Lowish Guilt Movie Run

It seems that three is the age when all of my children have been interested in going to a movie in the theater and also the age when I thought they would be ready to sit through one without being one of those kids. So today it is our youngest Carolines' turn and so the first time that I will be taking all three to catch a flick. What occurred to me last night is that this also ups the cost on such an outing. Of course, the movie that was acceptable to all parties is Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in IMAX 3D so it is an even pricier venture. I almost toyed with the idea of saying "Bag it. We can watch a movie for free here." But going to any movie is a pretty rare treat around here and a First Movie is a milestone.


Since I can't renegotiate the ticket price and matinee discounts of any significance seem to have gone the way of the Drive In, I am definitely smuggling in snacks and drinks. Sometimes I have neglected this step and been sorry when we got there and paid more for food than admission. And let's all just admit it now - movie popcorn sucks nowadays. The only thing worth anything is Non-Pareils. Even the soda tastes nasty to me. Maybe it's that bitter rip-off flavor.

To have an acceptably fun snack substitution I busted out the air popper and filled four, lunch size, brown bags. I know what you are thinking. Those paper bags are now going to be trash since they will be all popcorny on the inside and, therefore, unrecyclable. Is that even a word? Hold on. Let me check... It is! It even has its' own symbol. Who knew?

I am OK with this waste since paper bags are ultimately biodegradable and I have been working out of the same package for well over five years now. I also figure we offset this minimal trashiness because we only buy popcorn kernels and never microwaveable. I decided to add some butter flavored sprinkles this time after some grumbling about how our popcorn doesn't taste like the stuff at the theater. OK success, but I think I might just stick with salt. Butter in spray or powder form skeeves me out. I also packed a small baggies of M & M's for everyone. I buy the 4 lb. bags of those little chocolate pills for purposes of child treats and bribery. I will wash all those baggies later. I am a hardcore baggy washer and you will get a brain full of it soon. Stay tuned for that one. It's one of my specialties. Throw in a few water bottles and my oversize purse and we are ready for stealth snacking.

So I think I've got the cost down as much as possible. Now if I can just stay awake through the move I'll really get my monies worth. Ooh, this just in...the boy wonder has scored Red Sox tickets via Dad and will be making the pilgrimage to Boston with Grammy the Psycho Sox Fan. This outing is getting cheaper by the minute.

Shnack Day

Whether you dread it, tolerate it or live for it, Snack Day is a preschool rite of passage. At least around here anyway where we pay more than good money for this privilage. I have now discovered from friends who live elsewhere that some places have public preK. What??? NH is the last state in the country to get public kindergarten so by the time an idea as novel as free preschool takes hold it will probably be my grandkids who reap the benefits. So for now, we have two of our three kids in preschool which means that the Blessed Festival of Trying to Find Food Other People's Kids Will Eat comes twice as often. Sweet!
I am so not bragging, people seem to think it's some kind of miracle, but my kids will eat almost anything. And tons of it. I don't know if I am just lucky or what, but once when I was on a kindergarten field trip with Noah the hiking guide opened a can of sardines and offered them (I think for a laugh) to the kids and who is the one little guy who steps up and eats one? Mine. And he loved it. The other parents didn't know whether to applaud or puke. But I digress.
Back to the snackipoos. It so happened that this week, both girls came home with the snack basket and we had SD back to back. My goal with snack day is to come up with something cheap, nutritious and with zero waste. I do NOT do squeezy yogurt or fruit snacks or juice boxes. I really don't buy anything individually wrapped. I do, however, bake. So I often do minimuffins with whatever needs using up, like bananas. My all time favorite snack day treat though, is Homemade Chewy Granola Bars. They are like little sticks of heaven. What I really love is that most people have never seen a granola bar that didn't come wrapped in its' own little piece of garbage.
So here is the recipe and I do hope you'll try it.

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup honey or agave
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 packed brown sugar
1 cup add ins (raisins, dried fruit, choc. chips, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients except add ins. I usually end up mixing it by hand. A little messy but does the best job. Then mix in the add ins of your choice. Press the mixture very firmly into a greased 9 x 13 pan. I do sometimes use a small piece of wax paper to press the mixture in and that is trash, but I have also had good success with a small greased roller or even my hands. Bake 20-25 min. Let cool completely then cut into bars. This makes about 16 good sized bars. Remove them carefully from the pan and store in an airtight container.

So the next time you are attacked by snack, give it a try. Let me know how it turns out. Once you have this snack, you'll never go back.

