Pantry Challenge - Scrapped

I have to laugh because I had great intentions to do a "pantry challenge" in February but in these first three days I have visited my pantry not so often! It's been one of those weeks where we've eaten with friends or out for a quick bite to eat. My weekly entries may be a bit boring so I'm going to scrap this great idea for another time. I'd like to thank the Southern California warm sun for allowing us to be out more during the week. 


This would have been my blog entry for the first three days of February:


Wednesday, Feb 1st: 
Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls at Mazda! Yep, Mazda!! I'd like to thank the City of Hemet for dropping a 1 inch screw into the unevenly paved road that my back tire ran over the night before. 


Went to a meeting at church and we were running late to make it back home for lunch before commuting to work so we stopped at Denny's for breakfast-lunch. My son and I shared pancakes and scrambled eggs.


For dinner, I stopped at a Chamber of Commerce mixer for the city of Menifee and ate from the Red Robin and a Texas Roadhouse (they were sharing free samples). We also ate Granola Crisps for the commute home. 


Thursday, Feb 2nd: 
Breakfast: Cinnamon toast with butter.
Lunch: PB&J with tortilla chips. (OH YES - these are our pantry items!)
Snack: Granola bar, fish crackers
Dinner: Kashi vegetable pizza.


Friday, Feb 3rd: 
Breakfast: Cereal and the rest of the home-made banana bread.
For lunch: corn dogs and tortilla chips (a staple in our home!). 
For snack: pretzels, apple crisps, raisins.
For dinner: we ate sandwiches with apple slices. 


Another reason I am scrapping this idea now is because I planned an all day affair out and about tomorrow with my son. We are going to eat at Red Robin because I have a free appetizer coming to me from the mixer on Wednesday and then we are going to the park and then we are going out for frozen yogurt. Plus we'll be sneaking in some shopping.


Perhaps I'll plan this for a time that we'll be home more often. Working in the evenings Mon-Fri throws the 'having a nice dinner' at home during the week nearly impossible. Sundays are typically reserved for a nice feast. 

Baltic Amber - My son's necklace

Right before my son fell asleep in my arms he asked me, “where is my necklace?” I felt for it on his neck and it was not there. Some panic hit when I thought he misplaced it at his new school and that it was sitting in the field the children play in every afternoon. I thought to myself, wait, just wait! It’s probably in the car. It has a screw clasp and has ‘fallen’ off a few times before (not really, it just works itself off with normal wear). I asked my son what happened to his necklace. He said he lost it at school. I said we’ll call and find out in the morning. After he went to bed, I searched all the places he was in since we arrived and before he went to bed. Nothing. Not in the car. Nowhere! Hmm. I emailed his teacher and hoped for the best. The next morning she had responded and said she forgot to mention that he had taken it off and didn’t want to wear it. Whew!

Why is this necklace so important?!  Because I sincerely thought my son had worn it nearly every day since April 2009 (or at the age of 7 months) but as I looked for some pictures to share I found that I am sadly mistaken. How I forgot that he didn’t sprout his first tooth until Mother’s Day of 2009 and the next tooth exactly one month later. The third and fourth teeth came within the next couple of months. You think you’re going to remember everything (or at least all the dates you hold dear to your heart, but you’re not!) So, we made it through the rest of 2009 without too many teething pain issues. At the end of the year, he started to cut more teeth and many at once.

I had learned about Boiron’s teething liquid and Hyland’s teething tablets to naturally treat teething pain in babies and had been using these resources since he cut his first tooth. I wanted something stronger but it had to be natural. My friend told me about Baltic Amber “teething” necklaces. I purchased one from Inspired by Finn. The necklace that we have is found on the preceding link. The necklace helped soothe him during the worst parts of teething and helped him sleep through the nights.

Here are some pictures of him wearing it in January 2010 – he was 16 months old and the most recent two years later in January 2012 at 40 months old.

So, to conclude, the next day at school, I saw his necklace in his cubby. I asked him if he wanted to wear it and he said yes. Later on I asked him if he was ready to have me put it away and he said no.

