What’s the verdict on the Especially for Kids Umbrella Stroller?  Love it!

It’s been more than 2 months we have been using it and there’s no broken part!  =)  Believe me, we are very rough with our stuff.  I took this umbrella stroller and went to a “jungle” with my girl.  Okay, it was only “marsh land” but I will call trampling on dirt covered with huge grass and leaves and having my girl’s face hit with bushes and tall grasses “jungle” enough for the city mom-and-daughter.  I obviously had to make silly sounds so that my girl had a good laugh about the bumpiness and bushes hitting her face instead of being totally scared.  If she was scared, then I would have to carry her and try to push that stroller through the jungle with one hand!

Yup, we took that stroller to Disneyland, neighborhood walks, and weekly trips to the grocery store.  My girl loves it!

The only bad thing I found?  The frame is made out of metal that can get really hot if the stroller is left in the sun.  I told my girl not to touch the frame while she was riding in it.  Poor girl.  Ever since that time (in front of a mommy-and-me class), I never park the stroller in the sun again.

BTW, I did learn to “lock” the stroller with my foot.  I still can’t have to stroller stayed fold-up because my fingers are not strong enough to push the frame into the clip.  Oh well.  It’s okay.  I haven’t found the need to carry the stroller in one arm yet (well, except that jungle ride if my girl wanted me to carry her.  Fortunately, that didn’t happen.)

I made pickles using the recipe in Recipes that I… and the pickles tasted exactly the same as the store-bought ones.  My husband really liked it and ate the whole jar in 2 days!  BTW, it’s very, very rare he likes my food.  I actually didn’t follow the recipe exactly.  I didn’t measure the sugar or salt.  Also, I used brown sugar so the pickle solution looks kind of weird.  LOL.

After reading my friend’s blog about egg sandwiches, I’m very interested in making egg sandwiches for my girl as well.  I think my version will be:

(1) boil an egg

(2) mash it with a fork

(3) spread it on a slice of bread

I haven’t tried it yet and I worried that the eggs don’t stick together.  I think I’m going to try it tonight with one egg.

If it doesn’t stick together, I will buy some mayonaise tomorrow (from Whole Foods) to mix it in.  I don’t know how much mayonaise to use.  Since I love deviled eggs, I looked up online how much mayo is usually used for deviled eggs.  I found www.deviledeggs.com!  Pretty awesome.

Why don’t I scramble the egg?  Because I don’t know how to scramble an egg.  I don’t even know how to fry an egg.  I’m just very, very proud of myself knowing how to make boiled egg.  =P

True love for your kids doesn’t mean spoiling them or giving them whatever they want.  Kisses and hugs are also not enough.

Many people who know me think I spoil my girl.  True, I give into the “please, please, please” but that’s also because I know her very well.  She doesn’t usually ask to be carried unless she feels uncomfortable.  Our sleep routine includes carrying but I have been trying to reduce it a little by little.

If you ask my girl, she will definitely tell you I don’t spoil her.  I have many rules for her and I have many expectations of her.  When she does something bad, she will sure gets a stern voice from me.  I can easily get a “sorry” out of her (with a droopy head… so heartbreaking) when I ask for it.  From a usually cheery mom, a stern voice is quite enough of a disciplinary action.

Rules and expectations are very important because they exist in real life.  I don’t believe in physical punishments nor time-outs.  They don’t seem realistic in the real world.  I also don’t close the door on my girl because of my own personal trauma of being locked in a room overnight.  I had repeated nightmares for years.  Since she is my daugther, I worry that her tolerance for being scared is as weak as mine.

I once read an article in the Parenting or Parents magazine that consequences are the same as punishments.  I don’t think it is true.  I believe in clearly telling the kid what consequences follow each decision and letting him/her make the decision then follow through with the appropriate consequences.  This teaches the kid to make the correct decisions now and in the future.

One thing is always true: good behaviors should deserve appropriate praises and attention.  Kids love parents’ attention.  If you give them undivided attention for good behaviors, they will do them repeatedly.  This is why I pretty much ignore the less desirable but safe behaviors, like not cleaning up the toys at home.  If she does trip on her toy, then she learns her lesson.  =)

Some of my rules?  only 3 stories before sleep; only 5 crackers a day; unless we have a playdate in the morning, park-visit only after nap and lunch; only 5 umbrellas per day (save the tree and the scotch tape!)

