Work It: a blog for Working Moms

Dilly Dip

By JenMarie

While trying to come up with something new and unique for Easter dinner, I found a great (and quick) party dip and thought I would share.  It was a HUGE hit at the party, with everyone asking for the recipe and trying to figure out everything in it. 
I do not usually make things that are low fat, so I could not speak to the flavor if you used low fat ingredients but I would think it would be just as tasty but not as high in fat or calories.  I did make this the night before and found that it really did need the time for everything to blend. 

Dilly Party Dip

1 cup Mayonnaise (I did use store bought, but next time I plan to make my own).
1 cup sour cream
3 tsp. dill weed **
3 tbsp. parmesan cheese **
1 tsp minced garlic **
Crackers or veggies to dip.

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate overnight.  Serve will veggies to crackers. 
**adjust amounts to taste and remember the taste is enhanced as the ingredients combine.

Kindergarten, Here we come!

by JenMarie

In a few short weeks we’ll begin the process of kindergarten registration for my oldest.  I can hardly believe she is even old enough to be ready for school!  I am so very excited for her, what a wonderful adventure she is about to embark on.  We’ve been working very hard at home and at preschool to be sure she is ready, from learning her address and phone number to learning to get along with everyone. 

With three kids currently under five, my biggest concern now is making sure everyone is picked up by six o-clock at night.  Drop off and pick up times can vary as long as they are within the allotted time frame, which is fabulous since I am often running behind.  I am also fortunate that both the daycare and preschool provide all meals so I am not packing lunches/snacks either. 

Once school starts we’ll have buses to catch, breakfast to cook and lunches to make.  Not to mention school related activities and a new schedule to work out.  I know that I need to come up with a plan or chaos will be the order of the day.  From what I’ve been able to gather so far, it seems like the biggest recommendation is to do as much as possible the night before.  I would like to have Sydney be more responsible for getting herself (somewhat) ready but I do not want to have unrealistic expectations.   

I would love to hear how others do it, in particular anyone who has one (or more) in school and others still in daycare/preschool. 

What tips do you have to help avoid the morning crunch? 

Welcoming Andy

by JenMarie

Last month, on a most beautiful fall day, right smack in between his big brother and father’s birthdays, Anderson Roger was born! He was ushered into the world a couple weeks early, but still weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces. Andy was induced 16 days early due to precipitous labor (labor estimated to last less than 3 hours). My doctor was concerned that I would not make it to the hospital in time if I was allowed to go into labor on my own. It was a good decision as labor only lasted 2 ½ hours! What a joy it is to have another boy to bless our family! 

Andy looks quite a bit like his big sister, but we think that is mostly because they appear to have the same hair color. As for his facial features, I do see quite a difference in him compared to his siblings. Sister is almost a clone of me, in fact my family refers to her as a ‘mini-me’.  Big brother looks just like daddy, except for his blue eyes (daddy’s are brown).  It is still up for grabs who Andy looks most like, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Andy has been a great baby and is absolutely adored by everyone, especially his big brother and sister who love to help in any way they can. He did have some problems with nursing in the early weeks, but he has caught on and is now doing great. I am cherishing every day with this little miracle. 

Andy’s birth was (obviously) extremely joyful, although I find myself mixed with sadness as this now completes our family. As I relish in every little moment, hold him just a little bit longer and squeeze him just a little bit tighter I am hoping time will just stop so I can keep this innocence. As each day passes, he grows a little more and as I look forward to all the ‘firsts’ he will experience, I also mourn the passing of time and realize how quickly it goes by. 

For all those mom’s with older children, was there anything special you did when yours kids where babies to remember this time or was there anything you wish you would have done? 

The Cake-tastrophe!

