{Tyke Bites} Five Tot-Friendly School Lunches

Since the kids started Mother's Day Out and go one day a week, I've been prepping lunch for them to take to school. It took a little getting used to because I had to pack stuff that didn't need to be warmed up and that they can easily eat with little assistance since they aren't at home. Even with just one lunch (or four, depending on how you look at it) to pack per week right now, I'm always thinking of stuff that's a little outside the norm—since the latter tends to be a PB and honey sandwich or lunch meat and cheese. I'm no nutritionist and though we try to eat healthy around here, some meals contain extra carbs or typical kid fare. Regardless, here's five lunches that went over quite well with the kiddos and the lunch boxes came back empty!

peanut butter & honey sandwich squares, whole grain goldfish (with a gummy worm hidden in the mix!), all natural white cheddar cheetoh puffs, cherries, cheese stick and honest juice pouch 

Seasoned black beans, homemade guacamole, half banana and white corn chips

elephant-shaped grilled cheese, chex mix, greek goddess yogurt, rice krispie treat, veggie/fruit squeeze pouch and honest juice pouch

whole wheat toast pizzas (all natural pepperoni, pizza sauce and mozz cheese - was out of pitas and tortillas!), strawberries, raisin and nuts with a few m&ms

cheese quesadillas (brushed thin layer of coconut oil on outsides of tortilla, sandwiched shredded cheese in the middle and cooked on pan until brown), half a cliff zbar for kids (granola bar) and strawberries

And I'm always looking for new ideas, so please share some of your fave lunches (adult-friendly lunches too!) in the comments section...

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry with Cauliflower Rice

It'd been awhile since I had pulled out my food processor, but I'd been ready to try my hand at cauliflower rice and it was time. A quick search on Pinterest led me to this roasted cauliflower rice method, which sounded easy enough so I gave it a shot and it totally turned out great! (Printable recipe for the entire meal is at the bottom of this post.)

My friend, Medley, came over to help me with the kids this particular night since the husband was out of town for work. While I worked on the cauliflower, she stirred some chicken and cilantro mini wontons (from Trader Joe's) and kept an eye on the chicken and veggies. All I did was saute some chicken in a wok with some teriyaki sauce and seasonings, then added steamed carrots, broccoli and water chestnuts and a little more sauce.

The cauliflower was really simple: I washed one and a half heads of it, then broke into pieces and dropped into the food processor. I pulsed it until it was the size of rice granules and poured it onto a large baking sheet (it took two processor bowls-full to get enough). Then I drizzled the cauliflower with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, baked at 350F degrees for five minutes, stirred, baked another five minutes and it was done! The consistency was light and fluffy, just like tender rice. Even the quads ate it and Medley totally approved. Guilt free "carbs!"

Trystan is my picky eater out of the four and sticks to carbs as much as possible. I told them it was just rice and I'd drizzled a tiny bit of low-sodium soy sauce on it and everyone dug in—even Trystan! That smile after her fourth mouthful is proof enough. 

Get the printable recipe here!

Happy eating :)

Weekend Recap (and Super Bowl Quad-Style)

I promise I realize weekends are traditionally Friday through Sunday, but just like my last Weekend Recap post I'm kicking this one off on Thursday. Date night! Our former nanny had some availability this spring in between her busy semester so she's back with us on Friday mornings as well as the occasional special event—like a muuuuccchhhh needed date night! The husband and I enjoyed steaks for dinner then caught a movie (and snuck in some wine) before calling it a night well enjoyed.

Friday morning, we all got ready and loaded up for the Perot Museum in Dallas. It was the quad's first time to check it out and I hadn't been since I was probably a kid myself. They loved the little kid's area, the Moody Family Children's Museum, and we spent the majority of our time there aside from a visit to see the dinosaur exhibit—which they loved. My girlfriend and her sweet boy joined us for the adventure.

The husband met us all for lunch at the Museum cafe then we called it a day and got home in time for naps. I was tired! That trend continued because Saturday didn't afford us much more energy, either. We spent most of our day around the house, the husband and I both taking turns watching the kids while the other ran a couple quick errands. Thank goodness for Melissa & Doug sticker books and tons of crayons and coloring paper to keep everyone occupied!