Another advantage of rules, besides teaching them the real life boundaries/rules, is teaching them to appreciate what they have.  My girl will ask for a story right when she wakes up!  She got really happy when she was able to reach that box of crackers and started opening it (then got taken away by me but she didn’t cry; maybe just a frown).  My girl knows her numbers!  When hubby tried to tell her only 1 umbrella, she told him “five!”

Another plus?  You are teaching your child patience.

If you truly love your child, let him/her know what real life is like.  Don’t throw him/her into real life only at school.  Teach him/her to appreciate what she has and to work for improvements/upgrades.  He/she will be a much happier person being satisfied with what he/she already has.  Patience equals to less frustration and more clear-headed thinking.

True love yields healthy and happy child.

Note on discipline: every child is different.  I’m sure for some, just a stern voice is not enough.  Plus, in some countries, maybe physical punishment is the real-life experience (schools).

I really like Yoshinoya’s Teriyaki Sauce.  It has a heavy ginger favor that I really like.  A week ago, I had to shop at Whole Foods for some stuff (like the BornFree’s training cup soft spouts).  I decided to buy chicken drumsticks there instead of my usual Trader Joe’s (all natural chicken drumsticks).  The drummettes were $7.99 per lb!  Instead of buying that, I bought the pre-packaged drummettes and wings.  It was a pretty big package.  I saved some drummettes for my little girl (steam-cooked with nothing else).  I used the rest to test out a soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger sauce.  I just used boiled water with soy sauce.  Once it was boiling, I added brown sugar and ginger then the chicken.  I just let it simmered for 15-30 minutes (sorry, I forgot).  The first day, the dish tasted okay, just like any other soy sauce chicken.  The next day, the chicken really absorbed the ginger flavor and it tasted really good.  However, I got a sore throat afterward… I guess I can’t stand too much ginger.

This is when I decided… I better find the proper teriyaki sauce instead of experimenting… on myself.  Here’s one that I may like to try:

http://www.recipezaar.com/21221

Now, my next story is on pickles.  My husband recently found a remedy for his heartburns: pickles!  Fine.  Have you seen what are in those jars of pickles?  Chemicals, preservatives, colorings.  He even mentioned he tasted “sand” in some.  I felt kind of bad for him.  I felt even worse for my girl because she started liking pickles and asked for them.  Note: this is a girl that turn-downed tomato because she thinks it’s sour!  My husband taught her that tomato is sour.  I keep on telling her tomato is sweet but she still thinks it’s sour.  I just tell her, “okay, we just have different tongues.”

I decided to make my own pickles!  I found an easy recipe online:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Homemade-Refrigerator-Pickles/Detail.aspx

Some of the other recipes I found online were too complicated for me.

I plan to try the pickles this week.  I plan to use ceramic cookware instead of my stainless steel pots.  Wish me luck!

For convenience, I am listing the ingredients for each of the above recipes:

Teriyaki Sauce:

Soy Sauce

Unsweetened pineapple juice (I will likely substitute with actual pineapple pieces)

Garlic powder (I will substitute with fresh garlic clove)

Ground ginger (I will substitute with fresh ginger)

Dry mustard (may skip this one)

White Pepper (may skip this one)

Brown Sugar

Pickles: 

Distilled White Vinegar

Salt

Sugar

Cucumbers

Onions

Green Bell Peppers (I forgot to buy this one, oh well)

When I “have” (in this case, have = want) to go out to eat, I try to eat healthy.  I try to pick restaurants that say “no MSG”.  Even for pizzas from those pop and mom shops, I call ahead and ask if they put MSG in their tomato sauce.  I already wrote a post giving a list of eat-out restaurants I recommend: Restaurants Without Artificial Ingredients

Today, I tried Whole Foods’s $3.65 Turkey Sandwich and Berries Cheese Beet Salad.  Here are my reviews:

Turkey Sandwich: they forgot to put mustard and vegenaise in my sandwich!  I kept on looking for secret compartment in my sandwich packaging while I was eating the super dry sandwich but found no condiment.  Fortunately, I got the salad dressing from my salad and spread it on the sandwich.  Much more tolerable.  =)  Be sure to look for the layer of mustard and vegenaise or, at least, grab some condiments before you buy this sandwich.  =)  Well, unless you don’t mind eating a dry, bland sandwich…

Berries Cheese Beet Salad: do they have to put so much cheese?  They didn’t list the nutritional information but I’m quite sure I already ate a whole week worth of saturated fat (and sodium).  In fact, I actually felt a lump in my heart after eating the whole salad.  True, I could have pick out all the cheese.  I really wanted to eat the (yellow) beet though.  Both the beet and the cheese were shredded and pretty much blended together.  The dried blueberries allow me to not use salad dressing for most of the salad.  This is my first time eating yellow beet.  Pretty good tasting.  Overall, it is a great tasting salad with toasted almonds and excellent croutons.  I likely will not get it again because I just don’t think the cheese is very good for me but then again… I didn’t like any of the other salads.

