Daily Vegas ~ Learning to eat with a spoon & A special announcement!

“Beginnings are always Messy.” – John Galsworthy

We have started into the world of beginning to eat with utensils. I know some of you may think this is kind of late, but waiting until my son was showing interest in using them was something I wanted to wait for. And boy oh boy has he been starting to show a lot of interest. He grabs anyone's utensils he can get a hold of and tries to sneak them into his mouth.

He knows what they are for, but trying to have the patience to get the food on the spoon and into his mouth is trying at best. He just isn't that patient yet. So instead, we have nights like this. Normally I strip him down before he goes into his high chair, but today I forgot to. I am hoping that he can get the hang of it soon, it would be nice to move him into his toddler chair at the table. Anyone have any tips that worked well for them?

We started off with some Organic Hummus tonight - but as it turns out, he may be allergic to the red bell peppers that was in it. Which is odd, but I will have to see if it happens again. (Where ever his skin touched the bell pepper, he turned bright red.)

Mom - why are you taking my picture when I am ready for more food??

And we ended the night with some yogurt thickened with oatmeal. But it was way more fun to dump it on ourselves then actually eat it. He also really enjoyed squishing the textures between his hands and clapping... it was worth the mess. :) I know he looks sad in these pictures, but I think it was because there was no more food to make a mess with.

And now for a special announcement!!

<center><a href=" http://www.familyandlifeinlv.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i51.tinypic.com/281qvz7.jpg" /></a></center>

I am so excited to announce that I have teamed up with two of my favorite mommy bloggers to bring you a winter holiday event called . Family and Life in Las Vegas along with The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom and Crazy about My Baybah will be bringing you some great giveaways geared toward toddlers November 15-29th.

We will even have a special grand prize (valued at well over $150) (You are not going to want to miss this one!) for mommas, crafts, recipes, and more. So grab our button before November 14th for extra entries into our giveaways, and join us as we Walk in a Toddler Wonderland!

Please make sure you are following all three blogs, as we will all be hosting different giveaways that you won't want to miss. Plus for every giveaway you enter on any blog - you will get 1 extra entry into every other giveaway!!

How exciting is that?! I can't wait. And with the giveaways we are lining up, you should be pretty excited too!!

Happy Weekend!

Boo-Tacular Recipes ~ Kristen @ The Wilson Family

Hey everyone!

Are you ready for one last great recipe for Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash?

I "met" Kristen through Twitter and was excited to find out that she was originally from St. Louis, where I am!

I love her blog and her cute little son and "talking" to her on Twitter!

She is sharing this super easy, yummy Apple Cobbler recipe with us!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey y'all! I'm Momma Wilson from The Wilson Family blog. I'm a 28-year-old Northern Belle, originally from St. Louis transplanted to Louisiana almost 6 years ago. I married my Southern gentleman, Mr., and together we our blessed with a busy, blue-eyed boy, Jackson. I work full-time as an account executive and Mr. is an attorney. Parenthood has by far been the most challenging, yet rewarding job we've ever had.

If you know the Wilson family, then you know that this Momma doesn't cook. I tend to be a little domestically challenged at times. The kitchen is the Mr.'s domain at our house, and it's best that way! Being from the Midwest means that I can basically make a casserole and follow an easy recipe. I have a few signature dishes that get me by in life. One of which happens to be Apple Cobbler. With a few apples and some bread you can totally bake this Apple Cobbler and impress. I was even brave enough to try it out on my mother-in-law {who is from the South, enough said} and let's just say I passed the test! I am so excited to be participating in Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash so I can share this easy recipe with all of you. And If you're lucky enough to make it to an apple orchard this fall then I'm really jealous. I'm sure this cobbler would be even better with apples picked with a little TLC. If not, no worries you can buy a bag of apples and cut them up with a little TLC just the same. Or if you're a busy Momma then just buy the bags of pre-cut apples like I do!

