Nurture Mama – Page 36

Recipes for one of my new favorite meals

March 2, 2011March 2, 2011 Nurture Mama 3 Comments

One of my favorite food blogs to read is Our Best Bites. Sara and Kate are “Mormon Moms in the Kitchen”, and their blog is full of tasty recipes. I like that their recipes use mostly “normal” ingredients–things that I typically already have on hand, or at least I know what the ingredients are! They give detailed instructions, and their recipes are easy to follow. Plus, their posts are entertaining and fun to read.

A few weeks ago I was making my menu plan and in the mood for something new. I’m not sure how I first found it, but Sara’s Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos sounded great. If you scroll down and read the whole post, she suggested including black beans with the menu, and then I also had to include her lime-cilantro rice. With leftover cilantro in my refrigerator, this was the perfect meal for our Thursday night.

The verdict: Great meal on all accounts! These recipes get 5 stars and are being added to my personal cookbook. I would definitely suggest giving this menu a try for your next Mexican meal night!

Confession: The Taquito recipe called for green salsa and pepperjack cheese. I used regular salsa and cheddar cheese because that’s what I had. It was still yummy!

Once again, here are all three recipes:

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Quick and Easy Black Beans

Lime-cilantro rice

Liken the scriptures

February 28, 2011February 12, 2011 Nurture Mama Leave a comment

In the General Conference of April 2004, Elder Robert D. Hales shared a message entitled “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”. In that talk he shared five important elements of parenting that he believed will assist us in strengthening our families. Today I am sharing the third element.

“With the door to our hearts open, we should learn how to liken the scriptures to our lives.

“We often talk about teaching our children from the scriptures, but how do we do that?

Several years ago I was teaching our young son about the life and experiences of the brother of Jared. Although the story was very interesting, he was not engaged. I then asked what the story meant to him personally. It means so much when we ask our children, “What does it mean to you?” He said, “You know, it’s not that different from what Joseph Smith did in the grove when he prayed and got an answer.”

I said, “You’re about Joseph’s age. Do you think a prayer like his would be helpful to you?” Suddenly, we weren’t talking about a long-ago story in a faraway land. We were talking about our son—about his life, his needs, and the way prayer could help him.

“As parents, we have the responsibility to help our children to “liken all scriptures [indeed, every part of the gospel of Jesus Christ] unto us [and unto our children], … for [the] profit and learning [of our families].”¹⁴

“Are we likening all of our children’s gospel experiences to the real needs in their lives? Are we teaching them about the gift of the Holy Ghost, repentance, the Atonement, the sacrament, and the blessing of sacrament meeting as they meet the challenges in their lives? There is not enough time in formal meetings to teach our children everything they need to know.”

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”, Ensign, May 2004, 88–91

Fun Felt Cupcakes

February 25, 2011February 23, 2011 Nurture Mama 1 Comment

Rachel from Small Notebook shared a fun idea at alphamom: cupcakes made from felt.

I love doing projects with felt (hair clips, anyone?!) and I knew my girls would love this activity. Rachel provided the template, so I sat down with the girls and my scissors and a pile of felt and we got busy. They selected the colors while I did the cutting. We ended up with 6 cupcakes, so that allows for quite a few variations. My girls liked creating faces on their cupcakes. This was a great imaginative activity. My girls were singing “mix mix mix”, “bake bake bake” , and “frost frost frost” (to various tunes) through all the stages of creation. So much fun!

Looking for more fun ideas with felt? Check out these past posts:

Fun with Felt

Standard Unit Blocks out of felt

A variety of felt hair clips

February 23, 2011February 23, 2011 Nurture Mama 1 Comment

One Sunday morning last November, we were getting ready for church and the girls were excited that it was finally cool enough that they could wear their winter dresses. But alas, I realized that we had no hair accessories that went with their BLACK dresses. So I decided to pull out some black felt and see if I could make them some cute hair clips. This is what I came up with:

A few circles cut from felt, hot glued on top of each other, a decorative button hot glued in the middle, and then the whole thing hot glued to a metal double-pronged clip. Really easy, and they look pretty cute. (I have to confess that I usually do not have time on a Sunday morning to whip up something cute, but the cards were in my favor this day).