Some other choices of sandwiches and salads that I didn’t buy (and that I remember):

Tuna Sandwich

Vegetable Sandwich

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Tuna and Olive Salad

Olive and Cheese Salad

Cobb Salad (I think… since it had bacon, egg, and I think ham too?)

Soup are for $3.65 also.  I didn’t look at what soup was available.  Soup usually have too much sodium.  I still prefer homemade soup.  Have you try “my” chicken soup yet?  BTW, I am learning to make pickles and teriyaki sauce.  I will post the recipes that I pick next!

Even with the internet and stuff, I find it tough to search for local events.  My toddler has been asking me to take her on Merry-Go-Around ever since we took her to Disneyland.  She also loves animals.  Zoo is a one-day event.  I want to take her somewhere for just an hour or two for free or a very low price.  So, I search and search and search for merry-go-around, pony rides, petting zoos… well, I only found one event!

I’m very thankful for a recent website that I found.  A great mom who lists local events on the website.  I listed it under References on the right hand side: South Bay Girl.  I think every city/county should have something like that.  Another website I like is The Daisy Chain.  Too bad it only has the current month.  It’s hard for someone who likes to plan ahead.

Okay, ever since I bought my “fanny pack“, I have seen at least 2 other moms (and 1 dad) wearing a fanny pack.  I guess it’s not as out-of-date as I thought.  Well, they didn’t look like super-cool moms, but still…  =)  It just proves how useful a “fanny pack” can be with a toddler.

After drinking the same soups for nearly a month, I decided to make the chicken soup.  By the way, thank you to Hubby for making those soups weekly.  Now that Hubby started school, it’s time for me to bring out the chicken soup!

As usual, I went to Trader Joe to get the Organic Chicken (hmm.. that All Natural Chicken also cost $12.  So, I picked Organic).  Hubby didn’t like the idea of Mirepoix.  Since I’m not sick, I just bought the celery, carrots, and trio-onions.  The “cutting” is a lot easier than the “dicing” for the marinara sauce.  This time, the vegetables don’t have to be “diced”.  I only used the white onion and cut it in strips.  I used my hands to tear up the celery and carrots.  The advantage on that hand-tearing celery is that I can get the super stringy stuff out too.  As for the carrots, there were 2 carrots that I couldn’t break with my hands, so I just threw the whole carrots in after peeling them.  LOL.  I only used half the package of celery and half the package of carrots.

I boiled a pot of water.  Soaked the celery and carrots in warm/hot water  to get rid of some of the pesticide (then realized that I was going to peel the carrots anyway, why did I soak it?)  Peel and cut the onion and throw the strips in the pot of water.  Since vegetables don’t tend to stick to the bottom of the pot, I just threw it in before the water boiled.  I prepared the carrots and celery and threw them into the pot as well.  I waited for the water to boil before I opened the package of organic chicken.  Took out the innard/neck package.  Rinsed the chicken and placed it into the pot.  I didn’t remember if I should cover the pot or not so I didn’t.

The chicken kept on floating!  So I stabbed with a knife.  LOL.  Didn’t help.  The stabbing only released the oil!  Oh well.  Only after more than 1 hour of simmering did I put the pot lid on.

Total of 2 hours of simmering!  Yes!  I actually did wait until that 2 hours were up!  I was so good.  Delicious.  I have to say… it tasted more delicious than last time when I used the Mirepoix.  Well, maybe last time, I was sick, so the soup didn’t taste as good?

Well, I finished that whole pot of soup in 2 days!  I drank 5-7 bowls a day.  I was thirsty!  I was drinking the soup instead of water.  My toddler had 1-2 bowls total.  She actually drank the soup with Trader Joe Organic Alphabet Pasta the 2nd day for lunch.  Dunno how much my hubby drank, definitely not as much as I did.  He finished eating all the veggies though.  =)  He even complimented my soup.  Thank you!