Recently, we got the girl's new boots—Natural Steps Stampede boot in tan—and they're obsessed with them! They wear them around the house often, even with pajamas, and the insides are lined with a comfy floral fabric so they don't even bother with socks if we aren't going anywhere. Harrison already had a pair of camo and brown boots I scored at Wal-Mart and now the girls are thrilled to have their own as well.

This morning we all slept in because everyone's been pretty run down, especially the husband and I. After breakfast, I snuck out for a quick pedicure that I was inspired by on Pinterest. Perfect for Valentine's Day but not so girly that the pink makes my eyes water. ;)

I also scored some new PJs on clearance at Target for the girls for just $6.48 apiece. Loving the button up shirt and pajama pants style, Harrison already had some similar ones handed off to him from a buddy that outgrew them so all four were matching and super cute!

Super Bowl Sunday has been pretty low key. I mean, what...your Super Bowl party doesn't consist of a Pip-Squeaks Marker Tower, giant cardboard blocks and DIY Valentine's cards? Clearly you're missing out. Which is exactly how we spent our late afternoon and evening...

(and yes, the majority of us stayed in our jammies most of the day.)

I love the cards, I really do. Especially since the kids were pretty involved with them from start to finish. I just took white card stock and cut some cute scrapbook paper to size then glue sticked it on. Next, the husband help me put dot after dot of glue on the front of the cards for the kids to stick their desired papers, tissue pieces and other items to. As a finishing touch, I used puffy letter stickers to spell LOVE on each card. We can't wait to hand these off to their teachers at school and send some to grandparents and cousins. 

My trip to the grocery store (after my pedicure and Target errands earlier) yielded all the culinary supplies I'll need for this week's menu plan, which kicked off with a delish spicy Asian chicken noodle soup I adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe. It was a hit for dinner tonight, including the kids.

And that's that! We DVR'd the last half of the football game to finish after we put the kids in bed and are watching the final minutes—eek! Then I'll set out all the lunch boxes, folders and supplies for us to get ready for school tomorrow and get out the door in a reasonably timely fashion. For a mom with toddler quadruplets, anyway. Looking forward to getting in a good workout at the gym after I drop the crew off at school, followed by a peaceful yet project-oriented morning at home. ALONE.

Sometimes you just need some moments to yourself, or to start your weekend on a Thursday....

{Tyke Bites} Easy Go-Tos & One Pan Dinner

Welcome back to another installment of Tyke Bites, where I share a random day of meals for my two-and-a-half year old quadruplets! (You can follow the underlined link, or visit the Tyke Bites category found in the sidebar on the left to view all my posts about what the kiddos are eating.)

It was an ordinary day at home so I decided to give the kids a slightly out of the ordinary breakfast by adding some whipped cream and sprinkles to some of our favorite waffles, Earth's Best frozen organic mini waffles, along with fresh berries and Applegate Naturals turkey breakfast sausage links (they usually eat two to three links apiece, but we just start off with one).

Lunch was a quick and easy go-to: turkey lunch meat, cheese, raspberries, banana, pretzels and cheez-its. The kids got a kick out of the meat and cheese being rolled up and some ate it that way while others separated the pieces first. As any mom knows, sometimes variation on a popular item is all it takes to revamp interest!

For dinner, I did a one-pan meal to keep things simple. Rachael Ray's roast pork chops with green beans and potatoes was fairly popular, paired with bananas and cheese cubes. 

Occasionally the kids will get a graham cracker in between breakfast and lunch if they start getting hungry, but we typically save a regular snack for that long stretch between lunch and dinner (generally they get it after post-lunch naps). That ranges anywhere from white cheddar popcorn, pretzels, goldfish with raisins, dried fruit, etc.

What are some of your favorite go-to's or easy quick-fix meals?

Happy eating :)

P.S. Don't forget you can find all my Tyke Bites meals and other tot-friendly fare on my Pinterest board here!

The Best Loaded Sweet Potato Recipe Ever

When I asked my friend, Vanessa—a rising personal chef in California's Bay Area scene—about some of her go-to dishes that she makes at home for herself and new husband, Julian, she barely got through the first one before I was convinced I needed to recreate them in my kitchen. (And she does some amazing culinary crafting, y'all, so if you're in Cali...)