Though he doesn’t need the amber necklace anymore, people say it has become his signature mark. A few stones have fallen off but for the most part it still looks like it did when we first purchased it. It is high quality and the stones are individually knotted. When he’s ready to stop wearing it, I will put it away in his keepsakes box. Until then he can wear it as long as he wishes. I think it looks nice on him!

Seeking Volunteers - San Jacinto, CA

In one of my many hats, I serve as a Resident Services Coordinator/Youth Education Services for an after school program (ASP) for LINC Cares, a studio of LINC Housing (501(3)c). We provide affordable housing across the state of California among other strong attributes, you can visit our link below for more information. The ASP provides academic and recreational support in a safe and positive environment. The ASP is available to residents ages 5-13 (K-8th) and up to 15 children. If you're local and are seeking a rewarding volunteering opportunity, this one may be for you. Click on ---> flyer.


More information on LINC Housing.


Volunteers report to me. I should have 10 volunteers with 2 serving on each day. Volunteers work between 2.5 to 3 hours (3:00 to 6:00 or 3:30 to 6:00p) per week. You can volunteer more but one shift per week is required. I have a staff of 7 with 2 going inactive until the summer; therefore, I'm in need of 5 more active volunteers.


A huge chunk of LINC Housing is ran by volunteer staff - I think nearly 75%. We appreciate our volunteers! 

Habitat for Humanity Marathon 3/31 (Hemet, CA)

Habitat for Humanity in Hemet is holding a marathon on Saturday, March 31^st in which 100% proceeds will go to their organization.  More information on this organization can be found at www.habitat.org. (The information on the preceding link is outdated but will give you an idea of levels of sponsorship needed.)

Sign up to run ($65 for full, $55 for half). Fees go up after 2/14. Register at www.active.com.

Volunteers are needed for the day of the marathon.

The marathon starts at 8a and ends roughly around 3p. Volunteers are needed from about 6a until clean up around 5p.

Contact Patsy at 951-658-0235 for details on how you can make a difference.

Last year they raised between $30-35K. Let's go bigger this year. The need is definitely increasing.

H4H is looking for volunteers on an ongoing basis so if you can't make it to the marathon then you can help with hammer and nails by building or if that's not your thing, you can help with office work - grant writing, etc. at the Hemet office. 

Cooking and Kids - Stuffed Shells Recipe

This past Monday, I had the distinct pleasure visiting the home of Cooking and Kids’ owner, Vlada Vladic.  She wanted to share a savory dish but the catch was I had to help! Me? Yes! I thought how blessed I am to learn first-hand from an amazing mother who has a passion for cooking healthy. Just my kind of thing!

  

Cooking and Kids’ desires to “Help America conquer childhood obesity and related diseases, preparing children to pass on healthy lifestyles to our next generation by enabling young families to make permanent changes in their daily diets and lives… TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS!”

Vlada offers cooking lessons in the student's home for up to 6 people for 2 hours for $100. This is a fantastic rate! To further inquire you may contact her through her website. She also creates live cooking videos from her kitchen sharing on YouTube. I highly recommend you subscribe to her channels, 57Vlada and CookingandKids. She is the winner of Food Network’s Family Feast Challenge 2010. You can enjoy her award winning recipe by visiting the article contributed by Barbara Rolek on About.com. 

I know you’re waiting on what we made so here it goes – Sausage and Vegetables Stuffed Shells.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of chopped garlic

¼ cup of olive oil

1 tbls of dry or fresh basil or parsley

¼ medium chopped onion

6 mild Italian sausages

½ cup shredded zucchini

½ cup shredded large carrots

12 oz of precooked jumbo shells 'al-dente'

1 egg

1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese

2 cups of tomato sauce of your choice

Preheat oven to 360. In pan on stovetop, heat olive oil, add onions. Once onions are translucent add carrots but wait until they soften a bit before adding zucchini. Add sausage. While it's browning add garlic and basil. Remove from heat after all is cooked well. (We added an egg to keep the ingredients from separating.) Spoon the sausage mixture into the precooked shells. Top with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Top with foil for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove foil, add parsley and place in oven for 10 minutes. The foil keeps the shells moist, cooks the egg and brings the food to the right temperature. Buon Appetito!

