Picnic at Van Vleck

A big thank you to Rachel Castelino for organizing a beautiful bring-your-own picnic at Van Vleck House & Gardens in Montclair.

The gardens were absolutely beautiful.  To start the day a couple of the kids went on a stroll to explore the lovely grounds.  The gardens are very well kept and tall trees create plenty of shading for baby's sensitive skin.  While we were walking I couldn't help but think this would be a great place for small children to do a nature walk.  The ground is flat and it would be easy for them to find small leaves and plants to collect.

Once a few more people arrived we all sat down to eat and share our picnic food.  The adults conversed
while the children explored the surrounding plant life.  Takisha was gracious enough to set up her new bubble machine and the kids were thrilled with it! They all spent quite some time running barefoot in the grass and popping bubbles in the air.

Finally the day was finished with some wagon rides and more exploring.  The picnic was a great success and I would definitely recommend using this space for family picnics if you ever get the chance.  There are nice bathrooms on site and plenty of shaded grassy areas to sit.

Potluck BBQ

Today we had our first potluck BBQ and it was a great success!  Even after a last minute date change due to the forecasted rain it was still lots of fun.  The best part, in my opinion, was definitely the food.  Most importantly though, Emily's dirt cake!  It wasn't really a cake but it was definitely delicious!  Takisha's purple lemonade was also a great hit (I think I had 5 glasses).  I would also like to thank our vegan momma, Wendy, for teaching me how to cook burgers on my grill.  I know it should be obvious and simple but I've never used a grill in my life!

The kids also seemed to have a really good time.  They played with the water table and got soaking wet; they ran through through the grass popping bubbles; and some of them even spent some time on the trampoline. I'm sure many of you mommies will be enjoying some deep sleep tonight after all that sunny playtime.

I love that I've had the opportunity to watch so many of your kids grow over these past months. I can't believe the difference between the way they were when I met them and how they are all moving about now.  Just a few months ago all this play time involving bubbles, grass, and trampolines wouldn't have been nearly as fun.

Finally we even had some much needed mommy time!  We exchanged some babywearing lessons and tips and had fun laughing and talking with each other.  I truly believe that we, as mothers, really need this time to connect with each other.  It's what keeps us happy and sane.  I hope we can do a few more BBQs like this this summer!  Thank you to everyone who participated!

Baked Oatmeal

Baked Oatmeal

shared by Emily

• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 2 t. salt
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 4 t. baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 5 c. oats
• 2 c. milk

1. Mix the ingredients... adding milk last. 

2. Pour into a greased pan. 

3. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min until firm to the touch and golden brown on top. 

(It's DELICIOUS if you eat it warm in a bowl with milk.)

Feedback: So, I attempted this recipe this weekend. I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and I divided the recipe in half. I also used rolled oats, although this recipe doesn't specify whether quick oats are preferred. Flavor wise, this is a very good recipe to have on hand when introducing oats/oatmeal to a little one. Or for having something in the kitchen to snack on. I personally would rather add a little more flavor to this recipe with some fruit or more sugar. I think there was a discussion of adding apples and I will probably be doing that the next time around. Although I may continue to add coconut oil, I'm sure this would be delicious with butter instead. Or even replacing the oil with applesauce as Emily herself had mentioned. 

As for the logistics in preparing this recipe, I think I would recommend mixing all of the dry ingredients together, then all of the wet ingredients together and then combining them slowly, making sure that all is blended well. Mine took closer to 40 minutes to be done. I would also recommend letting the mixture sit for five minutes or so before baking if you end up using rolled oats over quick or instant oats. I found the texture of mine to be a bit harder than I'd liked. But, that could easily be a personal preference. I also wonder about making this completely vegan by replacing the eggs with bananas.

Update: I mixed a bowl of baked oatmeal with some breastmilk and warmed it up. My kid really liked it. I of course tasted a little and it was pretty good. And reheating helped with the texture of the oats.

Baby Signing Time - First Run

Since we are a group of moms who would prefer to minimize the amount of money we spend on activities with our children, sign language classes are a bit out of our budget. However, that doesn't mean we don't wish to explore exposing our little ones to a few signs. We have the whole Baby Signing Time kit that includes all four dvds, cds, books, and flash cards, so I figured I should share with my friends.

Anyway, since this was one of our first official Moms who PLAY activities, we ended up having a huge crowd of women including a lot of new faces. Therefore, we did spend a lot of time mingling and snacking. Oh yeah, about the snacks! Our gracious host, Carolyn put out a wonderful spread for us moms and definitely set the bar pretty high in that area.

We also took some time out to do a mini ice breaker during our introductions. During this ice breaker, we briefly (at least we tried to) discussed what we did before we became a mom along with what we miss. There are a ton of teacher/educators amongst us mommies.

Okay, back to the signing. We managed to squeeze in the video and pass around the flash cards and book. I'm sure we didn't all absorb a ton of the information, but I'm going to address a few things that I know about sign language.

