 350. 

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and 2 tbsp of cinnamon. 

Add the melted butter. 

Mix till mostly moist. A few dry crumbs or chunks won't matter too much!

Spray your pan (I prefer glass for almost everything) and pour your cracker mixture in. Press flat. 

Spray more of the butter flavored spray on top of the pressed crumbs. 

Bake for 10 minutes. 

While that is baking, mix your pumpkin pie filling, eggs and evaporated milk, and the remaining 2 tbsp of cinnamon. 

Pour it over the baked crumb crust. 

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the edges start to brown. 

Let cool or serve warm. I found them to be yummy either way! 

Then I went to just one job: Mother (and I love this one too!)

Once I took on one job, the job of being a mom, I found that I felt a little on the useless side. Now, realistically, I knew I wasn't useless, but I hated not helping financially. And even though Mr. Buck made enough for us to live on, I didn't feel like I should be spending anything on myself, or any extra treats. There was also no way for me to surprise Mr. Buck with any gifts or treats. He knew exactly how much was going into the bank account, since he was the one putting it there!

So, I started to do little things on the computer, to earn just a little extra 'mad money'. I've actually been able to bank a decent amount of cash in the short time I've been doing it. I also had a few total misses. So, take my advice (if you'd like) and save yourself the trouble of sorting the good from the annoying!

Treasure Troopers (for me) was a total bust. Way too many bells and whistles to keep track of! I don't even remember my account information for that one anymore!

Mypoints is working ok for me, but there is a pretty high cash out volume, and you can only get gift cards. I prefer cash! If you'd like an invite to Mypoints, please contact me!

Swagbucks is where I've landed and it's really working well for me. I've found several little tips and tricks to get the most bang for my (swag)buck! 

     ~ Get the Swagbucks App for your phone. You can't do everything from the app, but you can grab a few points a day while you're waiting in line or stuck under a baby at naptime!

     ~ Get the Swagbucks TV App... this is a big swagbuck earner for me for mobile! I turn it on and just let it play! You will earn 2 swagbucks for every 5 videos that play on your phone. (secret tip: you don't have to watch them, just let them keep playing!) I actually find some of the videos really interesting! You can only earn swagbucks for a video once a day, but there are a couple of hundred videos throughout several different categories, so it's not hard to get the variety you need.

     ~Shopping... yes, I know, this is the one that everyone hate to hear... "I have to spend money to get money?"... I get it, trust me, I do. I don't do a ton of online shopping (save for Etsy), but I've found a way to increase my online shopping, without spending a penny more than I normally would at the store! I buy my essentials from Walmart (have to click from the Swagbucks link to get your points) online. Diapers, Wipes, Toilet Paper, Napkins, Paper Plates, Food (dry goods or non-perishable food is all you can get online), Dishwasher Soap, etc. If you spend a certain dollar amount (right now it's $35), shipping is free! So, not only do you save yourself a trip to the store and the gas to get there, but now you are also earning Swagbucks for your shopping! 2,500 Swagbucks=$25 in Paypal cash! There are plenty of gift cards available for smaller amounts of swagbucks, but the Paypal cash is the one I always want! I can use it to shop online, or put it into our bank account! 

***Stamp found at Etsy Shop: Altered Attic

Most mothers, at some point, feel like they aren't doing a good job at being a mom. Oh sure, they're still alive, but you're pretty sure that you're doing something to screw them up in one way or another. 

As Mr. Buck jokingly asks  "which one do you think will need therapy?" 

When we were in the final months before Fawn 3 was born, I realized that I needed to teach my older two to be a little more independent. I was going to be nursing and knew that, for at least the first two months, I was going to be a little tied to the rocking chair! 

That's not to say they aren't independent at all. They both are quite headstrong most of the time! But, they often needed me to help them with little things, wipe their bottoms, reach the soap, turn on the water on to the correct temp for hand washing, fill their sippies etc.. 

Realistically, they knew how to do most of those things, but weren't great at it. Bathroom help especially with Fawn 2, who decided she was ready to potty train one month before Fawn 3 was born. And yes, I was thrilled! 

So, I've had to improvise with how they do some things, but by George, they do it themselves! 

A few of my tricks:

~ Diaper wipes in the bathroom for them to use on themselves. Let's face it, they aren't going to be great at getting totally clean, but wipes are probably better than toilet paper!

~ Have them learn to turn on the tub faucet, and not burn themselves! They wash their hands in the tub faucet, fill their own sippies, get their own washcloth wet to wipe up their spills etc.. While they could have gotten a chair to do it all at the sink, I wasn't sure I wanted a chair screeching across the kitchen floor while trying to keep a newborn asleep. 

~ I taught them the steps to do certain thing, and key phrases so that I could tell them what to be doing, and stay hands off. For example, when getting dressed. I taught them to lay their pants and/or panties on the floor, with the words/tag on the bottom, then sit down behind it and pull it on. This eliminated two legs going into one pant leg, them falling over and getting upset or hurt. 