Granny Ruth's Apple Cobbler

preheat oven to 350 degrees
grease a 9 x 9 glass baking dish (or larger depending upon the amount you're serving)

peel, slice and dice apples, enough to fill the bottom of a baking dish. this will vary depending on the amount of people you'll be serving.

slice pieces of bread (whatever you have around the house. I love oatmeal bread, so that's what I use) in long strips.
place the pieces of bread on top of the apples.

mix together:
1 cup of sugar
1 stick of melted butter
1 egg

pour the mixture over the bread

sprinkle a little cinnamon on top bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream enjoy:)

Boo-Tacular Recipes ~ Amy @ Growning up Disney

Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash has another fantastic recipe for you!

I was so excited to "meet" Amy on Twitter. As a Disney fanatic, I immediately started "following" her even before reading her tweets. I wasn't disappointed! Any Disney fan needs to immediately check out her blog Growing Up Disney. Her knowledge and passion for Disney World are so exciting to read about!

Hello! My name is Amy and I write a blog called Growing Up Disney along with my brother and father.

My family has been going to Walt Disney World since the very beginning and we’re sharing our memories and tips from nearly 40 years of fun.

Now that we are taking a third generation to the World, the blog offers lots of helpful ideas when traveling with children.

I’ve recently started a series of posts, written along with four other moms, that lets us provide five points of view on a given kid’s topic. If you have a question for the Minnie Moms, we’d love to help! Fall is a fantastic time of year at Walt Disney World with Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, and so much more!

I’m thrilled to be participating in Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash! I have a fantastic and super easy recipe to share. Fall always brings pumpkins to mind and once you try this pumpkin crisp, cooler weather will have you craving this treat. I’ve had to give the recipe to everyone who has tasted it. Personally, I see recipes as inspiration rather than strict rules and I’d love to hear what variations you try. The original recipe came from Southern Living but the version below is my take on it.


Pumpkin Crisp

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
1 butter flavored yellow cake mix (I like Duncan Hines)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, stir together the pumpkin, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle pecans on top of the cake mix. Drizzle butter over all. Bake uncovered for about an hour, until golden brown.
I like pumpkin crisp warm with whipped cream but my husband prefers it plain and at room temperature.

This is a really rich dessert. As a lighter variation, I’ve made it in an 8x8 pan and used a jiffy cake mix and half of the nuts and butter. It’s still tasty, but in my house, we’ve decided smaller servings of the rich version are the way to go.

I hope you enjoy this pumpkin crisp. Happy Fall!

Amy, www.GrowingUpDisney.com

Go and leave a comment on Amy's blog telling her how much you enjoyed her post, and comment "I told Amy I love Pumpkin Crisp" for 4 extra entries on your choice of giveaway!!

UM YUMMO! That sounds fantastic! Do you have a favorite fall recipe? Send it in, and we will feature it in a post with a link back to your blog - best part?? You will get 10 extra entries into the giveaway of your choice if you do so.

Things you can submit:
Halloween Pictures
Recipes
Favorite things about Fall (IE Pumpkin Lattes, Spice Cake, Crisp Fall air...)
Pictures of your Holiday Decorations

Must be sent in by OCTOBER 6 to be posted. Thanks for participating - and send your emails to familyandlifeinlv at gmail dot com or sippycupmom at gmail dot com. Don't forget to include your name and blog name so we can link it back!!

Boo-Tacular Recipes ~ Jacqui @ Cooking For Little Fingers

When I think of Fall, Pumpkin Bread immediately comes to mind. I actually usually always add Pumpkin to my banana bread recipes. Last year I bought a couple of small pumpkins to use as displays, and when Halloween was over, I turned them into baby food for Squish. (He approved when he finally got to try some a few months later.) That is what I love about pumpkin; you can freeze some and save it for your recipes through out the year. In fact you can use Pumpkin in many of your baking recipes, like brownies and cake in place of the oil.

