You Need to Know These Things

Some of you are new to the blog.
Some of you have been reading from day one.
Some of you are friends, and just catch up every now and then.
Even if I know you in person, there are probably a lot of things that you don't know about me....
Like...

• I've always wanted brown hair. Like my cousin Elise. But I've never been brave enough to try it. I want a chocolate brown.
• I don't like pizza. Or eggs. Or lasagna.
• I love ruffles.
• I feel very passionate about the work that the Junior League of Winston-Salem has done for the community. I love all of my time spent with that organization. LOVE it.
• I wear flip flops all year round.
• I wear hooded sweatshirts all year round.
• I am wearing a pair of flip flops and a hooded sweatshirt right now.
• I love ruffles. (I just realized I typed this twice. Must be pretty important, so I left it in.)
• I want to eat ice cream every day. My favorite kind is the now-extinct One Sweet Whirled by Ben and Jerry's.
• If my house was on fire and I could only grab one thing, it would be my baby blanket (after the kids and dog. duh.).
• I've spent most of my life addicted to diet dr pepper. That's an understatement.
• Last year I gave up soda forever. Hardest thing I've ever done. But now I don't really miss it.
• All of my kids were born on their due date.
• I love Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson and Phil Collins.
• I've met Oprah.
• I've met Quin Snyder. You probably don't know who that is but it was a lot more exciting for me than meeting Oprah.
• We just got satellite tv. For the first time since Anna Jane has been a baby we have more than 14 channels. I've spent a lot of time in the last 2 weeks watching General Hospital and Beverly Hills 90210.
• I love my high school. It is a stellar academic institution. I wish I could send my kids there. We are too far. And too poor.
• I'm good at catering but not good at hosting. So if you come to a party at my house, you will find me hiding in the kitchen.
• I trained for a half marathon but sustained a stress fracture a week and a half before my race. So 12 miles was my longest run. Not long enough to stick one of those 13.1 bumper stickers on my car.
• Anna Jane is named after my mom (Joanna) and my mother in law (Jane).
• I love carbs.
• I can count on one hand how many times I've slept through the night over the past 7-8 years. Doesn't have anything to do with the kids.
• I love Herve Chapelier bags. I WEAR THEM OUT. One time I was looking through my bag for something to write with and pulled out a raw sweet potato. It didn't surprise me but it surprised the friend I was sitting next to. And she's a chef. How has she never found a raw vegetable in the bottom of her bag?
• I used to be a rock star.
• I was the leading scorer on my college field hockey team. If you were on my team, you realize why I feel like this was a big deal.
• I hate to wash dishes by hand. It's gross.
• Some of my favorite ingredients are almond extract, coconut milk, and basil.
• I saw John Mayer play at Ziggy's. There were maybe 100 people there. He was so much calmer before anyone knew who he was.
• I've never lived in an apartment. I bought a house straight out of the dorm.
• I cried with joy the day I got my kitchenaid mixer. At a bridal shower. From my mom.
• My sister is tall and has brown eyes and is outgoing. I am short and have blue eyes and keep to myself. We went to the same college and people were always surprised to find out we were sisters.
• Nothing makes me feel better than having a suntan.
• I need to transform my basement into a sewing studio. NEED to.
• One of my greatest friends from home conducted our wedding ceremony and baptized two of our kids. We can't wait to see how the third kid turns out.
• My favorite flower is the peony.
• I love bluegrass music.
• I declined my invitation to become a debutante, I pull the skin off of fried chicken and throw it in the trash, and I order unsweet tea at restaurants. Other than that, I'm a pretty good southerner.

It's funny what comes to mind when you decide to share things with people.
Did you know any of these things about me?

Meatless Monday - Don't Forget!

Send me your meatless recipes! As soon as you can!

I will compile them and then give you access to everyone else's!

And don't forget to link to my blog...

<a href="http://classiccampbell.blogspot.com/search/label/meatless"><img width="200px" src=" http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s272/carriesue425/Pink%20and%20Polka%20Dot/squarePPDBLOGbutton.png " /> </a>

Just 8 more followers and someone will win the Food Matters book! Click on the little "f" at the end of the post to stick this on your facebook page. Or you can link to one of the other Meatless Monday entries and entice readers with one of your favorite recipes so far!

I will keep collecting recipes through the weekend, September 19th. Don't get left out of the fun!

New Ritual

We've always scribbled on the protective paper on top of the table in the doctor's office. We've drawn dinos, pizzas, houses, family members...

This is the first time we've written a story.




me: Once upon a time
her: ther was a catrpilr.
me: He went on a walk and saw
her: a panda at the zoo.
me: The panda's name was George.

It was a short wait.

To be continued.

Lunch Box Fun - Cheese Garden

Wilson - I loved my cheese garden!!

Yes, tough as nails Wilson loved the cheese garden I packed in his lunch box. After reading my last lunch box post, a couple people asked about getting kids to eat their veggies. I've got lots of tricks. Here is a quick one and I will share more later...

Slice a block of cheese and a cucumber into nice, thick slices.



