Tuesday, January 22, 2013

MOPS's Night Out

Who needs a girl's night out, yes please!  Come this Friday, January 25th at 6:30 pm!  We will be meeting at Debbie Odom's house, 618 Teal Circle, Longmont  for a movie and fondue night.  The movie (a chick flick of course) will start at 7:30.  We will provide the fondue if you could just bring something to dip (like veggies or bread for the cheese OR fruit or cookies for the chocolate) .  Can't wait, hope you can come!

Monday, January 21, 2013

MOPS Meeting Reminder - 1/22/2013


Hi Ladies!  Hope everyone is surviving the flu season ok!  I'm super excited for our meeting tomorrow.  Our own Courtney Greedy, a nutrition expert, is speaking on how to teach our kids to eat healthily.  The only veggie my child eats is broccoli, so I can't wait for some tips!

TOPIC:  "Creating Kids That Crave Veggies".  

FOOD: Kelly's Table - Oatmeal Bar

Hope to see you guys Tuesday!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Snow Fun & Pumpkin Bread

Winter is here and you may find yourself indoors more often now. There are some great indoor activities you can do with your children. 

One of our favorites is when it snows my boys like to make snow ice cream. You can find lots of good recipes on the internet but this one uses stuff you will most likely already have in the house.http://allrecipes.com/recipe/snow-ice-cream-ii/ 

Another fun thing when it snows is to take some old spray bottles and fill them up with colored water and then go let the kids make art in the snow. 

Those are just two options but some others include to go out and measure the snow with the kids or to bring snow inside and see how long it takes to melt.

Some moms also asked me for my pumpkin bread recipe that I brought to the meeting yesterday so here it is. It is gluten free.  It comes from Gluten Free Baking Classics Cookbook

Pumpkin Bread Recipe- makes  one loaf or three 5x3 inch loaves or muffins

1 3/4 cups of Brown Rice Flour Mix (listed below)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon xantham gum
34 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1/4 cup of water
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup of pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease pans

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, xantham gum, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves together in large mixing bowl of electric mixer. 

Combine eggs, water, oil, molasses and pumpkin in a separate bowl. Whisk to blend

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well blended. Do not overheat. 

Bake 45-55 minutes for loaves and 20-25 for muffins (time may vary for different sized loaves). 

I love to keep mine in the fridge but usually it doesn't last that long in my house haha. 

Brown rice flour mix recipe

2 cups Brown Rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1/3 cup tapioca flour


Enjoy!

Kim Mowat

Monday, January 7, 2013

What to do with all those Christmas cards.

I have this huge pile of Christmas cards just waiting to be put somewhere.  Every year it's the same thing-keep them for a few weeks after Christmas and eventually toss them.  But this year I really don't want to do that.  So I've looked for a few creative ways to preserve our Christmas cards from friends and family.

My favorite quick and easy idea I found was this:

Take a picture of each Christmas card with your phone and add it to that persons contact info.  Then you can see their lovely picture every time they call.  Plus you still can toss all the cards, but not feel so bad about it:)


This idea was found here: http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2011/12/19/the-creative-lighting-struck/

I think it's pretty genius!

The other idea I love is also easy, but a bit more intentional.  

Punch a hole in the corner of all your Christmas cards, put a ring through and viola.  You have a prayer journal.  Pick a different card each day or week and pray for that family with your kids.  Then toss the cards as they've been prayed for.  A simple way to be reminded that our friends and family should be prayed for.  Also a great way to show our kids who their second cousins, in-law, three times removed is:)



The idea for this was found here:

http://www.honeybearlane.com/2011/12/christmas-card-booklet-by-sara-sarah.html

This next idea is sorta cheesy, but mostly cute.

Cut Christmas cards into smaller sizes, then arrange and glue together to form the shape of a wreath.  You can use it for years to come and it would make a nice decoration.  Here's the link with directions:

http://eco-activista.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-to-do-with-christmas-cards.html

So go on now...do something fun with your Christmas cards.  And please share any other ideas you have!

~Emily




Sunday, January 6, 2013

MOPS Meeting Reminder - 1/8/2013


Happy New Year!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas!  This Tuesday, come in comfy clothes because we are having a SPA DAY!  If your holiday break was anything like mine, this couldn't come at a better time.  We'll do mani/pedi's, facials, and some extra surprises :)  The Steering Team will provide food.  Can't wait to see everyone!