Today we have a super yummy Pumpkin Bread Boo-tacular Recipe from Jacqui over at Cooking For Little Fingers.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. water
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, & baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, & spices. Pour into the bowl w/ dry ingredients & mix just until all are combined - don't stir too much! Stir in the nuts, if you're using them (I like it better w/o the nuts). Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3-in. loaf pan; bake 50-60 minutes until done in the middle. Remove from pan, cool on a rack.

Keep wrapped in the refrigerator.

Mmmmm... That makes me want some Pumpkin Bread right now!

So for today's extra entries - Email me your favorite things about Fall/Halloween (recipes, pictures, or general descriptions are all welcome) along with your blog address. (I will link it back to you when I post) - 5 extra entries into the giveaway of your choice. Just leave this comment with your email address on the giveaway(s) you chose to use your extra entries on. (5 separate comments) (I will be verifying with the emails that are sent in.)

"I emailed my favorite things to Family and Life in Las Vegas"

And keep your eye's peeled - I will be handing out extra entries EVERYDAY. On Twitter, On The Blog. You won't want to miss your extra chance to win some of your favorite giveaways.

Don't forget to enter some of the 20 Giveaways that are going on until October 9th before you leave. See the Side Bar for links to each Giveaway!!

Boo-Tacular Recipes ~ Cate @ Real Life With Kids

I am so excited about this guest poster! I love Cate! I first "met" her on Twitter and just thought she was fantastic. I quickly fell in love with her blog, Real Life With Kids. She is just such a hardworking, nice, funny and honest person.

She is going to share a YUMMY Halloween recipe with Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash readers!

Enjoy!

Over at the Real Life with Kids house – we absolutely LOVE Halloween! I was so excited that Melissa here at Sippy Cup Mom let me have the opportunity to share one of our favorite October recipes with you. Who knew if you stalked someone incessantly and threatened to show up at their door that you could totally get a guest post opp? :-)

A couple of years ago when looking through a Martha Stewart magazine – I came across her recipe for Eye Popping Soup and thought it looked like just the thing for a spooktastic October evening!

Over time I’ve modified the recipe into my own “Eyeball Soup” with “Gutsy Hands & Feet” and that is the recipe I’d love to share with all of you! (I’ll give you a hint – it’s much easier to make than the Big “M”’s.)


You’ll need:


Ingredients:

Canned or boxed creamy tomato soup – whatever amount you need (at least 1 cup per goblin) for your group (I highly recommend low or reduced sodium – see next ingredients for my reasoning here…)

Bocconcini– or as I like to call them – little mozzarella balls floating in stuff. You can find these in your grocery’s specialty cheese section. They are – uh – eyeball size. You’ll have to – uh – eyeball the quantity (heh,heh) you want about 4 or 5 cheeseballs per ghostie.

Green Olives – the small ones that are pimento stuffed.

Your favorite bread – I recommend a nice oatmeal, potato, or whole wheat. At my house I need 4 slices per troublemaker.

Cream Cheese – spreadable is delightful.

Jar of Preserves – aka “guts”. I use “Bonne Maman” brand Wild Blueberry Preserves. Yum. I love Maryline over at “Franco American Dream” just because she comes from the same country as this scrumptious stuff.

Tools:

Shallow pasta/soup/salad bowls
Cutting board
Small melon baller – preferably serrated
Hand & Foot shaped cookie cutters (feel free to sub in any shape for these – we just liked the body part theme J)


Directions:


Get out your little white balls of yumminess (aka Bocconcini) and your cutting board, as well as the green olives.

Hollow out a space in one of the cheese balls that is about the size of ½ of a green olive.

Cut some green olives in half. Place one round side down into the space you created in the mozzarella ball. Warning: these are not going to stay stuck together forever. I make a nice little row of them and leave them be until I’m ready to put them into the soup bowls.

