Up North Mommy

Works for me: Taco Bake

I started making one of my favorite recipes of all time just a few weeks ago. I was perusing allrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites of all time, and found this recipe for taco bake. It's used as an entree, and it's one everyone in my family loves.  Even my husband makes leftovers the following day and he very rarely ever does that.

So this is what you'll need for a great family friendly meal that's fast and sure to please everyone.

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef - I use ground sirloin or the leanest ground beef I can find.
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 16 oz can of refried beans
1 16 oz jar of salsa - I use mild because I don't want steam coming out of my kids' ears.
1 package (2 cups) of shredded taco cheese

Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips and/or soft taco shells.

Preheat your oven to 325-350 degrees. Brown your ground beef in a skillet. Add the taco seasoning. I don't use the whole amount of water as the seasoning mix instructs. Instead, I use just enough so the beef is coated evenly but isn't dry.  Pour the ground beef into a 9 x 13 pan.  Spread a layer of refried beans over the ground beef (I warm up the beans so they're easier to spread).  Pour the salsa over the refried beans and spread it evenly.  Spread the entire package of cheese evenly over the salsa.

Bake until the cheese is melted. What's nice about this recipe is that it doesn't require the traditional utensils except those needed to serve the taco bake and the sour cream. Your kids will enjoy using the tortilla chips as their utensils to eat it.  Or you can put it into a soft taco shell and eat it that way, which is the method I prefer.

This is a complete yummy meal that your family will ask for over and over again.

Works for me: home made dog biscuits

A few weeks ago, my brother's girlfriend, Kathryn, sent me, via my parents, a Ziploc bag full of dog biscuits that she made herself as a present for our new Great Dane puppy Sarah and our Golden Retriever Sammy.  I was so impressed that she went out of her way to find a recipe and make them for us.   They're made with oatmeal and whole wheat flour, which makes them really healthy.  Sarah and Sammy love them.

What I especially like about them is that they're soft and breakable so I can give small pieces as treats for housebreaking Sarah.   

I don't know what recipe Kathryn used but I found this really useful YouTube video instruction (it's in four parts) for training treats (I, personally, prefer them larger) with all kinds of ingredients for healthy skin.

Here's part 1

Here's part 2

Man, I need to get myself one of  those Magic Bullets. They are so cool!

Here's part 3

Here's part 4

Works for me: getting my daughter to walk in her walker

Little Miss Throwsafit got her walker a couple of weeks back. We're working on walking in her physical therapy sessions, but there are times when she just doesn't want to do it. She's not being outright defiant or difficult; walking is hard work for her so getting her to do it requires a lot of motivation on her part, and like the rest of us, there are days when she's just not motivated. 

Take Monday, for example. When Denise, her Early On physical therapist tried to get Little Miss Throwsafit to walk, she refused. So we turned it into a game.   LMT is most likely to walk if she can walk to me,  so I said, "let's play follow the leader." I started marching and singing. Normally she wants to see my face, but this time, she had a grand time walking, laughing, and singing as she followed me. I  marched from one end of the living room to the other and then back again with LMT in tow.  Then I marched through the kitchen, into the livery, out onto the deck, and into the yard (of course we were moving pretty slowly. Each step takes a lot of work for her). She was thrilled to follow. And she loved that she got to walk in the grass, which was a first for her.

I then said, "You be the leader!" And I followed her for a little bit. She thought that was hysterical and tried to march like I did.

When all was said and done, Little Miss Throwsafit walked further than she ever had before. She was exhausted by the time we our session was through, but she had a great time. And she earned a peanut butter cookie for her efforts. 

Works for me: combating summer boredom

Today, Shannon has a theme for Works for Me Wednesday: how to fight summer boredom.  I have a five year old and I have not yet heard the words "I'm bored!" But that doesn't mean I'm not ready for them. 

We own a canoe livery and fly shop, and our season begins the first week of May and goes to the last week in October, so if my son ever comes to me and says he's bored, he gets put to work.  There's a lot that can be done. He can assist our employees as they work on repairing canoes by handing them tools or he can sweep the deck outside. He can also help with keeping the barn clean.

The reality is, as he gets older, the more responsibility he will take on.  When he's a teenager, he can help load and unload canoes, kayaks, tubes, and rafts.  He certainly won't be bored by the time we're done with him.

Works for me: small town living

I'm so late for Works for me Wednesday.  Sorry! By the way, I love the new WFMW image, so I'm using it in place of the older one.

