May 2016 - Page 2 of 2 - NY Foodie Family

Friday Favorites – The Week of Celebrations

Posted on May 6, 2016 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Friday! It’s been raining and chilly ALL week. However, we’ve still had plenty to celebrate around here! Tonight my daughter is tent camping (in the likely rain!) with her Girl Scout troop. Saturday we plan on doing some house work and Sunday my family will be coming over for a barbecue to celebrate Mother’s Day, my mom’s birthday (which is today!) and my brother’s birthday, which is tomorrow. Happy Mother’s Day to all my mom blog readers! I hope you get to enjoy your special day! Here’s a look at some of our family’s favorites this week:

First Communion – My son celebrated his First Communion on Saturday. We had a beautiful day and small family celebration after.

First 5K – It was rainy and cold Sunday morning, but my daughter and husband still braved the weather to run their first 5K. Neither had trained prior to the race but they finished together in under 40 minutes. It was a hilly course too. My husband is game to run another 5K, but my daughter at this point, not so much!

Spelling Bee – On Wednesday night, my daughter competed in her school spelling bee finals for the second year in a row. Only six students made it to the finals and my daughter was one of them! She came in second place after a stressful (at least for me!) competition!

Cupcakes – There was a dessert reception after the spelling bee on Wednesday night. I wanted to acknowledge my daughter’s awesome job in the spelling bee, especially before she went camping for the weekend and then our Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday. So, yesterday I picked up some cupcakes that she has been wanting from a local bakery as a sweet surprise for her.

Better Place by Rachel Platten – I heard this song for the first time on the radio a week or so ago. I am a huge Platten fan and I am loving this one!

ICYMI this week on the blog:
Monday I shared our weekly meal plan.
Tuesday I posted about why I was not joining Screen Free Week.
Wednesday I joined the May Currently linkup.

Hope you have a great weekend! Linking up with Tif, Amanda and Andrea!

Currently May 2016

Posted on May 4, 2016 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

It is the first week of May and it is once again time for Anne and Jenna’s monthly currently linkup.

Celebrating – We just celebrated my son’s first Holy Communion this past weekend. We lucked out with beautiful weather and enjoyed having a small family celebration after. This upcoming weekend we will be celebrating my mom and brother’s birthday, as well as Mother’s Day!

Reading – I just finished Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben. His books are always suspenseful reads. I just started The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee about three different women who are living in Hong Kong. It’s too early for me to make any real opinions of the book.

Pondering – I’m not really pondering much at the moment, which I guess is a good thing. I do find it crazy that I have been seeing my eye doctor for a case of severe dry eyes. She has me on a regimen of various eye drops, including a prescription one, using a heated eye mask twice a day, taking fish oil twice a day and upping my water intake, but my dry eyes have seemed to have gotten worse! What the heck?! How is this even possible?!!!

Sipping – I am not a big drinker, but when I do want something alcoholic, my first choice is always a hard cider. I bought a variety pack of Angry Orchard ciders and have been enjoying them with dinner every now and then. Otherwise, I NEED my morning cup of coffee. I’ve gotten back into having a nightly mug of tea as well.

Going – Tonight we are going to the Spelling Bee finals, where my daughter is one of the six finalists. Last year, she came in second place, so we will see how she does this year. And even though it’s not until the end of the month, my husband and I decided that we are going to head to Rhode Island over the Memorial Day weekend.

Screen-Free Week and Why We Are Not Participating

Posted on May 3, 2016 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

If you were unaware, this week, May 2 through May 8, is Screen-Free Week. It’s a yearly, international celebration of unplugging from digital entertainment. In theory, this sounds like a great idea. Between television, video games, iPods and iPads, children today are inundated with electronics. My daughter’s teacher was really promoting screen-free week in her class and she brought home a form that I had to fill out as to whether our family would be participating. There was an option for our whole family to participate in screen-free week, an option for just my daughter to participate and an option for us to not participate at all. I told my daughter that she could choose to participate in screen-free week, but I was not going to have the whole family join in. This created a bit of a disagreement between us and she got upset that we were not all going to do it. I explained to my daughter the reasons that I outline below, as to why I did not think the family needed to participate. She ended up deciding not to participate and we sent the form in.

I explained to her that some children play on their electronics all day after they get home from school. For children like this, a break from screen time is beneficial. However, my husband and I already limit our children to 30 minutes of screen-time a day. To me, moderation all the time, is more important than abstaining from electronics for just a week.

My kids are active and involved with after school activities. Add in homework and playdates and there are some days when my daughter especially, ends up with no screen time at all. Before my son is allowed to have his thirty minutes of screen time after school he needs to have completed his homework and have read for at least 20 minutes.

We enjoy plenty of time together as a family. A couple of times a week the four of us get to eat breakfast together and I always eat dinner with the kids. Although weekends can get busy with everyone’s activities, sports and parties, we always try to spend at least some time engaged in quality family time.

Yesterday, my daughter’s teacher sent a reminder text regarding screen-free week. I told my daughter that if she wanted to change her mind and participate that she could let her teacher know and I would send in a new form. Ultimately, this isn’t a decision that I want to have to enforce. If she wants to abstain from electronics, I want it to be her decision and not something that I’m “forcing” on her and her brother.

Is your family participating in screen-free week?

Weekly Meal Plan {Week 37}

Posted on May 2, 2016 by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

Happy Monday! What a busy, but fun weekend we had. My son made his first Communion and my husband and daughter ran their first 5K in the cold and rain on Sunday! But, it’s Monday and we are back on track for a busy week. Here’s a peek at what was on our menu last week. If interested, you can read about my meal planning process here. If you notice most of my recipes this week came from Cooking Light. Summer is coming and I am trying to cook and eat healthier…..at least when eating at home!

Saturday – My husband and son were with the cub scouts camping at Herkimer Diamond Mine and my daughter and I had lunch/dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Sunday – I made boxed mac and cheese which we ate while watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Sometimes, mom needs a break from cooking – and we needed some family time!

Monday – I made Cooking Light’s, August 2006 Sauteed Tilapia with Honey Scallion Dressing. This was a recipe repeat which I made years ago and that we had enjoyed. This was good, but I would double the dressing, since that’s what gives the fish flavor, as well dressing the salad mix.

Tuesday – I made Chicken Tortellini Soup from Damn Delicious. I added extra tortellini and broth to the soup. This was easy to make and very flavorful. Unfortunately, leftovers are not great as the tortellini get mushy.

Wednesday – I adapted a March 2016, Cooking Light recipe for Turkey Taco Burritos. I used ground chicken, since it was on sale this week at Shoprite. This was quick and easy to make, especially since instead of the individual spices, I used Penzeys Taco seasoning. I also added guacamole to my husband and my burritos. My kids love any homemade type taco or burrito dish so this was a hit with them. I served these with roasted broccoli.

Thursday – Normally, I make pizza on Friday nights. However, my daughter had piano lessons, followed almost immediately by my son’s second Communion practice. So, I needed something quick and easy for us to eat. We ended up eating one slice of pizza prior to piano at 4:30 and a second after Communion practice at 8 PM! This week I added some leftover roasted broccoli to the pizza.

Friday – I adapted a September 2006, Cooking Light recipe for Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine. I used a whole box of linguine and added a little extra half-and-half and some pasta water to extend the sauce. I also sautéed some garlic and onion with the peppers and mushrooms. We love Penzeys spices and used their Cajun seasoning blend. This dish needed more Cajun spice flavor so we added extra while we were eating.