I'm all about new recipes or reinventing the same foods in a different way, and her versions even incorporate low-carb ingredients. Perfect, I thought. I don't really do diets but I like opting for healthy foods and the whole "less carbs, more fruits and veggies" mantra. My weekly grocery list is predominantly fresh foods and produce as it is.

I got the chance to make this loaded sweet potato deliciousness yesterday afternoon for myself and my friend, Jo Ann, who came to visit us for the morning. The quads had gone down for naps and I immediately went to work in the kitchen since I was eager to try this out. It got rave reviews from Jo Ann, who also intends to make it at home again soon, and I loved how fresh and flavorful it was. Vanessa and I both tend to cook without measuring and just eyeball ingredients, so her recipe she sent me came with no precise amounts. I've done my best to approximate what to add, but feel free to use less or more as you prefer. And yeah, there really is a sweet potato under there.

(Psssst! I've got a handy new printable recipe option available, the link is at the end of the post.)

Ingredients
Half or whole sweet potato per person
1 lb ground turkey or beef (85% lean)
1 can black beans
1/3 cup diced cherry tomatoes or whatever you have on hand
1/4 cup diced purple onion
Juice of 1 lime
Dollop of Greek yogurt
14 - 1/3 cup shredded cheese per person
1 tsp cumin
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Cayenne
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 avocado, diced
Chopped jalapeño to taste
Chopped cilantro to taste

Instructions
1. If you aren't baking the potatoes ahead of time, wash and poke potatoes and stick them in the microwave, checking every 4 minutes or so.
2. Heat up canned black beans. Add a couple spoons of tomato paste, cumin, salt and some cayenne.
3. Brown the meat in a skillet with some oil. Add smoked paprika, salt, pepper, remaining tomato paste and 1 to 2 chipotle peppers with some of the sauce. Just mash up the chipotle pepper with the spoon and mix it in. The tomato paste should cook a few minutes to caramelize and enhance in flavor.
4. Make a quick "salsa" with diced red onion, jalapeño, cherry tomatoes, lime and cilantro. Add some of the chopped cilantro to the beans.
5. Assemble: Slice potatoes down the middle (can serve 1/2 or whole potato to each person) and mash the inside slightly with a fork. Add some meat and top with black beans, salsa, avocado, cheese and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

This can be as spicy or mild as you want it by reducing or eliminating the peppers. You can also add to or take from the veg in whatever way you want.

For the printable version of this recipe, click here.

Thanks to Vanessa for sharing one of her favorite meals with us! You can follow her on Instagram where she shares tons of mouthwatering foodie photos, scenic travel shots and more. 

Happy eating :)

What Happens on Mondays?

There is definitely a sort of theme or schedule to our days of the week—which I'm currently working to teach the quads, they have learned all the things that happen on particular days but now we need to understand the order!

Sundays we go to church and have lunch with my parents and sometimes one of the kids goes to my parents house for the afternoon and enjoys some one-on-one time. Mondays are school days and the kids attend Mother's Day Out from 8:45am until 4:15pm and it's absolutely glorious. I pick them up and then run an errand or two (sometimes I have my high school gal helping me if she's here), then we do dinner, baths and bed. Tuesdays are stay-at-home days, with the exception of a trip to the gym with the kids, and I try to do a craft or fun project with them. On Wednesday, the quads go to my parents house for the entire day or my parents come here and help me with them the entire day. It's no secret—I look forward to Wednesdays! Thursdays we tend to hang out at the house and sometimes our beloved Jojo comes over for a visit or we make a Target run. My high school helper comes Thursday afternoons from 4-7 when she's available and the kids enjoy playing with her and reading books and watching Frozen. Fridays we go to the gym in the morning for anywhere from one to two hours, sometimes I even tack on a long hot shower in the locker room post-work out while the kids continue to play in the kid's club. They love going and it's a great way for us all to get out of the house and get some exercise. We come home in time for lunch and naps then play in the afternoon until the husband gets home from work. Saturdays are all about family—whether we're lounging around the house together, running errands or enjoying a family outing.