Your child may not begin to sign back to you before the age of 6 months, but, the sooner you start the better.  This way, you yourself master different signs and your child will have all the repetition necessary to learn. Signing appears to be about follow through and consistency. So, the more you do it, the more likely your child is going to pick it up quickly.

It is recommended that you start with a few signs at a time and use ones that you are able to sign on a daily basis. Like milk, mommy, daddy, more, diaper, etc. I found this website to be extremely helpful in finding first time signs without having to spend any money.  You could also Google some YouTube videos that could be helpful.

So, hopefully this becomes a regular play date for us playful mommies and our little ones start signing in no time. We have are next session already set up. Although we are now limiting attendance to six moms this time around.

SIGN OF THE DAY TO PRACTICE: BANANA

Cooking Playdate: Savory "Cupcakes"

I'll bet when your think of a cupcake, you think of a moist fluffy cake with a heaping pile of delicious sugar and butter creamed together. Well, for this play date, we chose to switch it up and provide more of a savory twist on "cupcakes." We really just ended up making single serving meals using muffin or cupcake tins. I happen to think this is a brilliant idea for a cocktail party.

Our first "cupcake" was of course a salad.

Caesar Salad Parmesan Cups -
Feedback: I've never made salad dressing before and apparently it is very easy. I think for this recipe the recommendation was to use way more cheese for the cups. These cups ended up falling apart because they were so thin. I would also add that they may taste best if eaten right after being prepared. Otherwise, the salad was very yummy and fun.

Then, we have our side dish. And what's more comforting than some mac n cheese!

Mac and Cheese Muffins -  

Feedback: I'm a bit picky with my food and especially when it comes to all these crazy cheeses. But, these "cupcakes" were very good. I absolutely love the idea of making portion sized meals for something like this. I might make the constructive criticism that they may have needed a bit more liquid, but I'm certain that was a fluke.

And for our main entree, we had cheeseburgers.
Cheeseburger Cupcakes -  

Feedback: This felt much more like a lasagna than a cheeseburger. But since lasagna is one of my favorite meals, I wasn't complaining. There were also a ton of mushrooms in this meal, which I will admit I didn't notice, but would most definitely leave out if I made this for my family. Although, I did have two. I would highly recommend trying this recipe.
More feedback from Jennifer: I absolutely loved these!  We used wonton wrappers for the base of the cupcake. Some people were concerned with buying these because of leftovers but I feel it was worth it.  The crisped edges were delicious in my opinion.  You could also use these wrappers for simple dumplings as well if you have leftovers.  Like Takisha, I also do not like mushrooms but easily devoured them in this recipe without pause.  If I made this recipe I would include the mushrooms.


For the finally, we had the pleasure of diving into a chocolate chip cookie infused brownie.
Brownie Cookie Cupcake  -  

Feedback: We actually used Emily's cookie recipe and my brownie recipe. But, the link above should work as well. I won't deny that I ate more than my fair share of these delicious treats. I may recommend baking the brownies for a but before adding the cookie dough which is a tip given in the link.

Tip we learned: Spray your cooking spray over your dishwasher to prevent that greasy mess.

For more recipe ideas, visit Emily Bites

*the recipes I'm looking at are in the "Main Course 'Muffin/Cupcake'" section

If you attended this playdate please provide your personal reviews of these foods (or anything else) in the comments below! 

Mother's Day Brunch 2013

Over the past few months, I have grown very close to a special group of women. They have watched my son grow up and me grow as a mother and I have watched the same with them. We have been a wonderful support system for one another in a world where our parenting choices are deemed abnormal or overbearing. We have sought understanding and mutual respect from one another and have managed to remain mildly judgement free. So, why not spend one of the most special holidays a mother could have with the greatest moms she knows.

We decided to have a Mother's Day potluck Brunch in hopes of creating a traditional event we could repeat each year. Of course, I will admit that this initial event was meant to be small and intimate, but when you know this many awesome women, it's kind of hard to limit attendance. Thankfully it all worked out wonderfully and I look forward to next year's event.

If you missed out on this event, you have my sincerest apology. It wasn't that some weren't welcome, but more of an invite as the thought arose. And we have plenty of years ahead to catch up!

 Alright, enough of the sappy stuff, let's talk about the food. We did a potluck so all of the moms could bring their favorite breakfast treat. There were bagels, muffins, quiche, fruit salad, deviled eggs, croissant french toast pie, baked oatmeal, breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, brown sugar bacon, orange juice, apple juice, coffee, tiramasu, mimosas, and pound cake. Of course I saved the pound cake for last to do my little shameless plug for Cake Seduction.

I think aside from the pound cake, the biggest hits were the brown sugar bacon and the baked oatmeal. I keep meaning to make the baked oatmeal and should probably share those recipes here when I get a chance. But, for now, if you are a member of the group, the bacon recipe has been posted there.