Next, begin warming up your not made from scratch but who the heck has time for that what with finding Dracula’s teeth (have you checked the dog?), adjusting Hannah Montana’s wig, and figuring out how to make the Halloween costume still scary under the 50 lb winter coat?

Take your cookie cutters and cut out shaped bread slices by pressing the cutters down on each bread slice. Doing this on a cutting board works best. Little hands can help with this job!

Put those little feet and hands (or whatever you’ve created!) into the toaster oven to get a bit toasty. How’s the soup doing?

Spread cream cheese and “gutsy” preserves onto the hands and feet toast and put out on a serving tray.

Ladle the heated soup into shallow bowls or ramekins. Take a spoon and gently place the eyeballs one at a time into the soup. These won’t float – so you want to make sure you don’t put too much soup in or they will be “surprise” eyeballs.

Warning: These eyeballs are definitely too big and chewy for little ones. You might make a smaller eyeball or eyeballs by getting crazy and creative with the cheeseballs or just cut up the cheese before they eat it.

You’re all ready for “Eyeball Soup with Gutsy Hands & Feet”!

Make sure to go visit Cate over at Real Life With Kids!



OOOH! I can't wait to try that with my family when Squish is older. I mean really what kid wouldn't love to eat eyeballs!

Want some more extra entries to the Giveaway of your choice?
Hit up Cate with a comment on her blog letting her know you saw her Boo-Tacular Recipe on Family and Life in Las Vegas. (4 extra entries)

Just comment with "I Hit up Cate's Blog with a Creepy comment" on the giveaway of choice.
(4 separate comments)
(Divide them up, use them all for one giveaway, it is your call!!)


And keep your eye's peeled - I will be handing out extra entries EVERYDAY. On Twitter, On The Blog. You won't want to miss your extra chance to win some of your favorite giveaways.

Thanks for stopping by Mommy's Lil' Monster Bash!!

Don't forget to enter some of the 20 Giveaways that are going on until October 9th before you leave. See the Side Bar for links to each Giveaway!!

Daily Vegas ~ Don't Call Me Martha...

I was watching the today show the other day, and Martha Stewart was on. She was making these fun Muffin Tin Deep Dish Pizzas. I thought that it would be fun to make those, and even Squishy could eat them.

(Martha's Pizza's)

So, I added them to our Monday Meal Plan (which I totally spaced on posting this week...) and off to the store I went. I got some Organic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (I suppose I could have made it, but I took the easy way out, and I had a coupon), some Pizza Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, as well as some Nitrate Free Pepperoni. (Not for Squish as he is mainly a vegetarian at this point.)

Now all I had to do was put it all together...

When I got the dough out to roll it, I realized I don't have a rolling pin (I know right? How does one not have a rolling pin??) So I improvised with tin foil and a Pam can. It worked okay. I rolled the dough out, used an over-sized cup to cut the circles out, and placed them in the pan.
Next I added a spoonful of sauce, and topped them with 1 pepperoni and some cheese. (Some with just cheese.)

Popped them in the oven at 450 for 12 minutes, and voila!! Mini Deep Dish Pizzas! Okay, okay so clearly I am no Martha Stewart, which is just fine with me. (Honestly, she creeps me out big time!) I am just me, trying to find fun and creative healthy ways for all of us to eat dinner. I can't wait until the Squish man is old enough to help me with these! (Perhaps I should work on my photography too...)

Definitely Squishy Approved!!

6 Words to Describe me today: Martha Stewart I am clearly not.

Ella's Kitchen Review and Giveaway

When I was given the opportunity to review and host a giveaway for Ella’s Kitchen, I was pretty excited. Both Squish and I love their pouches. Yes, I said both of us! My personal favorite is the Yellow One, a great healthy sweet snack in a pinch. Kellan seems to be partial to either the Purple or Green one (Sweet Potato, Apples, Pumpkin, and Blueberry or Spinach, Peas, and Pears) the taste of all of them is fresh and you can taste every single fruit or vegetable in them. (I know because I have personally tasted every single one of them! I love knowing that even when we are not able to give Squishy food I make and control the ingredients on, that there is a healthy, easy, organic option.

