Kid's Magazine Deals

I periodically get an email from a magazine subscription site called Deekins.com. I got one today with some pretty good deals for kids' magazines. (I don't know when the coupon codes expire.)

Family Fun - $3.99 - Coupon Code: BLBFFM (10 Issues)
Jack & Jill - $7.49 - Coupon Code: BLBJAJ (6 Issues)
Boy's Life - $6.49 - Coupon Code: BLBLM (12 Issues)
Humpty Dumpty $6.99 - Coupon Code: BLBHDM (6 Issues)
National Geographic Kids - $12.99 - Coupon Code: BLBNGK (10 Issues)
Turtle - $6.99 - Coupon Code: BLBTUM (6 Issues)

Family Fun and Boy's Life seem like the best deals. I haven't heard of Jack & Jill, Humpty Dumpty, or Turtle but I think they are Highlights kind of magazines.

I did order Family Fun for this price a couple of years ago and even though it seems almost too good to be true - it wasn't. It's just a really good deal.

Bruce's BBQ Pork Quesadillas

Thursday night I sprained my foot playing basketball so Bruce came home early Friday to help with kids, make dinner, etc. That afternoon I came across a recipe for BBQ Chicken Quesadillas on one of my favorite food blogs. I happened to have leftover BBQ pork and tortillas in the fridge so I gave Bruce a few instructions and he came through with an amazing dinner.

Bruce's BBQ Pork Quesadillas
Leftover BBQ pork (recipe below)
Shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
Corn (we used frozen white corn)
Black beans
Flour tortillas
Butter
Butter your tortillas. Pile on other ingredients as desired. Grill until golden.

BBQ Pork
This is one of my favorite recipes because it is so easy and versatile and it makes a ton.
3lb boneless pork roast - trim as much fat as possible (you can use a beef roast if you prefer)
1 envelope onion soup mix
20ish oz Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (I suppose you could use another brand but personally I don't think it would be as good and Ray's is actually a really good deal if you buy it at Costco.)

Put roast in a slow-cooker. Sprinkle with soup mix and then cover with BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 10-12 hours until it shreds easily with a fork.

We also use the leftovers to make "pizzas" on pita bread. They are really good with cheese, garlic bread seasoning, and diced tomatoes. I have thought about doing a "Hot Pockets" kind of thing with the leftovers too, but haven't gotten around to it.

He may not be the next Mozart...

but he can play a little Beethoven...a section of "Ode to Joy" from his 9th Symphony to be exact. Spencer has been taking piano lessons for a couple of months and is doing great and having fun. This particular song is really cool for him since he recognized it from Little Einsteins.

Click here to listen.

Stranger Danger FHE

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend and asked her if she had any good Family Home Evening ideas. She told me that her kids' favorite was their Stranger Danger FHE. We had talked to our kids about strangers, but had never done a formal sit-down kind of thing. So I decided we would do our own Stranger Danger FHE, and it looks like it is going to be a favorite at our house too. Matthew is already asking for a repeat performance. Since it was one of our more successful FHE's, I thought I would share.

We started with a little slide show with pictures of family and friends and also pictures of strangers. (My friend did this portion with family photos and pictures from magazine. I kind of liked the slide show route since we can use it over and over without more paper to store.) For each slide, the kids had to answer the question "Is this a stanger?" Some of the strangers looked scary and some of them looked nice to illustrate the concept that anyone you don't is a stranger regardless of how they look.

We went over some stranger danger rules. The kids especially like practicing the one where they get to scream, kick and even bite if someone tries to grab them. Then we did some role play scenarios. Finally, we read "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Stangers".

Although I didn't do this, an idea that I got from the Berenstain Bears book was to make a treat that looked really yummy, but tasted terrible - again to illustrate that you can't judge something/someone just by appearances. Perhaps some chocolate chip cookies using way too much salt. Since Matthew wants to do this lesson again next week, I'll probably try it then. (I'll make some good cookies too of course.)

Click here to download the slideshow. I took out our family pictures, but left in the strangers. Hope somebody else can get some use out of it.

(It is saved in MS PowerPoint 97/xp/2000 format. If you don't have PowerPoint, you can download Open Office as I did. Perhaps I'll do a quick post about Open Office since it would make Bruce oh-so-happy.)

My Favorite "Go-To" Treat Recipe

Yesterday at 3pm I knew I needed a pretty decent treat for my Cub Scout den. They are all just about ready to get their Webelos badges and we were doing some pretty boring stuff to pass off the last few requirements. So I pulled out my trusty brownie recipe and before they got to my house at 4pm, the brownies were out of the oven and well into the cooling process.

I love this recipe because -
1. it calls for melted butter - no remembering to take the butter out of the freezer 12 hours before I actually want to make them (this is a huge selling point for me)
2. i can use chocolate chips which I always have around
3. it is very quick to get together and only takes 25 mintues to bake
4. the brownies are just plain yummy and always come out perfectly

So I just thought I would share this family (and Cub Scout) favorite. If anyone has a great recipe to share, post it on your blog and leave a comment with a link. I love getting new recipes - especially when they are tried-and-true.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Brownies:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter (you can use regular butter - just decrease salt to 1/4 tsp.)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted (This is part of the original recipe from Kraft Foods. My boys won't eat nuts so I have never added them. But I bet it would be tasty.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 6 oz. of the chocolate chips and the butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 2 min (stirring every 30 seconds) or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and pecans until well blended. Stir in remaining 2 oz. of chocolate chips. I usually throw in about half a handful more just to be safe.

Spread into greased 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. (Here is a little thing I do...after spraying the pan, I coat the bottom with a thin layer of sugar. Same technique you use when flouring a cake pan. The brownies come out very easily and it is a nice treat on the bottom of your treat.)

Bake 22 to 25 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. (For me it is exactly 25 minutes.) Cool in pan on wire rack. (The original recipe says to melt the remaining 2 oz. of chocolate chips and drizzle over the brownies. I prefer to just mix them in like I wrote in the recipe. Seems like the drizzling method would exponentially increase the messiness factor with my kids.) Cut into 16 squares to serve.

Matthew's New Look

Introducing...the new and improved Matthew! He has been wearing the glasses for about a week and today for the first time he actually got up and put them on himself without me reminding him. I haven't been able to determine if they help him much. His eyes aren't terrible without out them and since he is nearsighted I don't think they make much difference for the stuff he usually looks at - books, Legos, worksheets, computer games, more Legos, all the food that I make for him that he refuses to eat and oh - did I mention Legos? So until we go back to the eye doctor in a few weeks, he'll just keep wearing them - silver today, gold tomorrow, silver the next day, etc. He insists on alternating them. So much for the back up pair that I was going to stash away for that inevitable day when they mysteriously disappears. Oh well - I suppose I should just be happy he wears them without putting up a fight. But then again why fight over glasses when you have a perfectly good brother to fight with over all those Legos.