~ When I go grocery shopping, or a shipment comes in with snacks, I immediately separate snacks out and put them into a basket in the pantry. I sort cookies, crackers, and pretzels into snack size ziplock bags. Granola bars and other individually wrapped things all come out of their boxes. The girls know that if I tell them to get a snack, they get to choose out of that baskets. If it's breakfast time or I want them to have something 'healthy', I'll tell them to get something specific, and they know were to find it. At some point I plan to get a few more baskets and color code them with ribbons:

Yellow=Breakfast items

Blue=Salty Snacks

Red=Sweet Snacks

Purple=Candy 

Etc. 

Is it bad parenting that I don't have the time to be at their side every minute to help them do everything? No, I don't think so. I choose to see it as helping them develop their independence. 

What are some tricks you've established to get through your busy day? Leave yours in the comments! 

Last night, I posted about making some Fry Bread to have with our dinner. You can find our method to make it here:

Fry Bread

So, surprisingly, we had a few of them left over. I'd put them in a ziplock tub, but really wasn't sure how they would keep. I'd guessed they'd get soggy some how, but they were pretty much just as perfect as they were last night!

I needed something quick for breakfast since Fawn 3 would soon be awake and hungry herself! I grabbed a piece of fry bread and spread a good dose of cream cheese on it. Wow! It was delicious! 

Not super sweet, so in the future, either a flavored cream cheese or some jam on top of the cream cheese might be an option!

He was right. 

It smelled delicious all day, and boy was it yummy that night for supper!

He made it using:

3-4lb Roast

3 Tbsp of A1 Steak Sauce

2 sticks of Butter (or margarine)

3 whole Banana Peppers

Toss them all in the crock pot and turn it on high. Let it sit all day, and enjoy!!

We served it on the side of some Fry Bread... Holy smokes... very yummy!

Oh... And good luck keeping from snacking on it during the day! 

Tonight Mr. Buck asked if I thought frozen bread dough would make into a pita pocket if fried. Well, no, it won't. Pita pockets are dry and not something I particularly care for, and I didn't really think that they were something he'd love either.  Aside from that, pita pockets aren't fried.  

He wanted to make something to use as a 'bun' for a shredded roast beef sandwich. I suggested that I make hoagie buns out of frozen bread dough, but he really wanted to try frying. 

So, I decided to try to figure out what he was going for. 

Out came a loaf of my trusted frozen bread dough. 

I let a loaf of frozen bread dough rise in a bread pan till it was about half way up the pan. Then I cut it into 3 strips. 

I cut each of those strips into 3-4 pieces. 

I sort of squeezed them flat with my fingers, didn't need them to be perfectly rolled out. Let them sit and rise a bit longer, 30 minutes or so. This isn't mandatory, but your final product will not be as light of a bread if you skip the rising part!

Mr. Buck took over with the frying because I had to nurse Fawn 3. 

He pulled each chunk into a larger flatter piece of dough. He made each piece separately, frying them in a pan with a few inches of hot oil. He flipped them over to brown both sides. 

I was a little worried that they might end up either really dense or crispy like pita chips. But they weren't!

They were fluffy and soft and had big air pockets in them. Oh they were yummy!!! If I had to compare them to something, I'd say a soft funnel cake!

However... They were NOT ideal to hold the shredded roast! Mr. Buck put some meat on his piece of 'fry bread' and it instantly got soggy! 

I put my meat on the side, used a fork and put meat onto the bread as I went. I tore off a piece of bread, put the meat on top, and popped it in my mouth! 

I will definitely be finding more ways to use this Fry Bread!!

I've found conflicting reports as to when the first 'officially named' storm was. Some sources state 1945, but another says 1876 is the first.  I believe that in some way, because of different countries and cultures, both numbers are correct, but the names may have come long after the actual storm. Not during, or even before, as hurricanes named now. 

I find it interesting that we have now started to name other types of storms. Now it's hurricanes and tropical storms, and as of the last few years, winter storms as well. 

That's where I find myself today. Smack dab in the middle of Winter Storm Cleon. 

It hit us yesterday late morning, when tiny ice pellets started to fall, making quite the racket I'll add! The ice pelted us for hours, filling in pockets on the ground, looking like we'd had a light snowfall instead of hours of ice. 

My husband ran in for us, and I entertained the fawns out in the car. 

Check out how thick the ice got on the windshield! This was after just 30 minutes or so of sitting in the parking lot. 

Around 7-8 it finally turned to snow. 

Now here I sit. 12 hours later and the snow is still falling heavily. There is a good 6 or more inches of snow on top of the layer of ice. 

And it is beautiful. 

It is expected to continue to fall for another 12 hours. 

I happened to get a two big boxes with deliveries in the past few days. I knew they'd be good for something, and they were! This morning I let them each crawl into their own box with 10 markers. They happily spent almost an hour in their little box worlds, coloring away! 

The only rule was that the markers stayed in the box! 

Of course, markers staying in the box didn't keep everything clean... Just the walls and floor! They still managed to get quite a few marks on themselves! I did my best to salvage their clothes though, they were only wearing some old shorts for this project!

It's nothing fancy, and it won't go on the walls, but they had fun! 

Fawn 1 backed out though.  She said she was tired and needed a nap, which she did not end up taking. Instead, she 'read' in her bed. 

Although I was an art major in college, I am not a great doodler. I can draw and shade a portrait, but to just doodle a quick image, nope. So, please forgive the not so great pictures that I drew!