By JenMarie
As my son’s second birthday approached we decided on an Elmo theme, he is a big fan of Sesame Street. We picked out cute invitations and I searched EBay for an Elmo cake pan and party accessories.  After a week or so of looking I finally decided on a Wilton brand Elmo face cake pan.
Since the pan holds only a single cake mix, I decided to also bake some cupcakes and I picked up some Elmo cupcake liners too. I was quite proud of my frugal find, total cost $10. The cake pan arrived without incident and the instructions looked easy enough. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to decorate cakes so I was excited to try something new this year.
The party was 2:00 on Saturday so I waited until Friday to make the cake. I spent most of the day working on the cake and cupcakes for the party. I was really impressed with how cute the cake came out and couldn’t wait for Jack to get home that evening to see it. I carefully placed the cake in the cake box and put it in a cool location.
When they got home, I showed the cake to Jack and big sister Sydney both loved it, although Jack was more interested in eating a cupcake! I left the cake out while I made dinner, bathed the kids and got them ready for bed. Once finished, I took one last look at the cake before putting it away. Instead of a perfectly decorated Elmo, I found little finger marks in the smile, nose and eyes of Elmo! Apparently Sydney decided she should test it out and took her own little sample!
I was quite upset and brought her down to explain how impolite it was to do that to brother’s cake and how bad she would feel if that was her cake. I think she got the point, she looked remorseful and did apologize.
Luckily, we were able to repair the cake, close to its original design—it really wasn’t that bad, just over such a large area of the cake. Once we made our repairs, I put the cake away in the box.
Around noon on Saturday, we left my stepdad at the house with the kids and my husband and I ventured out to pick up balloons and pizza. Before leaving, I made sure everything was ready to go—plates, cups, party food and I put the cake/cupcakes out on the dining room table to warm up.

My Little Leftie

By JenMarie

My oldest started preschool recently, prior to that we had her (and her brother) in a home-based daycare that had no structure but a very loving environment. Sydney is four and a half so she will start kindergarten next year. We wanted her to have a full year of learning in a more structured environment before she went to school.

Since starting about a month ago, we have seen a dramatic increase in so many areas, most notably her writing. Sydney is left-handed and my husband and I both right handed, so we struggled teaching her to write. We both tried to show her from a left-handed perspective but that got us nowhere She mainly struggled with her ‘S’s’ and ‘Y’s’ (being named Sydney wasn’t helping her cause either) often writing them backwards.

Of all the information we provided to the preschool I totally forgot to mention she was left-handed, of course they figured it out within a few minutes on her first day. I was very surprised and happy to learn that there were other kids her age who are also left-handed and her teacher’s son is a leftie.

In the month she has been attending preschool she has mastered writing and identifying her name. She now proudly writes her name on any worksheets or craft items she creates. We are so proud of her progress!

We’ve never made a big deal out of her being left handed but now that she sees so many other kids she notices the difference. At times it has upset her that she is different, we try to be encouraging telling her how special it is to be left handed. She asks if daddy or I are left handed, if her brother is left handed (no) and then will demand to know who is left handed. Since she's only four, I think most pop culture or historical figures wouldn't be helpful, I’d love to point out a left-handed cartoon or kid show character.

Are you a lefty? Kids that are southpaws? Anyone know of any kid-friendly lefties?

More info for left-handed children.

The Big Harvest

by JenMarie

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to plant a vegetable garden. This always takes me back to my childhood and I find I plant some things just because that’s what I’ve always done and not because I necessarily like them! We tend to stay pretty traditional and try to plant a good variety of things to enjoy. This year we expanded our garden by almost 50% and created a separate strawberry patch (YUM). We planted peppers (regular and hot varieties), tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, corn, honeydew, watermelon, bush green beans and pumpkins. 

We have especially enjoyed involving the kids in the garden this year. Jack, at a couple months shy of two, loves to keep track of all of the garden tools while Sydney is having a blast determining if the food is ready to be picked and then helping carry it all to the house.  She does tend to get a little over zealous at times, but it’s a good opportunity to teach her how to tell if something is ready to be picked. 