The hair clips were so easy to make that I knew immediately that I would need to make more. And then I realized that these hair clips would be the perfect, inexpensive gift to give my piano students for Christmas (8 girls ranging in age from 5-11 years; the one lone boy I teach got treats, because what else do you give a 12 year boy??)

So I made a lot more clips.

And then I quickly realized that these hair clips would be a great gift for the Sweet Bee and the Ant Bug to give to their friends as a Christmas gift. So they spent a December afternoon coordinating colors and choosing sparkly centerpieces, while I manned the scissors and hot glue guns.

The felt I used are just regular square sheets from Michaels. I used a coupon and chose a lot of colors. For the centerpieces I just found a small box of embellishments that looked cute and girly (also from Michaels). The clips were leftover from this flower making project. I purchased a box of 100 clips from Sally Beauty Supply for just a few dollars.

As life settled down in January after the holidays, I realized that we had given away all the new clips and my girls didn’t have any to wear. So I made these cute heart clips in preparation for Valentine’s Day.

Pink and red layered felt hearts, with some red ribbon for embellishment.

When I saw the felt flower tutorial at Creations by Kara, I knew this craft was right up my alley. The basic idea is to cut two flower shapes out of felt, stack them on top of each other, cut a circle to create a rosebud, then hot glue it all together. She also recommended covering the clips with a bit of ribbon. You can see her full tutorial here.

These flower clips turned out darling. They only took slightly more effort then my previous circle clips, but they are really cute. Adding the bit of ribbon makes them look more finished.The possibilities when it comes to felt hair clips are endless. You can cut any shape, add a center embellishment (using felt or buttons or whatever), glue a little ribbon on the clip, and you are all set. Your girls will love having special hair clips made just for them, for any occasion!

Leave the door to our hearts open

February 21, 2011February 12, 2011 Nurture Mama Leave a comment

“Sometimes when our teachings aren’t heeded and when our expectations are not met, we need to remind ourselves to leave the door to our hearts open.

“In the parable of the prodigal son, we find a powerful lesson for families and especially parents. After the younger son “came to himself,”¹²he decided to go home.

“How did he know his father wouldn’t reject him? Because he knew his father. Through the inevitable misunderstandings, conflicts, and follies of the son’s youth, I can visualize his father being there with an understanding and compassionate heart, a soft answer, a listening ear, and a forgiving embrace. I can also imagine his son knowing he could come home because he knew the kind of home that was awaiting him. For the scriptures say, “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”¹³

“I testify that our Heavenly Father leaves the door open. I also testify that it is never too late to open the door between us and our children with simple words such as “I love you,” “I am sorry,” and “Please forgive me.” We can begin now to create a home they will want to return to—not only now but in the eternities.

“We can also help our obedient children leave the door of forgiveness open by expressing our love and appreciation to them and by helping them rejoice in the repentance of their siblings.”

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”, Ensign, May 2004, 88–91

FHE: A Happy Home Lesson

February 18, 2011April 4, 2011 Nurture Mama 3 Comments

This lesson was inspired by this lesson on Reverence I found on Sugardoodle.net, where the idea of a happy and sad chapel was presented. I decided to modify it to apply it to our home.

Lesson Plan

Show the picture of the sad home, and say the following:

This is a picture of a sad home.
The children in this home were always fighting and yelling.
Sometimes the children even hit and scratched and bit.
Family members didn’t like to do their jobs, and the house was often messy.

Next, show the picture of the happy home and say the following:

This is a picture of a happy home.
The people in this home are loving and kind.
The children play together nicely. They take turns and share.
The family members work together to take care of their home, because they understand that everyone needs to do their part.
Family members do their chores without complaining (and they only need to be reminded once).
The people here love to read good books and learn together.
The people in this home look for ways to help each other. They help with shoes and diaper changes.
The family members give lots of hugs and kisses and say I love you.

Which home would you rather live in???

Give each child a picture of a home to color, and then discuss ways that we can work together as a family to make our home a happy home. Review our family habits.

Note: I found the images that I used for our house coloring pages here and here.

Best Foods for Baby

February 16, 2011February 21, 2011 Nurture Mama 3 Comments

My little baby boy Z recently passed the 10 month old marker. He is growing up so quickly, and of course I have mixed feelings about that! But I sure am loving this sweet little boy.Lately I’ve been thinking about spicing up Baby Z’s menu. (I’m actually thinking a lot about the menu plan for our family too, but that will have to wait for another post). He’s been eating baby cereal and fruit and vegetable purees for quite a few months now. But he inserts his independence and only allows himself to be spoon fed as long as he has something on his tray that he can finger feed himself at the same time. Until now we have relied mostly on cheerios, small banana chunks, and the Gerber baby puffs and dried fruit. But with 6 teeth and more bursting out, it us long past time to branch out.