When out box arrived I was so happy to see it filled with pouches of Ella’s goodness! They came just in time for us to take them on the plane to Minnesota too! One of my favorite things about Ella’s Kitchen (besides the fresh taste) is how easily they travel. I don’t have to worry about broken jars in my diaper bag, or the added bulk the jars have. Ella’s pouches are so convenient and smartly packaged that the TSA Agent who screen my bag and inspected them took a pouch over to show her boss who just had a little one not to long ago!

Should I have this one, or should I have this one??

Really and truly, that is exactly why I love doing reviews. I love sharing products that make my life easier or more fun. Ella’s Kitchen does just that. I can’t tell you how many comments we get every time we take the pouches of yummy organic food out and about with us. I don’t think there has been one single time we have used them in public and not been approached about what they are, and told how awesome they are!

On the Squishy rating scale, Ella's Kitchen gets an Very Squishable!!

(Disclaimer: The above is 100% my opinion and may differ from yours. While I did receive a few food pouches to review, no monetary compensation was given for this review.)

The Giveaway:
Ella’s Kitchen has generously offered 8 yummy organic pouches to one lucky winner.
This Giveaway is open to US winners only.

How to win:
Entering is easy – all you have to do is the mandatory entry. Extra entries are available but not mandatory. Please make sure to leave your email in your comment, or I will not be able to contact you about your win, and will have to choose another winner.
I will be checking each entry to the best of my ability, so honesty is appreciated!

Mandatory Entry:
Go to Ella’s Kitchen and tell me something you learned about the company. You must also be a follower of Family and Life in Las Vegas.
Please leave one (1) comment saying you have done both of these things.
(This is the only mandatory entry. The other entries below are EXTRA.)

Extra Entries:
(Please enter a comment for EACH entry. So, if it says that an entry is worth 3 entries, please leave 3 separate comments.)

1. Follow Family and Life in Las Vegas and Ella’s Kitchen on Facebook and leave a comment on their wall telling them I sent you! (2 entries)
2. Follow Ella’s Kitchen on Twitter (1 entry)
3. Become a friend on the Ella’s Kitchen webpage (3 entries)
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following, leaving the link in a comment. (2 entries) (You can tweet once per day for extra entries!)
“#win a super yummy set of @ellaskitchen organic baby/toddler food from @FamilyNLifeLV #giveaway ends 9/24 http://tinyurl.com/3353flc”
5. Vote for me on Top Mom Blog and Picket Fence (1 entry for each vote)(this can be done daily) (right sidebar)
6. Grab my blog button and place it on your blog. Spread the word! Leave a comment with the link. (2 entries)
7. Subscribe to this blog via email (upper right hand corner) (3 entries)
8. Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to it! (5 entries)

This Giveaway ends 9/24 at 9pm PST. Random.Org will draw one lucky winner. That winner will be notified via email, and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week 6

This is going to be a shortened week for us, and then we are not going to be posting menu plans for the next two Mondays as we will be in Minnesota, and I will not be planning menus!

Last Week: I have still been plagued by the "I don't want to cook" blues. We managed to get through the week pretty okay though. Budget was pretty good. I am going to up our weekly budget for a little while, just to see if that helps, but other than that - no big issues.

This Week: Only 3 meals on our list this week, and then Kim is on her own. (which will be fine for her, as she has been doing well with my "I don't want to cook" blues) Still working on kicking the Diet Coke habit - man that stuff has it's grips in me pretty good!!

Meals:
Salad Night
BBQ Chicken with mixed veggies.
Turkey Taco Pie

Grocery List:
Surprisingly there isn't anything that springs to mind that we don't have other than tomatoes.
But, I am sure I will think of something...

Don't forget to swing by Organizing Junkie to link up, and check out some other fabulous menu plans!

