Fiber One Protein Review and Bzz Agent

I don't normally plug products in my blogs, but I just started an account with Bzz Agent a few weeks ago, and have gotten some really great freebies to try out and review just in the last couple of weeks.


If you haven't heard of it, Bzz Agent is a really awesome site where you sign up, fill out a few surveys, and get hooked up with free products to try out and review, all at no cost to you. 


If you're like me, you made New Years resolutions that are probably totally unreasonable.  Since trying a better diet was on my to-do list, my free Fiber One Protein cereal campaign came at just the right time. 

Right now Fiber One Protein is offered in two flavors:  Cranberry Almond and Maple Brown Sugar.  Cranberry Almond's flavor is part granola, part Sugar Smacks, part Kashi GoLean, with cranberries and almonds thrown in for extra flavor and texture. The Maple Brown Sugar is a little more sweet and a little less crunchy, but still pretty awesome - and this is coming from someone who doesn't normally opt for maple brown sugar flavors.

The serving size for each of these is 1 cup - you read that right - and has 10g of protein and 5g of fiber.  Both of them soften after a few minutes in milk, but neither get soggy.  My anti-health-food fiance and sugar-addicted girls love them as well, and the price is significantly lower than most other cereals (at my store, anyway) - especially "healthy" cereals. 

If you're looking for a healthier breakfast option, or even something to mix things up, check out Fiber One's new Protein cereals - and, if you're not a Bzz Agent yet, head on over and sign up.  I don't get anything out of it if you do (the link above isn't a referral link), it's just that awesome of a program.

~Sandra

When Mommy Gets Sick

Everything falls into shambles.

Seriously.  I came out of a two-day long fevered stupor to find dishes  piled to the ceiling in my sink, my trashcan piled impossibly high, and three- count 'em, three - full trash bags sitting haphazardly around my kitchen.  There are soda cans, water bottles, and cereal bar wrappers littering my living room, and countless Ramen noodle package pieces peppering my counters. 

It's like the Collective just went into chaos mode in the absence of the Queen.  (No, I'm not that full of myself, that was a lame Star Trek reference, for anyone out there who doesn't happen to know what the Borg are.)

So you can see what I'm doing now, instead of tackling this depressing mess that I didn't even get to help make, because, well, it's depressing.  I'm debating on the delegation of tasks between my little worker bees, because in all fairness, they know that when the trashcan overflows, it's time to take it out, and "out" doesn't mean to pull out a new bag and hang it from a kitchen cabinet.  They know that empty cans, bottles, and wrappers go into said trashcan, and not left wherever it happens to fall, to be picked up by Mom when she springs back to life; and they know that dishes, at the very least, should be rinsed and stacked so that I don't have to fight off angry mutant slime monsters when I'm able to load the dishwasher.

It's time for me to sit my family back down and explain the importance of basic cleanliness and how everyone in the house pitches in to keep things running smoothly, even when mom's so feverish that she's babbling incoherently about SpongeBob and nuclear physics.

Resistance is futile.

 

3 Reasons Parents Dread School Breaks and Snow Days

I love my girls.  I love them more than anything on the face of the planet, and generally enjoy spending time with them.  So why am I blogging about dreading school breaks and snow days?

They fight. 

Constantly.  Their bickering starts at the break of dawn and doesn’t end until they’re so exhausted from nit-picking all day that they pass smooth out on their pillows mid-mumble. 

Okay, not really – but if you’re a parent you’ll understand the hyperbole, considering that sibling arguments can be ignited simply by something so small as one child happening to glance in the general direction at the other.  It goes something like this:

“STOP STARING AT ME!”

“I wasn’t staring at you, I was looking at –“

“GAH!”  Stomp, stomp, slam.

“OH MY GOSH, UGH!”  Stomp, stomp, slam.

“STOP COPYING ME!”

… and of course, you intervene, but your brain is still so confused at the randomness and instant escalation that you can only respond with equally random things.   You’re not really even sure why you’re scolding your children, you’re pretty much just reacting to the raised voices and slamming doors, so you don’t get much beyond that initial reaction, most often (for me, anyway), “Enough!” 

You threaten to separate them, but apparently even as annoying as they find each other, one can’t seem to function for a full day without the other.  This threat results in a hysterical panic that straightens them both out long enough for you to get distracted by whatever it is you’re doing that day, only to find yourself listening to yet another bout of “let’s see who can be more randomly hormonal.”

*Sigh*

…and the reason for panic at the suggestion of separation?  You guessed it, number 2 on the list of reasons parents dread school breaks and snow days: 

“I’m bored.” 

It took a full hour on the first day my girls were out of school for Christmas break before my oldest daughter flopped down on the couch looking forlorn, heavy sighing several times to drive the point home. 

I know, I timed it.

I knew what was coming, but asked her what was wrong anyway.  She fingered the throw pillow pitifully and sighed, “I’m bored.”

Sure, because the contents of your room that together cost more than the house we’re living in are just there for show.  It’s not like we don’t have a full library of books, enough movies to open our own video store, enough toys to stock four separate daycares, or more video game consoles than I ever dreamed of having as a child.

But I didn’t remind her of this; instead I offered to let her help me fold laundry and scrub kitchen grout.

She suddenly remembered a book she had gotten recently and hadn’t had the time to begin reading, and retreated before I could dig the cleaning gloves out from beneath the sink.

The final reason that breaks and snow days are dreaded?  

They get whiny. 

This year so far, we had almost a full week of snow days because everything was pretty literally encased in ice and the roads (being in Oklahoma) were closed to everyone except the workers trying to keep or restore power to residents.