We served this dish with a nice side of steamed broccoli coated with an EVOO and butter sauce.

Be sure to check out Cooking and Kids’ website and be on watch for her Facebook fan page. It is coming soon! 

Cooking and Kids was also featured in my Jan-Mar 2012 Conveying Awareness newsletter. You can find it here (available through 3/31/12).

Support Local Businesses

Reminder: Support local businesses and small business chains. 

Farmer Boys in San Jacinto are generous with their fundraising donations. They are donating just shy of $100 to my after school program with LINC Housing/Cares. These funds will be used to supplement a field trip in the near future. They are also doing ongoing fundraisers for my after school program.

I am grateful to LilPixieBOWtique for their very generous donation valued at $2755 to the LINC Cares after school program. The owner donated personalized and handmade bottlecaps and dog tags with accessories to our End of Year Resident Appreciation Event. We had a jewelry making table open to all attending residents free of charge.

I am also thankful to Cooking and Kids for their generous offer of 10 dozen shortbread style “sugar” cookies for our event mentioned above. She donated a healthy spin to the typical holiday sugar cookies. They were made with flax seeds (I think this is her personal signature!) and the extra  bonus was that they were cut out into cute shapes – stars, flowers, circles, and gingerbread men for decorating. 

Last but not least, I am thankful to K. Ville Designs for donating a diaper cake. This was one of several raffles given to the residents who remained at the event for its duration.  Thank you Karla for making this item extra special! (Diaper cake pictured on the table.) Karla doesn't have a website so if you're interested in learning more you may contact her at Sensory Time Center in Murrieta. (The gal smiling is the property manager for the 55-unit (200 resident) community.) 

In the past six months, I have received donations from Walmart, Stater Bros, Vons, Sprouts, Hemet PAL (Police Activities League), a local home schooling mother, and cupcakes from So Good Gluten Free Foods. 

Thank you to everyone above who has participated in giving back to a local community who is grateful for your generosity.


Signed, 
Jessica wearing 1 of many hats - Resident & Youth Services Coordinator/After School Program Coordinator

Favorite Health Tips for 2011

For dry, chapped lips – Put a little coconut oil in your navel and follow it with some on your lips. Do this 2-3x a day for a few days and watch the improvement unfold! No more chapped lips! Bottom line: Coconut oil is not only good for consuming but excellent for improving your skin’s suppleness!

My favorite natural product for 2011 – by far is Silver Shield with Aqua SolTechnology. We picked up the cosmetic gel from a local herb cottage when we were looking for a safe, natural antibiotic. We removed the neosporins and alike from our medicine cabinet and needed a suitable replacement. This is it!! Perhaps costly as compared to the alternatives but wins in the faster healing process, it is safe – no harmful ingredients and backed by research (no bad reports)...just to name a few of the benefits. After talking to a friend about this product, she told me that her family consumes the silver shield liquid version in their water and that she gives her 2 year old the product by a medicine dropper daily. The next time I went to the cottage I purchased the liquid and started adding a capful to .75l of water daily.

The second runner up (a very close first) - Arnica Gel. We use this for bumps and bruises and it also helps with muscle soreness. It comes in a tube that costs about $8. It seems to last awhile! A little goes a long way. 

My favorite new membership for 2011 – Nature’s Sunshine membership is free with your first $40 purchase and thereafter you receive 20% off for every purchase that is at least $40. Purchasing the two silver shield products qualifies you for the discount each and every time. They have many other great products. (I am not affiliated with them.) Besides I don't know what happens after the first year. I haven't gotten that far yet. But, for right now - I'm happily taking the discounts for two products that have helped my family heal faster.