While that's the week in a nutshell, things obviously flex and change depending on what we have going on. Sometimes we visit friends, sometimes we host or attend play dates (usually with our quad buddies), we go on field trips and check out new places, hit up the local park if the weather's nice, stock up on groceries at Tom Thumb or Costo or make impromptu visits to my parents house if we're all coming down with cabin fever.

This particular Monday, the quads went off to school and I came straight home after I dropped them off. I crawled back into bed—something I've never done on their school days—and slept for three solid hours. It was nearly 12:30pm when I woke up! Clearly I needed the sleep and I was grateful to have the opportunity to get it. I stayed up until 1am the night before finishing 12 adorable Mickey Mouse-themed party favor necklaces for my triplet momma friend. She's having a super cute party for her triplets third birthday!

I opted to take myself to a quick lunch at On the Border and crafted my meal plan and grocery list for the week while I ate. I'm making some new recipes shared by a chef friend of mine as well as one from the last issue of Rachael Ray magazine. Will certainly be posting those after I've made them!

From there, I stopped by a cute local boutique I'd been wanting to visit for ages that was just a couple doors down. Everything in there was charming and they offered monogramming on practically every product. I found a stylish "A" gold monogram necklace for $10 and look forward to wearing it soon.

In the same parking lot was Tom Thumb so I got the first half of my grocery list there. Including some hydrangeas, which I've been buying frequently lately because they're always just so pretty and have been on sale for $7 at Tom Thumb the past few weeks. I tend to always buy some flowers when I make my weekly grocery store trip because I enjoy having them in the house to admire.

A stop at the Post Office and the library and I was ready to pick up the kids so I made my way to our church where they also attend MDO. Their teacher paused before she opened the door to let them all out and told me what incredible manners they have and how polite they always are and how much she enjoys having them in her class. She said I was doing a wonderful job with them and I beamed with pride! There's nothing better to hear as a mom than heartfelt compliments from others, especially those who interact with your children on a regular basis.

We loaded up and headed to Costco for the rest of our groceries, since there are a few things that make more sense for us to buy in bulk and I like Costco's food quality and organic offerings. We stocked up on lots of our snack staples for the kids as well as fresh salmon, chicken, beef, fruit and more.

The quads love to help me unload groceries, which means they take everything out of the bags and set most of it on the kitchen counters and some on the floor. It actually doesn't bother me and I find it somewhat helpful because then I can just flit around the kitchen and quickly put things away. But it does look pretty chaotic while it's going on, and then there's the times that they crush a few animal crackers underfoot or Kailey decides to peel all the outer layers off all the onions.

Anytime I am doing grocery shopping in the afternoon, especially with my crew in tow, I plan for a quick and easy dinner. I had picked up a rotisserie chicken while at Costco so we had that for dinner along with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, basmati brown rice, cheese, strawberries and grapes. And momma had one reallllly big glass of wine. Because in that short time that I was getting dinner on the plates, Trystan stuck her face in a candle (it wasn't lit) and licked the soot on the sides of the jar and Logan was walking across the top of the dining table (we've been eating in there more often versus the quad table). Some days, I am most thankful for being able to maintain a sense of humor...

One bathtub full of two year olds, fleece pajamas and four goodnight kisses later, the husband and I cleaned up some of the mess downstairs then he went to the dining room to work (not an uncommon thing lately) and I took up residence on the couch. I'm planning a birthday surprise this Saturday for the husband since his birthday is coming up. He knows we're doing something but has no idea what!

And basically, that's our Monday. Time to refill that wine glass and craft some more jewelry. Just hopefully not until 1am this time. Either way I've got my Spark packet out and ready to drink in the morning so I can stay energized all day. (Shout out to my girl, Jill, for getting me on the bandwagon with a great energy drink!)

Big plans include a trip to the gym and an afternoon showing of Lady and the Tramp, complete with popcorn. I've been getting classic Disney movies from the library and so far the quads have seen (and loved!) Snow White, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. They loved the mice in the latter and Trystan will sometimes break into song with "Cinderelly, Cinderelly..." It's sweeter than sugar.

Back to our weekly schedule...

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday too.
Wednesday, Thursday just for you.
Friday, Saturday that's the end .
Now let's say those days again!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!

(to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")