The first day was alright; there’s something special about snow days, being able to play hooky without getting caught, curling up on the couch with your family and watching old movies while you sip hot chocolate.  After that first day, with everyone stuck in the house with each other, cabin fever starts to set in a little. 

Everyone gets cranky.  Those random, nonsensical arguments?  I’m not proud to admit it, but during this time, Levi and I were just as prone to doing it as the girls were.  It’s not natural for a family to be completely cooped up with each other for extended periods of time, and we all reacted with shades of  the beginning stages of psychosis, mumbling and grumbling through normal, every-day tasks and glaring at each other as we contemplated the idea of just how long we would be stuck in that house together.

As such, the girls got extra whiny.  Normal, polite requests were responded to with exaggerated grief, “I’m bored” was a consistent theme, and God help you if you suggested they go play in their rooms for a while. 

Despite all this, the icing on the cake was my girls’ reaction when the roads cleared up and it was announced that school would be back in session the next day:   

“Ah man, back to school already??”

I Hate Being Sick...

My girls came home from school sniffling about two days before they got off for Christmas break.

I knew it was a recipe for disaster.

I'm not hyper-clean, I don't freak out when my kids or my dogs track mud into the house or leave muddy handprints on the outside of my back door (I actually kind of like the handprints and thought about having the girls recreate them in paint), but when someone gets sick, I'm fully armed with Clorox wipes and disinfectant spray.

I used to work in daycare and Pre-K, so I know how fast those nasty little germies spread.  I constantly clean doorknobs and door jams, the backs of chairs, the undersides of tables - all those places that kiddos stick their grubby little fingers and we generally overlook while cleaning.

When I worked in Pre-K, this tactic worked.  I once spared my class from the great flu outbreak of 2010, by scrubbing and disinfecting every single surface my kiddos touched, urging them to wash hands constantly, and catching boogies escaping from little noses before the kiddos had a chance to smear them all over their sleeves.
 

Shop Amazon - New Year New You

At home, it doesn't work so much.  I don't know if I've sanitized so much that the little buggers are immune, or if my kids have just managed to find new ways to spread their germs.  I imagine now that the cleaning products I use have somehow been morphed into some kind of sustenance for the germs, a la Dinosaurs:

So now Levi and I are sick, and my girls are back to their normal, healthy selves.  I'm glad my girls are over it, don't get me wrong, but this being sick business is miserable. 

I'm off to the couch to sip green tea and watch the Croods with my girls.  Hope everyone else out there feels a hundred times better than I do!

 

 

Sunday Mornings and Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every Sunday morning, my girls wake me up as soon as they wake up, to whip up our Sunday morning chocolate chip pancakes and sausage. 

These aren't my pancakes.  This is a stock photo.  My pancakes look more like the Cookie Monster's happy place on a griddle, and they're awwweeesommme.

I started making chocolate chip pancakes when my girls' dad still had every-other-weekend visitation, and when he became ill and unable to take them, my girls pretty much started expecting them every Sunday.  I don't mind, I like the idea of a family "tradition" that will possibly get passed down to my future (way, way in the future) grandchildren.

I had originally tried making pancakes with fruit in them (apples and peaches, mostly), to sneak some nutrition in there and eliminate the need for syrup.  I loved them - the girls, not so much.  So, I still managed to eliminate the syrup, but it took the introduction of tiny little chocolate chips to do it.

*Here's the recipe I use:

   2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

  2 tbsp. baking powder

  1 tsp salt

  2 eggs

1 1/2 c milk

1/4 c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

(I also add about a teaspoon of almond extract, but that's optional)

1/2 c mini chocolate chips

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. 

 

Put your griddle on the stove to preheat, on med-high heat.

 

Add the milk and oil - I use a fork to begin with, and then a hand-mixer to eliminate any lumps - and then add the eggs and extracts.  Mix thoroughly, remove the mixer, and add in the chocolate chips with a fork or spoon.

 

The batter will be thick, and depending on the humidity (or lack thereof) in your area, you may need to add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water or milk to thin it down.  It shouldn't be watery, but it should be thin enough to pour easily from your spoon or ladle onto your griddle.

 

Use a ladle, large spoon, or other dispenser to drop a decent-sized dollop of batter onto your griddle spreading it out a bit so that it's even. 

 

Watch until it begins to bubble all the way through, and flip it gently with a spatula.

 

When you see the bottom outside edges turn brown, move the pancake from the griddle to a plate. 

 

You may have to adjust your heat setting; the first pancake in my house is usually the one we use to do that (it's really just an excuse to eat it early, but the heat-adjustment thing works, too!). 

 

Enjoy your pancakes!

 

*This is a recipe I got online a few years back.  I've tweaked it a little, but if you recognize it as yours, let me know and I'll credit you for it.*

 

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does! 

 

Do you have any family traditions at your house?  Share in the comments below!

An Introduction

I have a few friends with strictly "mom" blogs.  No cursing, no vague references to a lingering need for vodka, no naughty jokes or blatant stabs at sweet family holiday traditions. 

It also occurred to me that my home blog has no place for the "good mommy" side of me - you know, the one that cooks (really!) and draws and does silly little popsicle stick crafts with my kids.  My writing life is a bit schizophrenic; there's the dark side that lives over at Conspiracy Theories, reveling in high school mischief and things I think that I would never say in front of my kids.  Now, here's the lighter side of the mommy me (it exists, I swear!) that enjoys curling up on the couch with my girls and a nice cup of hot chai, who makes chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday with my girls and is generally a pretty pleasant, less cynical person to be around. 

I'm reserving this particular blog for all things domestic-mommy:  recipes, crafts, organization, silly things my kids say and do that are appropriate for all-audience reading.

So, welcome, and I hope you'll join me on this new journey.  Thanks for stopping by!

~Sandra (the good one)