Monday

Levi is feeling better. After a long mid-morning nap yesterday he began acting much more like himself. In fact, he recovered a lot faster than I did.....I had several loads of pukey bedding to wash and a carpet to clean. Chris pointed out that this was exactly 3 years and 2 days from when he fell ill with such a nasty intestinal bug that he spent a week in the hospital. I think the kid has something against Father's Day.

Ahren is so funny. Thanks for all the support! i decided to keep up with the encouragement but not make a big deal out of helping him too. Example: 'I can't go potty. Help me.' My response, 'Sweetie, I know you can do it. How about if mommy just helps get you started. ' I help him get his pants un-done and then he does the rest and he is HAPPY! I help get the pants back on and off he runs. He pulled a good one on Nanny today, though. He couldn't do ANYTHING. She had to feed him and everything. He has that woman dancing to his tune. I think she was exhausted from lugging his big ol' booty around all day, but she loves it. She has the need to be needed and oh boy does he NEED her!!!

So tonight I made one of my favorite kid friendly healthy recipes. (OK, Not MckMama healthy. No woodland creatures will be knocking at my door requesting the recipe, but still pretty good for a woman who feeds her kids chips and queso for breakfast on occasion) This is based on a recipe from last years The Next Food Network Star. 

Teryaki Noodles

About 4 oz. whole wheat linguine noodles, boil to desired density (my kids like them soft)

Assorted veggies 1 cup: onion, green pepper, mushrooms, shredded carrots, broccoli, whatever I have fresh and in the fridge. Dice or shred to small size

Small pineapple pieces

Cooked chicken breast or tofu, cut in small pieces

1/2 cup Pineapple juice

Teryaki sauce (thick style in the jar) about 1/4 cup

Opptional: peanut butter

Boil and drain noodles

Saute veggies in small amount olive oil until tender

Add pineapple juice and cook to reduce by half

Stir in pineapple chunks, chicken or tofu, Teryaki sauce and peanut butter, heat through

Add sauce to drained noodles and toss to coat. 

The good thing about this recipe is all of the ingredients are changeable. Your kids love broccoli but hate carrots? Done. They will eat things like tofu or eggplant if they taste like something else, done! Have zuchinni and cucumbers from the garden? Use them! No chicken on hand? Use leftover turkey or scrambled eggs or even beans! Your imagination is the limit. I like to dice the veggies really small so the boys don't realize they are getting them along with the noodles. Shoot, so their Daddy doesn't realize he is eating green things! 

Let me know if you try this and how it works for your family.