Fun With Food: Stand 'N Stuff Soft Flour Tortillas

Recently while grocery shopping I found the must have item for any taco night…..Stand ‘N Stuff Soft Flour Tortillas! They are the answer to several problems with taco night, especially for people with little hands.  These shells are basically mini soft shell bowls that stand on their own.  The shells make it easy for everyone to fill their own tacos. 

You simply heat the shells and in the time it takes for them to finishing warming you can prep your fillings. Next, you set out the toppings and wa-laahh BYOM (Build Your Own Meal)! :-D Tyler enjoys helping in the kitchen so this is right up his alley. It also cuts out the time that I normally take to fix his meal and then mine, so on taco nights we're able to sit down at the same time and eat together. 

Tyler's tacos: cheese, steak fajita strips (sold pre-cooked in a package) and salsa. My tacos: sour cream, cheese, lettuce, guacamole, salsa and pan seared scallops. This is the other great thing about taco night, you can easily satisfy the various food critics in your house. Unlike hard shell tacos these don't immediately fall apart as soon as you take the first bite. 

If you and your family enjoy tacos, pick some of these up the next time you are in the grocery store.  I've added these as a kitchen staple. 

Switch Witch: Halloween's newest super hero……for parents!

On Halloween and the day after, Facebook was flooded with cute and awesome pictures of children of all ages (including yours truly) in their Halloween costumes.  As I was scrolling I saw a post that said "For the Switch Witch…" with pictures of a decorated note. When I checked out the details of the note I was introduced to one of the best ideas to get your child to surrender their trick or treating loot…the Switch Witch. I reached out to my friend to ask more about the Switch Witch and their new family tradition. After reading about this, she may soon be one of your family's newest traditions too.

The story of the Switch Witch as shared by Sky:

I first heard of Switch Witch when I lived in Asheville. I didn't have any children then, so I filed the idea away got when I did.   This was the first Halloween my son, Kingston, 3.5, really cared about the candy. He got so much I started to cringe with the thought of endless requests for candy. Knowing the "yes, after lunch, or maybe later" I would reply would surely send him into a whining boy, of which I do not see often. But let's be honest, candy can have that effect on kids (and a few adults I know) (hehehe) (you know who you are).
So it was November 1st, The morning after the big event. I asked him, after breakfast, if he had ever heard of the Switch Witch. He replied "no, who's that?" I said "she's a good witch that switches your candy for a toy. Does that sound like something you might be interested in?" A resounding "YES, I Would!"
We dumped his candy onto the table. I took his candy bucket and said "ok, what candy do you want keep, let's put it in your bucket,"
He set some aside for himself and started a pile for the Switch Witch. His pile was getting bigger so I explained "the more candy, the better the toy"
"Oh, ok." He said. We put just a few pieces in his bucket and put that away for safe keeping.
We got a notepad and I said "ok, let's write her a note telling her what toy you want."
 Then a million question came up, typical for a toddler.
"Where does she live?"
"I don't know!"
"When does she come!"
"When you are sleeping"
"Maybe she will be here in the morning and we can have breakfast with her"
"Maybe, but she has a lot of candy to switch, lots of houses to go to"
"How many"
"More then you can count"
"Wow! She's busy! There's gunna be a lot of happy kids!!"
"Yes there are. You can ask the Switch Witch whatever you want and I will write it down for you,"
"Cool! Thanks mom!"
  We spent a few minutes doing the letter, then he colored on it for decoration.
We put the candy in a bowl with the note.
I think it's an amazing idea. I got him a tow truck toy, per his request, from target ($6.99) and a few small cars (.99 each). The switch witch felt there was a lot of candy to warrant the extra cars (;
Happy boy! Happy mom!
Win! Win!

Halloween Candy Disposal

So, Halloween is over.  After weeks of planning and choosing costumes, decorating houses, school and church activities, Fall Festivals and the most exciting part for kids, Trick or Treating, Halloween is now over.  Probably for the past week your ghouls and goblins have been building a stash of candy, enough and this morning you are looking at it trying to figure out how to get it out of your house.

Earlier this week Tyler had a dental appointment and hanging in the office (Dentistry for Kids) was the above flyer letting us know that their office will buy your Halloween candy ($1 per pound up to 5 pounds) and then send it overseas to the U.S. troops as part of Operation Gratitude, from October 31 - November 15.  The healthy supermarket, Earth Fare, is hosting a TRICK or TRADE-IN this Saturday, November 2, 10 am - 5 pm where you can "trade in your unhealthy candy for a real sweet treat".

Many dental offices offer a candy buy back program so reach out to your dentist or others in your area, this is a win - win for everyone, especially us parents who are bad about raiding our kid's stash.

Giveaway: Advanced Screening Passes for Free Birds

Enter for your chance to win a pair of passes to the advanced screening of Free Birds. You must be a resident of the Charlotte, NC metro area to qualify and be able to attend the screening Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 11:00 am. To view the entry tab you must do so using a computer or a tablet, the entry tab isn't viewable via cellular device. There will be three lucky winners.

Good luck!!!

Free Redbox code

One of the things I enjoy doing the most with Tyler is movie night.  There is nothing more fun than pizza, popcorn, our favorite chocolate treats to put in the popcorn, pajamas and a night enjoying a new adventure or sharing laughs.  Use the code MCPC413S and enjoy a free one night rental from Redbox and have your own movie night.  The code is good until October 23, 2013.

Giveaway: Hungry for Home & What Do Animals Do on the Weekend?

The introduction snippet I posted last week was for the book, Hungry For Home, which believe it or not is a cookbook! Hungry For Home showcases the best of traditional Southern cooking and storytelling, along with recipes brought here from around the world. Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole, Carolina Crab and Mushroom Bisque, Crackling Corn Bread (yes it contains cracklings), Sauteed Collard Greens Brazilian Style and these are just a few of the recipes found in this book.

Have you ever wondered what animals do for fun? During the week they're busy with work and school, but look what they do when the weekend comes.  What Do Animals Do on the Weekend? takes readers on a lively adventure through the alphabet.  Kids and adults can discover together that leopards eat their dinners in trees, Eskimos invented kayaks to hunt whales, and crocodiles can grow to be 20 feet long.

Thanks to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library I have a copy of each book to be given away. Good luck!

Giveaway Teaser!

This is going to be very interesting!  Based on the above snippet of the book introduction, what do you think this book is about?  What is the genre?  This is one of the books that was given to me by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library to give away and I must say that I'm a little sad that I only received one of these because I would love to have one for myself (guess I'll be making a purchase soon).  So comment away, I'm looking forward to seeing the responses.