Random Mommy Follow-Ups

Top 100 Finger Foods

H is a picky eater. I don't know why, but the kid who would eat everything in sight (even kimchee!) did an abrupt 180 when he turned two. Other than breakfast foods, he would only eat plain rice and tofu, spaghetti, pizza and macaroni and cheese. Shortly before his third birthday, he discovered chicken nuggets at his friend Chip's house and that was added to his repertoire. Sometime during the year he's eaten turkey sandwiches and cheeseburgers on occasion, but everything has to be plain, absolutely no sauce of any kind. After yet another meal where he took a bite of the food, immediately gagged and spit everything out, I yelled out loud, "I give up! Only chicken nuggets and macaroni for you!" At that moment, the doorbell rang. It was a package delivery. I opened the box and inside were the two Annabel Karmel books for this month's Silicon Valley Moms Book Club. I thought, "Wow, God has a sense of humor." I posted about the Top 100 Baby Purees here, but I definitely wanted to post about the Top 100 Finger Foods as well.

I flipped through and found the Checklist for First Finger Foods on page 7. One of the suggestions was to flatten bread when making sandwiches so it's easier for the child to eat it. Umm...hello? Why didn't I ever think of this? It seems so obvious after you read it, but I'd never done it. Some bread loaves are cut really wide, with pieces that are definitely too fat for a toddler to fit two plus filling in his mouth. The next time I made the boys sandwiches, I followed this suggestion, and, voila, H ate his entire sandwich. R still managed to take it apart and only eat the turkey inside, but at least it worked for one kid.

I loved the tortilla pizza recipe on page 28 and decided to tackle that next. Success! I think I never thought about making this version of pizza because H has previously rejected quesadillas and this seems like an open face quesadilla with sauce, but H ate it up like it was going out of style. R loved it and so did Stewart! There are so many other ideas and recipes that the boys might like that actually seem doable for a not kitchen-gifted person like me. I loved Annabel Karmel's First Meals, but I think the Top 100 Finger Foods book is my new favorite. I did not receive compensation for this post. I received a copy of the book to facilitate my review.


CSN Stores

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to pick an item for review at the CSN Stores and its myriad of web stores. These websites offer the convenience of aggregating anything you need for your house so you don't have to go to 10 different stores or websites to find choices. I wanted to do a search for toy storage because that's something we've been having issues with in our house. A staggering 345 different choices came up when I clicked on the toy boxes link, everything from wood to plastic to chenille. I could arrange them according to popularity and price point. The toy chests ranged from a high-end model at $1,800 to the basic toy caddy at $25. I picked this plastic model because I thought it could withstand the abuse of my toddlers and I liked the fact that it was safety tested and assembled in the USA. Most things on the site seem to come with free shipping and so did the toy organizer I chose. When we received it, I tried to put it together, but it required more arm strength than I had, so we waited for Stewart to get home. After he showed off his big man guns to screw in the pieces, I put it to use. You can see from the before and after pictures that the organizer was a big improvement. Pretty good for $33.99. I will be reporting the value of this product according to FCC guidelines.


Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel review

The boys and I finally got a chance to watch The Squealquel together. It was a cute movie with enough plot to keep adults interested. I think the Chipmunks and the Chipettes and their singing and dancing were the aspects that appealed to the boys. My favorite part was the talent competition at the end (spoiler alert). I think the entire condo complex heard me screaming. First when the all-Asian male dance troupe Quest Crew - the winners of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew season 3 - appeared on the screen. Then when Charice (she's also featured on the soundtrack) appeared as a contestant in the talent competition. I'm sorry, but if it were "real life" I don't think the Chipmunks and Chipettes would have won against these two acts. Mad props to the producers for featuring two Asian performer/groups in the movie. I've never seen that in any other non-martial arts or Asian movie.

I'm so glad we got to see the movie together as a family so I could share in H's first movie experience. I wish we would have been able to attend the fun event this past Saturday at a pre-season exhibition game at Dodgers Stadium, where Alvin, Simon and Theodore took over to celebrate the recent 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray Disc and DVD release with pre-game activities. Alas, H and R were denied their opportunity to shake their groove thing with the Chipmunks due to a prior commitment that I ended up having to cancel anyway due to my inability to move a muscle without coughing up a lung (going into week 3 of upper respiratory infection!). I did get these fun photos of the Chipmunks with Manager Joe Torre (who I followed to LA when he left the Yankees!) and Pitcher Ramon Troncoso. Looks like Theodore has the most Dodgers spirit!

I did not receive compensation for this post. I received a review copy of the DVD to facilitate my review.