What I have been struggling with is what to do with the bountiful harvest! In particular I am being overrun by zucchini. I honestly have never seen such enormous zucchini. We had a week period where it rained daily and we were not able to pick anything so they just grew and grew. Now I am staring at several zucchini that are bigger than a bowling pin. 

We have been baking the zucchini using any recipe that I can find, from bread to cookies, cake to fried slices. So far, the family favorite has (overwhelmingly) been the chocolate zucchini cake. How can you go wrong with ‘chocolate’ in the title? Unfortunately for me I didn’t even use ¼ of one zucchini to make this. Judging by the family reaction and that of our neighbors who were all given some to share, I will have plenty of opportunity to use up what’s left by making more! 

I would never rave about a recipe without including it, so for those in the same zucchini boat as I am here you go. This recipe was handed down to me by my favorite aunt who makes some of the best desserts ever. 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar (regular granulated sugar)
½ cup margarine
½ cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 tbsp. cocoa
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 325
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan, top with chocolate chips.  Bake 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool.
Can frost with chocolate frosting or (as I do) sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Note: instead of a cake, we make cupcakes.  This will make approx 24 cupcakes.  Bake for approx 25-30 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. 

Fantasy Jobs

by JenMarie

As much as I love my job, I’ve always had ideas about those dream jobs that would be so much fun. At least I think they would be. I’m not talking about a real job, this is more of a fantasy scenario, not taking into account proper training or other not-so-fun tasks that might be associated with the job in question. These are the jobs that seem like they would be so much fun.

My three fantasy jobs are (in no particular order):

• Person who names the OPI brand nail polish colors. With names like ‘Nice Color, eh?’, ‘OH…to be 25 again’ and ‘Who comes up with these names?’ how could you NOT want to have this job!?  I won’t hold it against them that they discontinued my favorite color ‘Route Beer Float’
• Television Reviewer/Critic – Yes, I watch WAY too much television and I am going to blame that on my DVR and its ability to let me watch when I’m ready! I will watch just about anything and always have an opinion on it. When I used to work in an office, I was known as the person to go to if you wanted to know about a new show and whether it was worth checking out.
• Cake Designer - one of my hobbies is decorating cakes, particularly birthday cakes. I would love designing both in the cake itself and the decorations to adorn it. I am sure the stress of making the perfect cake all the time would take away any fun involved but from the outside, I would really enjoy being a part of the happiness of others. 

So, I have to ask, if you could pick three fantasy jobs, what would they be?  Would you choose something totally fun (in your eyes) or something that has great meaning and significance? 

One More Time

by JenMarie

It was five years ago that we found out we were expecting our first. After over a year of trying, tests and procedures, the knowledge that I was going to be someone's mother was overwhelming. Now, five years later, we are at the halfway point of (in all likelihood) our last pregnancy. That’s right, this November I will become the mother of three, bring our family total to five!! 

Although this pregnancy caught us off guard, we could not be more happy and excited to meet this new little one. I do feel some sense of sadness that this will be the last, but at the same time I look forward to the completion of our family and to watching our children grow over the years.

The first trimester of this pregnancy was another scare with sporadic bleeding until around the twelfth week. Thankfully, all has resolved and we recently saw a beautiful, healthy, perfect baby at the twenty week ultrasound. We have decided, yet again, to hold off on finding out the gender which is driving our family crazy! 

Our four year old daughter is very excited about the new baby, our son (who will turn two a month before this baby arrives) has no clue what is happening. When prompted, Jack will point to the baby in my belly but I know he is just not able to process what that really means. Hopefully, he will figure it out before November. 

At work I have recently been given the opportunity to expand my knowledge base and learn new products.  It is a very exciting time career wise and something I have been moving towards for two years, but it is a bit stressful. It requires me to turn off the ‘auto-pilot’ mode I have been in with my current position and develop new skills. One of my main goals over the next few months will be to attain a particular certification for my position. This is a certification I have desired for several years now and can take years to attain so I am very excited to get started.