Wupzey Review and Giveaway!

Wupzey! No, I am not talking to my Squishy again, Wupzey is a fun mom-created product designed to make eating time easier for Mom. Wupzey is a high chair ‘food-catcher’ that attaches easily and catches the food before it makes it’s way to the floor. Made from 100% Rip-Stop Nylon, this product was designed for our favorite little finger food eaters. (Best for ages 5-18 months).

This high chair food catcher was created by Johanna, a mom who was tired of bending over and cleaning up food from the ground. (I hear you on that one!) After months of picking up after her daughter, and finding the floor mats actually made cleaning more of a process than if the food just fell on the floor, Johanna had an idea that would change the way moms clean after meal-time for years to come.

Tired of all the extra work she was doing, Johanna created the high chair food catcher which is “lightweight, compact and durable”. Designed to be easily attached, detached, and cleaned, it is even easily stored on the highchair. The Wupzey is also designed to be strong enough to catch Sippy cups and eating utensils. It is also machine washable.

My Review:

Disclaimer: This is my 100% honest opinion which may be different than yours. While I did receive a Wupzey to review; I received no monetary compensation.

I was very excited and very ready to review this innovative product. I am pretty sure my floors were ready too!

PROS

• It was extremely easy to assemble. There wasn’t much too it, other than some Velcro and 5 minutes of your time.
• It is actually strong enough to keep the Sippy cup from smashing to the floor.
• The Wupzey caught the food that hopped out of Squishy’s mouth.
• It did make clean up easier. I could just wipe the food left into the chair into the Wupzey, and remove it for an all at once. It wiped down and washed well, and stored right on the highchair.
• There are many colors to choose from, allowing your to coordinate with your highchair or décor.

• 

  

(Note - the food appears to be on the highchair itself, and not the Wupzey, but I can tell you from past corn experience the food would have been on the floor had the Wupzey not been there.)

CONS

• It does not catch all the food, as there really isn’t anything that can stop Squish from feeding the dust bunnies.
• It is not kick-proof. There were days were removing it with his feet became a game. I tried to ignore this; some days were better than others.

The Wupzey gets a Squish Tested rating of SQUISHABLE (on a scale of Not Squishable to Very Squishable). Overall this product was pretty good. Since it's arrival in our home almost a week ago, I would say that my need to clean the floor has definitely decreased. Our downsides seemed to be directly related to Squish’s age and size. I do wish I had this from the time we started finger foods. I think this would be a great baby shower gift!

Wupzey also carries bibs, cart covers, and highchair covers, all made out of the same material as the Wupzey food catcher. (read VERY easy to clean!!)

The Giveaway:

Johanna has generously offered on lucky reader a Wupzey in the color of their choice.

This giveaway is open to residents of US only.

How to win:

You must participate in the Mandatory Entry. All other entries are optional.

Please make sure to leave your email in your comment, or I will not be able to contact you about your win, and will have to choose another winner.

(I will be checking each entry to the best of my ability, so honesty is appreciated!)

Mandatory Entry:

Head over to the Wupzey site and tell me what you color you would pick if you are the lucky winner. You must be a follower via GFC or RSS. Please leave a comment with your color choice, and how you follow Family and Life in Las Vegas.

Extra Entries:

Follow Family and Life in Las Vegas on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway. Please leave a link to your tweet. (This can be done daily.)

Like Family and Life in Las Vegas on Facebook and mention this giveaway on your Facebook Page.

Subscribe to Family and Life in Las Vegas emails. (Upper Right Side-Bar)

Head over to Wupzey and purchase something from the store. Comment back here letting me know what you bought.

Vote for Family and Life on Top Mom Blogs and Picket Fences (1 Entry for each, this can be done daily)

This Giveaway will end on 09/01 at 8pm PST

All winners will have 48 hours to respond, or I will have to pick a new winner.

Winners will be chosen by Random.Org