Free day at the Childrens' Museum

Yesterday was Target free Tuesday at our local childrens' museum, Imagine It!. Because free Tuesday doesn't start until 1pm, this is the first time I've been brave enough to go. Nap time is precious time in my household, and a small baby plus no nap usually equals disaster. But, with the boys getting bigger, I thought this might be the month. It proved to be a fabulous outing! We had so much fun. I can't wait until next month.

Fishing (with magnet) proved a big hit.

As was dress up. Everyone wishes they were a fireman.

This crane is way cool, and Will was so excited when it was his turn to pull all the ropes and turn the steering wheel.

Special Curious George exhibit. As Will said, "it's my favorite little monkey!"

And we ended the day with a piece of cake celebrating the bloggy birthday of Field Trips with Sue. If you haven't discovered this blog, it's WONDERFUL! She has all sorts of great things to do with kids all over Atlanta, lots of them free or low-cost. I majorly heart FTWS!

Eating from the pantry

A couple of weeks ago, I read a blog that had a passing mention of curried fruit. And, man, that sounded gooooood. I grew up with the dish, and I hadn't had it in years. Literally years. It's not a big fancy Indian curry. No, this is good south Georgia curry. Mild and tasty. Similar to the curry found in chicken salad or country captain. It was usually a side dish to ham or poultry. Sometimes, my mom would take it to covered dish.

And, then, yesterday, I spent the day with my wonderful mom, and she mentioned that she had made curried fruit recently. But, she took it up a notch. She served it as dessert, with ice cream! That did it. I had to have it. Absolutely, no questions about it.

So, I dived into the pantry to see what I could find.

The freezer held this ice cream that was missing just a small amount. I don't even think I want to know how that happened, but I was happy to see it.

I was able to unearth a can of peaches and a can of crushed pineapple. That would do.

Delicious!!

Hot Curried Fruit
adapted from First Baptist and Friends Sharing our Best, Dawson, GA

Canned fruit (I used 2 cans, but you can use up to 4 or 5, including pears, apricots, cherries, peaches, pineapple, etc)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp curry powder (nothing fancy here...just grocery store McCormick is best)

Melt butter in glass dish in the oven at 350. When melted, stir in sugar and curry powder until well mixed. Add fruit, well drained, and mix. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

New Years, our kind of way

My big boy has taken to saying "my kind of way" for anything that he really likes. We've encouraged (with just decent, not great, success) him to sleep until 7:00 in the morning, so he says that "7:00 is my kind of time, Mama!!!" When the dog is being nice, "Mama, Pete is my kind of dog!!"

He cracks me up.

So, this year, we celebrated New Year's Eve our kind of way!! Which means that we celebrated long before midnight (notice that sunlight coming through the windows?)

I bought the "special drink" that the boys had begged for. Who can blame them? That package is mighty cool.

And we toasted.

Everyone got in on the action.

Later on, Mike and I enjoyed a special date night without our kind of boys. We love seafood, so it shows up for a lot of holiday and special dinners. This is barbecue shrimp, best messily enjoyed with someone you love a whole lot. And not on a first date! Cause that sauce is going to get all over your face. Just be warned. But, the taste. Oh, the taste. Definitely worth a messy face.

And we topped the night with a last taste of the holidays and some eggnog ice cream.

Even if our toast was at 5pm, it definitely was my kind of night!

Eat from the pantry

I have an enormous pantry. It's my mother's fault. Her pantry puts mine to shame. And, don't tell her you know, but sometimes, if I'm over there, and I'm out of an ingredient for supper, I'll just shop from hers. My stepdad seems to have caught on to my pilfering, and so I have to do it in secret. But, the temptation is just too great! There are all sorts of great things in there.

As there are in mine, too!

So, this month, I'm going to join Money Saving Mom and FishMama in their Eat from the Pantry Challenge. I normally spend $300 month on food ($150 every 2 weeks). So, I'm attempting to cut that in half and spend $150 this month. Those crazy children of mine still feel the need for milk and bananas, after all.

We had some car repairs back in November that depleted our emergency fund. We've been working on getting it back to normal, and this extra $150 will be helpful in getting us there.

Do you have a pantry that overflows? Join the challenge!! There are lots of other folks from all over joining in. And check back to see how we do as the month continues.