Use a cookie cutter or a knife to slice the cheese into flower shapes. They can even be round, square or triangles. If you call them flowers, they will look like flowers.



Next, cut a "V" out of the cucumbers. Take out a couple of uncooked spaghetti noodles and break them into pieces a few inches long.



Use the spaghetti noodle to connect the cheese and the cucumber. If you make these the night before or they sit in a lunch box for a long time, the noodle will get soft, so either lie them flat in the lunch box or warn your sweetie that the flower will likely wilt while waiting for lunch. Regardless of that sad fact, it is so much safer than using a toothpick. For young children or adults. Just ask Steven Anderson...



A Cheese Garden!



I do have some hints for packing celery and carrots...and unlike the cheese garden there is more than just cosmetics involved...I can actually make them taste better! I'll get to that in the next couple of days.

Don't forget our Meatless Recipe Collection...I've already received reader recipes, and I can't wait to get more! Remember, you will only gain access to others' recipes if you submit one yourself. The more submissions, the bigger and better collection, so link to classic campbell on your facebook page and invite all of your friends to follow the blog for a chance to win Food Matters!

Meatless Monday Recipe Collection and a Giveaway!

I've gotten a good response from Meatless Monday so far. Lots of people are incorporating at least one meatless day into their week. And are happy about it!
I'm having fun trying new recipes and sharing the good ones with you. I know that you probably have some recipes too that would improve our Meatless Monday lives, so let's share!

Last year I organized submitted recipes from readers and each reader who gave me a recipe got access to everyone else's recipe...kind of a prize for participating! This year's recipe collection will be your favorite meatless main dish. I'm going to include several (or lots) of my recipes that have made my family super-happy at meal time.

If you want to participate in the recipe exchange, email me a meatless recipe by September 15: kaelle78(at)yahoo(dot)com

I will send out reminders between now and then.Take one of my broccoli buttons from the sidebar to let your blog readers know what's for dinner on Monday!



Share the idea of cutting back on meat in your diet with your friends and family. Choose one day a week and make it meatless. Save the world. Direct all you know to my blog and we could end up with a collection of really yummy dinners to serve on Meatless Monday (or Thursday or...everyday...).

And one more thing: I've been reading Food Matters, the book I mentioned a while back by Mark Bittman. If we can hit 100 followers of the blog, I will giveaway one of these books on September 15th. Tell me your favorite vegetable in the comment section and you will be entered to win. Tell me you are a follower and you will be entered twice. Become a follower and you will also be entered twice. (Let me know how to contact you if you win! Especially if you are anonymous!)

Mmmmm. I love to eat.

Happy Birthday to Papa

I'd Make a Great Neighbor

The house next door to us is for sale.

Credit

Casey? Emily?

I know you're in the market!

Lindsey? Catherine? Elise? Cameron?

I know you're happy where you are, but I miss you terribly and would like to have you next door.

I'd babysit your kids, cook your breakfast, mop your floors, water your plants, deliver your mail, deliver your take-out, bring you to church, sign you up in the Junior League, share my internet, wash your cars, hem your pants, mow your grass, charm your colleagues, iron your clothes, pressure wash your driveway, read your bedtime stories, sort your mail, scrub your sinks, and walk your dog.

And if you all want to take me up on the offer, then the overflow friends can live in my basement.

Okay?

Let's get this house sold!

credit

Lunch Box Fun - Magic Apples

My kids will eat just about anything I put in their lunch boxes. And I do feel sorry for them when I walk by their table and their lunch neighbor has Doritos and Oreos and Lunchables and Fruit Punch and Cheetos and white Powdered Donuts and somewhere under that pre-packaged, processed, painfully expensive pile of empty calories is maybe a sandwich. But maybe not*.

My kids eat veggies and they LOVE fruit. But also let me reassure you that if they had a lunch box filled with all of the above, they would eat that and love it too. Then they would ask for more. So we don't have a lot of junk food in the house because they would eat it all. If they could beat Dave to the pantry.

Because of preschool regulations, Wilson has to have a dairy, a protein, a vegetable, and a fruit. So I pack that way for all of my kids. It's healthy, they eat it. End of story. But just because they are healthy, not-fussy eaters doesn't mean that they don't deserve a little excitement in their lunch box. I've got lots of ideas for playing with healthy foods....Here's one:

Magic Apples



I can stick an apple in their bag and they will eat it just fine. But every now and then, we slice one...



Lay them in a single layer...



Sprinkle some magic dust...



Also known as this...



And snuggle them up next to a bagel (with cream cheese for Wilson, cream cheese and jelly for Anna Jane. Though Anna Jane consistently asks for a bagel with jelly and honey. What a sugary mess! Dave is the only one who falls for that one).



We keep our magic in this cute magic shaker. I got it for a wedding present. It had a twin, but it got lost in the last 8 years. Guess it was afraid we were going to fill it with salt. Or pepper. Now it's missing a life full of magic shaking. Poor thing.



I think apples taste better this way (really, I do). So maybe your school-ager will too. And of course they can sprinkle the magic themselves. But not slicing. Please don't let them slice!


*I don't judge you for packing these things. Really I don't.