From a little research online to review, here are the top finger foods for babies:

-Avocado, diced

– Peaches, pears, plums; diced

– Bananas, diced

– Beans, cooked (Black, Kidney, Garbanzo, etc.)

– Peas, steamed

– Semi-soft cheese (pasteurized), diced

– Carrots, cooked until soft

– Small, whole grain pasta, cooked

– Edamame, steamed

– Sweet potato, baked and diced

– Green beans, cooked until soft

– Toasted “O” cereal, dry

I discovered a really helpful site called NurtureBaby. It is full of recipes appropriate for ages 4-18 months (or older!), as well nutrition checklists and helpful tips and techniques. I haven’t actually tried any of the recipes yet, but the following struck my fancy and are on my list to try:

Looking for more recipes I discovered Weelicious. The site has a ton of healthy and yummy sounding recipes. I think it’s time I finally try my hand at hummus!

What are your favorite foods to feed your baby? I would love to hear your tips!

On Love

February 14, 2011February 12, 2011 Nurture Mama Leave a comment

“Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness for you and for your sweetheart. How should I love thee? As He does, for that way ‘never faileth.'”

Read the full text of this talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland here.

A Heartfelt FHE, and a few Primary inspired lessons

February 9, 2011February 9, 2011 Nurture Mama Leave a comment

The Ant Bug had really been looking forward to making hearts and decorating our house for Valentines Day, and she figured that the last day of January was the perfect day to bring on the hearts. Since January 31st was a Monday, a Family Home Evening activity/lesson was born!

Scripture of the Week

“Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart” (Alma 45:7).

Song

If Listen With My Heart by Sally DeFord (the song taught in Primary during the month of January, found in the January 2011 Friend Magazine).

Lesson Plan

Display the scriptures and review the four books in the standard works. Explain that the scriptures are the word of God, and have been given as a guide to help us in these days. Explain that the Topical Guide and Index to the scriptures are wonderful tools to help us get the most out of our study of the scriptures. You can find scriptures on many different topics: Jesus Christ, faith, baptism, atonement, repentance, etc. There are even scriptures that have to do with heart(s).

Activity

Cut out construction paper hearts of all sizes (use the easy method here). Share and discuss scriptures relating to hearts with the help of the Topical Guide. We read a few different verses until we hit on the perfect scripture of the week for our family (see above). Hang the hearts around the house, and finish off with a treat!

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I am really excited about the 2011 Primary theme “I Know the Scriptures are True”. I taught Sharing Time for the month of January in our ward, and I found a lot of resources and ideas that transferred well to a Family Home Evening lesson. One week we played this scripture matching game. We talked briefly about the scripture story and sang the accompanying song.

Another week we discussed how the scriptures will tell us all things that we should do. We used this set of scenarios and answering scriptures to find solutions to things that children would commonly have questions about.

A few different ambitious people have put together FHE lesson for the entire year that correspond to each weekly theme in Primary. Go here on Sugardoodle and then scroll down to Family Home Evening lessons for a few different packets to choose from.

Primary resources and lesson manuals are great places to look for inspiration and helps for Family Home Evening!

Hold family councils

February 7, 2011February 7, 2011 Nurture Mama 1 Comment

“Hold family councils. Sometimes we are afraid of our children—afraid to counsel with them for fear of offending them. There are priceless blessings to be obtained from counseling together with our families, showing a genuine interest in the lives of our family members. Occasionally, family councils may involve all family members as part of a family home evening or other special gatherings. But we should regularly counsel with each of our children individually.

“Without this one-on-one counseling together with our children, they are prone to believe that Dad and Mom, or Grandpa and Grandma, don’t understand or care about the challenges they are facing. As we listen with love and refrain from interrupting, the Spirit will help us learn how we can be of help to our children and teach them.

“For example, we may teach them that they can choose their actions but not the consequences of those actions. We can also gently help them understand what the consequences of their actions may be in their own lives.”

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”, Ensign, May 2004, 88–91