In case you haven’t noticed, I am addicted to Trader Joe’s!  Other stores I’m addicted to (that means I shop at least once a month) are Target, Ralphs, Whole Foods, and huge Asian supermarkets.  I also like Mervyns but I only get bed sheets, jeans, and sneakers from there.  I may get some toddler long-sleeves there today.  I like Old Navy for pregnancy clothes and cool kids clothes.

At Trader Joe’s, I like their All-Natural Chicken Drumsticks.  I don’t have to worry about saline, nitrogen, or carbonmonoxide injections because I e-mailed them before and their respond was none of those.  =)  I also like their Berries Granola (a little too sweet).  Their mousse is delicious, but too much Vitamin A.  I also get avocado, fresh corns (not in plastic trays, but with the husk and stuff), various fruits, and eggs from Trader Joe’s.  I also love how they give out free food samples and biodegradable latex balloons to my toddler.  My toddler loves them!  She tells me to go to Trader Joe’s all the time.  LOL.

Target?  I get almost every non-edible stuff from Target.  Diapers, shampoo, laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, clothes (from head to toes!).  I like their $1 section.  I can’t always find stuff to buy from that section, but last month, I found a bunch of kids’ books and placemats (with maps and stuff) for $1 each!  What a great deal.  It was a good thing I bought them once I saw them because last week, I didn’t see them any more.  I saw a few similar kids books but not as big as the ones I got!  LOL.  I even got a Parents Active Music CD for my toddler who loves music, songs, and dancing.

Ralphs… it’s the closest “standard” supermarket to my home.  I just buy organic milk (Horizon) and ice cream (Breyers) from there.  On holidays and stuff, we spoil our toddler by getting her a latex balloon.

I mainly buy oatmeal from Whole Foods.  I also like their cooked-food area.  The Whole Foods that I go to have awesome teriyaki bowls but awful, awful Mexican food from the in-door restaurant.  I like to grab breakfast there before work (if I don’t have any food at home to bring to work with me).

Huge Asian Supermarkets… need I say more?  Large variety of veggies and fruits to choose from at very low prices; super fresh seafood… some still swimming; low price junk food (huh.. hmm…)  On lazy nights, we buy cooked food from there too.  I also like to buy dinnerware from there because they are ceramic and low priced.

What stores do you like?

A few years ago, I was obsessed with how to make Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch.  The recipe wasn’t hard to find.  I even found one that’s very easy to make!  Okay, I can’t seem to find it online now, but since it’s so easy that I can just recite it to you:

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

celery, carrots, onion, potato, or any veggie that you think will go well with your chicken soup

any pasta

Instructions:

First, boil enough water that you think will cover all the ingredients.

Dump the chicken and vegetables in the water.

Simmer for 2 hours.

Ta da!  You have your homemade chicken soup/broth/stock.  It will smell very, very good!  Usually I can’t resist, so I only let it simmer for 1.5 hours.  LOL.

If you want to make Chicken Noodle Soup, just add some noodle/pasta to it and cook until the noodle/pasta is tender to your preference.  Usually, I make such a big pot that I will scoop some Chicken Soup into a separate (small) pot and then cook the noodle in the small pot.  Put the rest of the soup in the refrigerator or something.

This Chicken Soup/Broth/Stock is great for cooking too!  No salt is needed.  It is how great it taste!

So, why didn’t I share this “secret” with you until now?  Well, I keep forgetting.  Plus, just a few months ago, I found an even easier way to make the soup (and I still kept forgetting to post it here): Trader Joe’s Mirepoix Mix!

I was shopping for the vegetables at Trader Joe’s and couldn’t find “one” carrot for sell.  All the carrots are sold in bags and I really don’t need that many!  Then spotted the Mirepoix Mix in the refrigerator section.  Super cool!!!  It has pre-cut/dice carrots, celery, and onions!  I was going to buy two containers because I worried that one would not be enough.  Good thing I only bought one because it filled up my big pot already!

The good thing about “pre-cut/dice” is that I don’t have to do the cutting (huh.. hmm… in case you ever read about my cutting skills in an earlier post).  The bad thing is that the nutrients are likely lost through the processing and storage.  Oh well.  If I actually have a cold, I will not want to be standing in the kitchen cutting up the ingredients any way!  Now I am a mom, I also don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen cutting up the ingredients.

Too bad it didn’t have potato.  Potato comes in big quantity in bags too!  Oh well, I don’t need to potato.  =)

BTW, on Parents or Parenting magazine (I subscribe to both and always get them mix up), I saw a dicer that you pull the string and it dices up the stuff for you!  I think it’s $30.  Now, I just need to convince my husband that we need one…  hmm…