I hate Silly Bandz

I hate Silly Bandz. It is amazing that a small rubber band can generate such a strong emotion. Since the first time I heard about these things, I have disliked them immensley. I have not menitoned them to my daughters and am lucky that they are young enough to have not been introduced to them by their peer group. I have been dreading Ainsley's start of Kindergarten next year, in part because of her inevitable introduction to these bands.

Initially my dislike was because I could see what would happen if the girls started bringing these things home. There would be silly bandz everywhere in our house. I would find them in my bed, my purse, my drawers, on the floor, on countertops. The silly bandz would be everywhere. I envision my days spent picking up the bandz that I have stepped on and I really do not want to have to deal with these things all the time.

Yeseterday I went out for breakfast with a girl friend who told me a story that now has given me a more official and understandable reason to ban silly bandz from my house. Her daughter woke up in the middle of the night crying and complaining that her legs hurt. It turns out that she had put the silly bandz around her thigs and they were cutting off the circulation to the rest of her leg. If she had not told her mom that she was wearing silly bandz under her pyjama pants, who knows what would have happened but the implications are pretty serious.

The thought of these things potentially harming my child, in addition to being just plain annoying, has made me realize that we will not be a silly bandz household. I really hope that this craze has ended before September because for now, I have not had to fight this battle.

Menu Plan - May 23rd to May 29

Below is this week's menu plan. All recipes are from Rose Reisman's cookbook "Family Favourites".

Tip: When planning your weekly meals, take note of which recipes need to be made in advance. Some recipes require refridgeration or marination before completing.

Girls Day Out

A few weeks ago I got to spend the whole weekend alone with my youngest, Juliet. She is almost 2 1/2 which meant that she was finally old enough to have a girls day out with her mom. I planned a super-special day for us and we both had a wonderful time.

We started out going to music class where we got cookies afterwards (lucky girl).





Then we headed home for a nap (busy day needs meant we needed a well-rested mommy and daughter). Then we went off to Vaughan Mills to Build-A-Bear. Juliet had a great time picking her bear, stuffing the bear and then choosing the outfit.



We then took a quick trip to Homesense to get hangars for her closet. A chore I know but she had a great time anyway.



We then headed over to Boston Pizza for dinner.



Juliet did not want to leave. I did not want the day to end. It was so much fun for both of us. It's always nice to have a day alone with each of my girls so they can have my undivided attention.

Menu Plan - May 16 - May 22

Okay, the week is almost half way over but I will post this week's menu plan. I promise to try and post next week's sooner!

So far the recipe's from Rose Reisman's "Secrets for Permanent WEight Loss" have been wonderful. I made the mashed cauliflower tonight for us and my brother and he could not believe it was cauliflower and there was no dairy in it!

Next Week's Menu Plan

Okay, it is time to bite the bullet and start eating healthy before swim suit season starts! Luckily, I have just received and advanced copy of "The Organized Family Menu Planner" and can do it right! Below is my plan for next week. Now I just have to stick with it!

Weekly Menu Plan

If you've read any of my previous posts, you would know that every week I do our family menu plan. I've decided to go ahead and post what I plan each week as I've had a number of people ask me what we're having for dinner and it's always nice to see what other families are eating. I love sharing food ideas and love experimenting so I hope my posts will inspire your meal planning.

This weeks meals include:

Monday - Tomato, green onion and cheese omletes with Seafood Soup. The omelete is from scratch and the soup is a frozen President's choice meal.

Tuesday - Crunchy Cheddar Fish Strips and Seared, Steamed and Glazed Green Beans. Both recipes are from Marlene Koch's "Eat What You Love" Cookbook

Wednesday - Garlic Lime Chicken and Curried Cabbage. Both recipes are also from "Eat What You Love"

Thursday - Smothered Steak Burgers with Mushroom Gravy and Quick "Pickle" Chips. Also from "Eat What You Love"

Friday - Stir-Fried Vegetables with Udon Noodles. I like to make this from scratch and throw any left over vegetables into the wok along with the Udon noodles and soya sauce or teriyaki.

Saturday - Tuna Noodle Casserole from "Eat What You Love"

Sunday - Mother's Day. Menu is not my responsibility today.

My love for throwing Dinner Parties

Now that the girls are getting older, I am much more comfortable sending them over to my parents and in-laws for a sleepover. What this means for us, in addition to a sleep in, is that we can finally start hosting dinner parties again.

Pre-motherhood, I used to love hosting dinner parties. I love the whole ritual of planning the menu and then getting flowers and other specials touches to accent the evening. What I love most about dinner parties is the adult conversation, good food and wine.

We recently hosted a dinner party for some friends, one of which I went to high-school with who I re-connected with after Ainsley was born. This particular couple had no allergies or food-dislikes so I was able to go outside of my regular cooking comfort zone and planned an Israeli themed dinner.



Bonnie Stern has put together a fabulous book called Friday Night Dinners where she maps out the perfect menu for a many number of dinners such as Israeli, Greek, Passover, etc. This book is great because it saves you the guess work if you want to try a different type of cuisine. Her menus includes everything starting with drinks, appetizers, salad, main course and ends with dessert.

For our Israeli themed dinner, we started the night with Pomtinis (Pomegranate martinis), then had lamb/beef kebobs on cinnamon sticks. We had left-overs of these and the girls loved eating their "mini-burgers" on sticks.



Our main meal consisted of a Chicken Tagine, couscous, salad and the most AMAZING grilled eggplant with Tahine. I was blown away by the recipes (especially the eggplant recipe, which I have since made three more times). The food was outstanding and the whole meal was pretty easy to cook.



I cannot wait to plan our next dinner party! In the meantime, my family will be happy as I try out more new recipes from this cookbook. Yum!