Happy Halloween! I hope you have more treats than tricks tonight! :)
The finely dressed up Lucky is also known as Puzzle Puppy #659. He's just the right size for our own little black and white doggie (an Italian Greyhound).
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Easy Peasy Shepherd's Pie
A couple weeks ago we went to a local hot-spot restaurant on date-night that is known for their Shepherd's Pie. Unfortunately despite the rave reviews I was underwhelmed with my dinner. So the following week I decided to make my own at home! I only had ground beef but the result was better! My family agreed. :)
Easy Peasy Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
8 red new potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper
1 lb ground beef
1.5 cups diced onion
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup frozen peas & 1 cup frozen carrots (or 2 cups of mixed veggies)
Directions
1. Rinse and cut potatoes into bite-sized chunks and toss with melted butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cover and microwave for 7 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, cook the meat and onion in an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain if needed and return to skillet. Stir in the flour until mixed, about 1 minute. Add the broth and Worcestershire and cook until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in peas and carrots (or mixed veggies) and simmer until heated through, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon each.
3. Scatter the cooked potatoes over the meat and broil until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Note: I didn't have an oven safe skillet so I moved my ingredients to a baking pan for broiling.
Easy Peasy Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
8 red new potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper
1 lb ground beef
1.5 cups diced onion
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup frozen peas & 1 cup frozen carrots (or 2 cups of mixed veggies)
Directions
1. Rinse and cut potatoes into bite-sized chunks and toss with melted butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cover and microwave for 7 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, cook the meat and onion in an oven safe skillet over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain if needed and return to skillet. Stir in the flour until mixed, about 1 minute. Add the broth and Worcestershire and cook until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in peas and carrots (or mixed veggies) and simmer until heated through, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon each.
3. Scatter the cooked potatoes over the meat and broil until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Note: I didn't have an oven safe skillet so I moved my ingredients to a baking pan for broiling.
We may not be a 5-star restaurant but this dish was not too shabby for home cooking. :)
Friday, October 24, 2014
Fisher Price Friday - Tick-Tock Clock
Welcome to Fisher Price Friday! Today I've got a very old toy that is both fun and educational. It's the Musical Tick-Tock Clock #997. Made between 1962-1967 this wooden clock plays the "grandfather's clock" melody with a accompanying tick-tock sound. This clock is over 50 years old but fits just perfectly in our playroom.
I'm not sure what age this toy was originally designed for but my 1st grader can use it to practice telling time and my 3 year old loves the music box and sweet illustrations.
The clock is made of wood with lithographs on all sides. There is a plastic cover over the face and plastic hour/minute hands. The first edition was made between 1962-1963 (as shown). A slightly different version was made from 1964-1967 with a lighter brown color and darker blue sky (similar to the #998 Music Box Teaching Clock).
The clock has the sweetest little characters on it. On the front are happy mice and a smily sun and moon. When the clock is wound (in the back) the red clock hands move around with the music. The red hands can also be manually moved by the knobs in the front. Perfect for helping your kids learn to tell time.
The sky moves showing different illustrations behind a cutout when the music is playing. The illustrations include a little girl taking a bath, a mother and son grocery shopping, grandma reading a story in a rocking chair to a little boy, two kids on a tricycle, little bow peep walking to school with her sheep and lastly a boy waking up with a rooster.
The top has a yellow plastic handle (red on the later edition).
Each side of the clock has the same turquoise lithograph with flowers, a vine and a yellow bird. The back of the lithograph has the same wood grain look as the front, bottom and back.
The back of the clock shows illustrations of every hour with accompanying activities. They have the same six as shown in the front as well as another six as shown above.
For more Fisher Price Clocks Check Out:
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Riceworks House Party
On a recent beautiful thursday morning I met my friends at a playground for another House Party! This time I hosted a riceworks party with lots of (free) goodies to share!
My prize pack included 6 bags of rice chips with interesting flavors like: Sundried Tomato, Salsa Fresca, Sweet Chili, Sea Salt & Black Sesame, Black Japonica Rice and Sea Salt. They also included cups with straws/lids, coupons, magnetic note pads and best of all....chip clips! We always need chip clips so they were the big winner. :)
Initially I thought the chips would just be for the adults but the kids loved ALL of the flavors too. We passed the bags around one at a time and then voted for which flavor we liked the best.
Sweet chili won top award followed closely by Salsa Fresca.
Happy kids, happy moms!
Thanks House Party and riceworks.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Fisher Price Friday - Hey Diddle Diddle
I have more music for you today on Fisher Price Friday. It's the Hey Diddle Diddle Double Screen TV Music Box #196. That is a long name! Not to be confused with Mary Had a Little Lamb Double Screen TV Music Box #195 (1965-1968) which is the same size but yellow instead of turquoise. Both are designed for children ages 2-6. My 3 year old loves it!
Made from 1964-1970 this "tv" music box is a realistic looking television shape with knobs, antenna and screen. The large knob winds the music box and the two smaller knobs make clicking noises. The top of the antenna has a yellow wooden bead on it.
It has a turquoise and white plastic body and a white wood base and plays "Hey Diddle Diddle" while drawings of familiar nursery rhymes pass by.
The box has an extra feature of having a "peek-a-boo" screen on the top of the box. This smaller screen is closer to the size of the familiar "radio" toys and also has drawings going by as the music plays.
Each side of the music box has the same lithograph of the cow jumping over the moon, spoon running with the dish, cat and the fiddle, etc. Basically everything in the Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme!
There was an alternative version made only in 1964 which had Mother Goose, Mary and her Lamb, a school, boy, girl and a castle.
But not as happy as this little girl!
For More Music Boxes Check Out:
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