Give me $5 and call me Santa

On Wednesday's Noah has Coyote Club which is sort of a kids nature group that meets at a local park. He loves it and I am quite keen on the activity since I am a much bigger fan of trees than sports. What this means for me is that I need to find a way to occupy the girls for and hour and a half since it isn't really worth it to drive home, nor is it enough time to do any serious errand running like grocery shopping. So today we took a quick trip to Agway to pick up chicken supplies, stopped in at the vets to pick up medicine for George, the hot mess puppy bulldog, and then went to our most coveted place - the thrift store. Ah, those two little words set my heart a flutter. My affinity for thrift stores and their many Eco (logical and nomic) benefits will be the subject of many a post here, but for today I will sum up my $5 score.
After scanning my usual hot spots, shoes for Noah and me and pants for the boy giant, I let the girls hit the Toy Room and I went over to check CD's and books. No "new" music of interest. I think I hit my high in that department when I found a copy of "Ill Communication" to replace my scratched one. Who the hell gives away a Beastie Boys CD? Hello, inheritance? On to books. I quickly found a hardcover for me that looks completely untouched. Then one that screamed "Buy me for Mom". Then one for my sister. All in beautiful condition. When I had finished scanning the shelves and surveyed my pile I had a total of eight - four gifts and four for me. Prices? 50cents for hardcover and 25cents for soft. Total = $3.00.
Back to the toy room to pick up the girls and I discover two very girly cases filled with never-used art supplies. A buck a piece. I am always on the hunt for two-of-something to avoid "She won't SHARE it with me!!!". So that's a couple things that will balance out Christmas a bit. I checkout with a total of six future Christmas presents, plus four new reads for me. Not that I will get through them anytime soon, but most of them are reference anyway.
So some might say that I did not need to spend that five dollars. But come December when everyone else is frantically throwing their money at anything that looks like something they can pawn off as a thoughtful gift, I will be at home making wrapping paper out of brown bags and bragging to David about how cheaply I acquired this bounty and resting in the knowledge that my generosity is recycled and still full of love. See you next week Thrift Store!

Think Groucho Stork

So apparently my pickles are a hit. Yes, the verdict is now in from individuals who are not dependant upon me for all their food needs and I am guilty of good pickling. A definite improvement over last year. The casualties of that war are still sitting on the shelf in the basement. They are like organs in a lab. Discolored and useless, yet oddly fascinating. They were mushy and nasty and now I don't know what to do with them. Do I throw them in the compost and risk bad pickly vibes being passed on to next years crop? I screwed those up since it was both my first time gardening and pickling. You really must pace yourself with these things.
First, you have got to use pickling cucumbers. Then you can not give in to the temptation to let them grow until they are all phallic. Smaller ones remain firmer. I have been saying THAT for years. Then you have to get a good recipe. This year, I opted for a refrigerator pickling process. Upside, I didn't have to fire up the water bath canner which I think might have helped make last years' batch so very raw-hot-dogesque. Downside, the majority of my fridge is taken up by quarts of pickles and I am beginning to feel like I live at Katz' s Deli. Every time I go to get the milk I expect to find some guy in an apron asking me if I want rye or pumpernickel.
You don't have to know how to can to make these. So if you can get your hands on some little cukes you might want to give it a whirl. I use quart canning jars, but you could use any size container and adjust the recipe accordingly.

Refrigerator Pickles (Dill)                                               

In each jar:

2 sprigs of fresh dill

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tbl. mixed pickling spices (found in the spice aisle)
1 bay leaf

Combine in saucepan:
1 cup white vinegar
8 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt (usually near canning supplies or spices)

pickling cucumbers

Put the dill, garlic, pickling spices and bay leaf in the bottom of each jar. Fill the remaining space with cucumbers. Leave small ones whole and cut larger ones into spears.
Combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and cool.
Pour the liquid mixture into each jar so that the cucumbers are covered. If you run out of liquid just mix up another batch or half-batch. Put a cover on each jar and refrigerate for about three days before eating. Flavor will get stronger over time. Pickles should last about 3-4 weeks. Keep refrigerated.
I have now pawned off enough picks to get a good read and I think I'm in business. Next year I'll grow the dill and garlic and then I can get really freaky with it. Like some people have a whole extra fridge for beer, maybe I'll have one for pickles. Sweet! No seriously they are dill, though. Sweet pickles are an abomination. But that's another post.

This is what I do

I procrastinate. I throw up road blocks. I agonize. I watch TV. I research. I ruminate. Eat something. Try again. Complain to David. Delete. Look up stuff. Stare at the laundry pile. Take the dog out. Check my email. Check Facebook. Pledge to try again. Do this instead of dishes. Look at the clock in horror. Realized I did it. I started. I'm here. Quit while I'm ahead. Don't do it. Don't even proof it. Leave it. Go!