Earlier today I went for a walk in my small town.  As I was power walking down one of the streets, one of our employees, Courtney, and her grandmother, Sue, drove up and stopped to talk.  They had just come back from the Cutting Castle, a local salon, where Sue got her hair cut and Courtney got her eyebrows waxed.

"You got your eyebrows done?"

"Yeah, it was like $7.00"

"Really? I didn't know they did that.  I'll have to stop by and make an appointment."

After a little bit more small talk, we said our goodbyes and I got back to the business of power walking.  I turned a corner and saw the Cutting Castle just down the road. Man, I hadn't realized how far I had walked.  I made a bee line for the salon to make an appointment.

When I walked in, I told Linda, the owner, about my conversation with Courtney and her grandmother.

"Actually, Chris can do your eyebrows right now."

"But I don't have any cash on me. I'm just out walking."

Linda shrugged and said, "No problem. You can pay when you bring your daughter in for her hair cut later today."

So I got my eyebrows done right then and there. It took just a few minutes, and I was off and walking again.

As I was heading back home, I thought, "I love living in a small town."

It works for me.

Works for me: Sarah's on a routine

As I've written about the past few days, we have a new puppy in our household. We now have Sarah, our 8 week old Great Dane puppy.  So far, she's doing great with only one little hiccup, which occurred Sunday evening. That's when she nipped Little Man on the cheek.  At first we were freaked out. But after a conversation with the breeder and our vet's office and a good night's sleep, we determined that Sarah was simply overwhelmed and overstimulated. That, combined with a five year old boy who's still learning how to play with an 8 week old puppy, is what led to what we now call "the nipping." 

As a result, I decided the best way to prevent that from happening again is to put Sarah on a routine, much like I did with our kids, and strict obedience training. So from Monday morning forward, we have implemented this routine for our newest addition:

1. First thing in the morning, I take her out of her crate and take her outside to go potty. I go out the door before Sarah because I'm in charge of her and she has to know that.  Our Golden Retriever, Sammy, always gets to go outside before Sarah, too, as does anyone else who's going  outside with us so she knows she's submissive to them as well. 
2. Then she comes in to eat breakfast.
3. She plays a bit in the kitchen/computer room area only.
4. She goes outside again. While we're outside, we work on obedience training, like sitting when I want her to sit.  Come when I want her to come. Heeling. Sitting again.
5. She comes inside, where she has to sit and stay in the sun room until I say she can move.
6. She plays a little more.
7. She then goes back into her crate for her nap.

Then we start the whole thing over again. It's been two full days since we implemented this routine, and she's doing so well. She was a very good puppy before the routine, and she's an even better and happier one now.   

We're thrilled with the results, so a puppy routine works for me.

Works for me: Listerine Smart Rinse

This past Easter, I put together Easter baskets for Little Man and Little Miss Throwsafit. Littlest One was too young to have any idea what was going on.  In addition to a little bit of candy, like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs (I just LOVE them), jelly beans, Hershey Kisses, etc, I stuffed their baskets with things that wouldn't rot their teeth out of their heads. I got them fun toothbrushes, fun toothpaste, toys, games, etc. Little Man got a Spiderman toothbrush and Spiderman toothpaste. Little Miss Throwsafit got a Disney princess toothbrush and trainer toothpaste.  They were more excited about that stuff than they were about the candy. (I know. I have weird kids.) I also put a bottle of Listerine Smart Rinse in Little  Man's basket.  He didn't have any interest in it at first, so it sat on the corner of the sink for several months.  Last week, though, I opened it up and used it myself. I made funny swishy noises that he thought were silly. Naturally he had to try it.  Since then, the past couple of weeks or so, he's been diligent in using it. He loves how it tastes.  I like it because it's a bit of extra help as he learns how to brush his teeth thoroughly.

So, Listerine Smart Rinse works for me.

Works for me: Low sugar cake

I love cake, but I don't make it much because it's not a very healthy thing to eat. But I love it nonetheless. However, when my mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she returned from the grocery store with Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Devils Food cake mix and Vanilla Frosting, both of which were made with Splenda.

It was really good. The cake was very light and moist. The frosting had a slightly different texture to it, but it was very yummy.  And it satisfied a craving that I had been denying myself because I'm trying to lose weight. But with a cake mix that has 50% less sugar, I won't need to deny myself. 

So I made another cake today, and I'm looking forward to cutting into it.