The next few months will be a busy time both personally and professionally. I am so blessed to have such a supportive family to lean on. I do worry about fitting it all in, but I had that same concern before we had Jack and we’ve fell into a groove just fine. Here’s hoping that happens again. 

Any other mom’s out there with three little ones? How much did things change going from two to three?  How do you handle the stress of the additional child and your work responsibilities and still find time for yourself?  Any words of wisdom you’d be willing to share?

Vacation, the aftermath

by JenMarie

I want to again thank everyone who commented on my last post about flying with small children, I tried pretty much all of the suggestions! Unfortunately for us, nothing really worked. 

Our flight down left at six in the morning, which meant we arrived at the airport at four. We live an hour away so we left the house around two thirty to allow enough time to drive there, park and unload the car and meet the rest of the family at the pre-determined time. We made our way through check in and security without event and even had time for breakfast before boarding the plane.

We learned after about a half hour in the air that Jackson really does not like being held and contained for a four hour flight but overall he held up okay. We had a couple crying fits but he did nap for almost half the time. 

Once we arrived, it was as if a magic switch has been activated, the kids were an absolute dream, the weather was beyond beautiful and everyone in the family got along! The resort was perfect and the food was amazing. Overall, a very good vacation! 

We found plenty of time for swimming, sunning and lounging about. Hubby took Sydney horseback riding—twice! Jack learned how to swim and now loves the water. We found some really beautiful paintings and other traditional Dominican items for the house. We had lots of family time and truly enjoyed every minute of it. 

The end of the week came all too soon and it was time to head home again. We didn’t fair as well on the flight back as we did going down and I have vowed to never again fly with an 18-month-old! As much as I love him, Jack was a total nightmare the entire five hour flight back. To add to our misery, the flight back had a one hour layover after the initial four hours and then another hour until we arrived back home. Our final insult was the airline destroying our luggage! Every piece was damaged, some beyond the point of being salvageable. 

Overall though, it was a fantastic vacation and everyone here agrees we want to go back—SOON! We are already talking about next year’s vacation!

Asian Beef Salad

by JenMarie

With the weather finally turning around and Spring finally, FINALLY making it’s appearance, I thought I’d share a recipe for a light spring/summer salad that my entire family enjoys! The original recipe came from a cooking class I took years ago, I have made my own modifications. I try to multi-task while making this (like making the dressing and toasting the seeds/noodles while the meat marinates) it usually is on the table within 30 minutes. You can cut the time down more if you marinate the meat before heading out to work in the morning!

Asian Beef Salad

 

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs. thin sliced sirloin

1 bag salad greens

1 package Ramen noodles (any flavor), toasted

½ cup sesame seeds, toasted

1 cup shredded or fresh cubed Mozzarella cheese

Fresh grape tomatoes

Marinade

2 tbsp. Soy sauce

2 tbsp. red wine *don’t worry it burns off in cooking**

1 tbsp. brown sugar, packed

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 close fresh garlic, crushed

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

Dressing

1/3 cup sugar

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 cup olive oil

Dash sesame oil

 
Directions

Mix marinade in medium bowl. Add sliced sirloin. Marinate in refrigerator at least 20 minutes.

Preheat large skillet, add olive oil to prevent sticking (or spray with cooking spray). Discard marinate and cook the sirloin over a medium high heat until browned (about 8-10 minutes). At this point, I put the meat in a small/medium serving bowl, but you can place all the meat on top of the salad and mix.

In a large serving bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and toasted noodles/seeds (see note at end on how to toast). Place cooked meat on top of salad.

Combine all dressing ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. You can toss the entire salad with the dressing or leave on the side to use as needed.  Enjoy!

NOTE:

To toast Ramen Noodles: Preheat oven to 400. Break up noodles into small bite sized pieces and place on small foil lined cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. To toast Sesame Seeds: Preheat over to 400. Line small cookie sheet with foil and sprinkle seeds on top. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown.