Just a Note

CaraCakes will be back in action next week!

Helping Our Children Chase and Achieve Their Dreams

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves"
                                                                                                     -Thomas Alva Edison

I couldn't sleep last night.  I woke up at 4am and watched my little girl sleep.  Then I wrote some blog posts for the coming weeks.  After cleaning my house, doing some packing, getting breakfast and lunches ready for the day, I decided to hunker down and read The Richest Kids In America: How They Earn It, How They Spend It, How You Can Too by Mark Victor Hansen. 

When I was in college, my creative writing teacher told me that I had too many interests, and way too many ideas.  She told me that I needed to start writing everything down- and she was right.  I still have that little glitter notebook, and I still jot my ideas down from time to time.  Some are great things that I'm working on today, and some are things that I hope to work towards.

As I sat down and read The Richest Kids in America, I found myself intrigued and encouraged by these driven, passionate, and creative kids who grabbed life by the horns and went for it.  They took risks that most people would be petrified to take.  But most of all, they had amazing parents that stood by them, up for them, and by them as they endeavored to do things that their peers clearly had not.  Instead of thinking up ideas, they took the plunge and followed through on them.

"Creating change is not something that you can do alone, and it is imperative to have a strong network of mentors, advisors, and peers."

I learned a lot from this book about how to encourage my daughter to have a successful, thriving life.  Sure, I knew that she should surround herself with positive influences, but sometimes parents have a hard time conveying that to their children.  This book is great back-up.  It encourages the reader to surround themself with positive people, media, books and information that will stimulate rather than stifle.

I really believe that most parents believe that their children should be challenged in some way.  This book takes it one step further and has work-sheets for the children (and adults!) to help use creativity to bring talents to the surface, passion to unleash potential, and to find a way to implement their ideas to a specific target market.  Many times, we are all herded into a group mentality, rather than an individual mentality, but these kids found ways to be individuals that influence and change the group by listening to their inner voice and by trusting their instincts.  You never know what hobby or activity could bring about a new idea that is a profitable enterprise.

"I want you to be a visionary, but I also want you to create sustainable income that does not own you."

Mark Victor Hansen does a great job of conveying the stories of young entrepeneurs that vary in "backgrounds, interests, and personalities", thus proving, that it doesn't matter where you come from to be successful.  What does matter is how you spend your time.  My Mom used to say, "follow your rainbows, follow your dreams", and she was right.  It took time and research for me to learn how to package it and how it serves people.

We're parents.  Our #1 job is to raise our children to be good people that are self sufficient.  We won't be here forever.  That's just a fact of life.  So why not teach them independence, self sufficiency, trust in their instincts, how to hone in on their creativity, and that charity is incredibly important, from the time they are young?  You never know what they can accomplish unless you encourage them to try!

Meatloaf 4 Ways!

I have a confession...when my husband is on business trips, I eat way more popcorn than a normal person would ever consider consuming...and I tend to live on leftovers.

During Kyle's last business trip, I made Laela and I some delicious turkey meatloaf. You might be thinking, "meatloaf? How boring! How on Earth can anyone live on meatloaf for a week?!" Well, let me tell you this- meatloaf is awesome. You can eat it cold on a sandwich (some people like it with mayo, others with ketchup, or some top it with tons of lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and/or pesto). You can eat it hot and steaming with mashed potatoes, veggies, and brown gravy. You can chop it up, mix in some bbq sauce in a medium hot pan until it's well heated, put it on a bun and yum! You've got a tasty sandwich!

My latest discovery for leftover meatloaf may very well be my favorite. I cooked some hericots verts (french green beans) in a medium-hot pan with 2 cloves of finely sliced garlic, 1/2 a roughly chopped tomato, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Once the beans were good and crispy, the tomatoes were oozing flavor, and the garlic was clear and aromatic, I transferred the green beans to a plate.  In the same pan (without turning off the heat) I drizzled a small bit of olive oil (about a 1/2 tsp), chopped the meatloaf to bits (2 servings), threw in 3 chopped up basil leaves, 1/4 cup of chicken broth, and added the other half of the roughly chopped tomato to the mix. I cooked it on medium heat for about 2 minutes, then let it reduce for about 30 seconds on high heat, stirring to make sure nothing stuck to the pan. Man oh man, was it ridiculously delicious. It was like a gourmet meal for the lazy...or the very tired mama.

This meal is proof that no matter how tired you are, you don't have to grab the phone and order that take-out that's just going to make you feel awful.  Sure, it's fine for once in a while, but if you have a life like most people, you're busy, and it's easy to get in a take-out rut.  Do yourself a favor, Drop the phone, and try cooking. This dinner took less than ten minutes to throw together.  The meatloaf itself is only 5 minutes or less of prep.  Plus, the more often you try new techniques and recipes, the more quickly you will be able to get things done in the kitchen.  Be a fearless home cook!

For a really great meatloaf recipe, click here. Just replace the 1lb beef for 1lb ground turkey (I prefer 1/2 dark and 1/2 white for meatloaf).

Once you've tackled that meatloaf, give this one a go! There are more ingredients/steps involved, but it's really delicious! (and it's great for sneaking some vegetables into your anti-vegetable family members!)

Fall Crock Pot Brisket

 

 

Brisket is hands down one of my favorite foods.  There's something so homey about a well made brisket.  Maybe it's because it reminds me of cooler weather and happy holidays with our friends Ellyn and Leon and their family.  Isn't that what comfort food is all about- food that warms us, satiates us, and reminds us of happy times with people that we love?

 

 

This is not a difficult meal to make.  In fact, it's kind of perfect in it's simplicity since you just toss all the ingredients in the crock pot, and leave it alone until the brisket is falling apart and your house is filled with the savory, hearty flavors of carrots, onions, herbs, and beef at its finest.  Laela had a great time helping "shake shake shake" the spices in, as well as tossing in the veggies.

 

Fall Crock Pot Brisket

 

Ingredients:

• 2 lb Brisket
• 1 Medium onion, diced
• 3 Large carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 Stalk thyme (leaves only)
• 1 Stalk rosemary, chopped (leaves only)
• 4 Leaves of sage, chopped
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 Cups beef broth
• 2 Tb Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 Potatoes, chopped or cubed (optional)
• 1 Tb Corn starch

Instructions:

 

For the Brisket:

• Place the brisket, onion, garlic, worcestershire, balsamic vinegar, carrots, celery, thyme, rosemary, sage, potatoes, and broth in the crock pot.
• Cook on the lowest setting (but not on warm) for 6-10 hours, or until the brisket is falling apart when you place a fork in it (brisket will "string" and "pull" apart.)
• Serve as is, or with gravy.

For the gravy:

• Take 1 cup of the drippings/broth from the crock pot and place it in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat.
• In small ramekin or cup, whisk together 1 tsp corn starch and 2 tsp water.
• Whisk in the corn starch mixture with the broth/drippings.
• Taste for seasoning.  Add salt and pepper as necessary.
• For a gravy with more herb flavoring, whisk in a few chopped leaves of rosemary, thyme, and sage.
• Whisk until thickened.
• Serve!

 

Pizza Party!



 

I'm a little burnt out.  We're moving in a few weeks and even though most of the work is done, it's just draining.  What do we do when things are stressful?  We find ourselves some fun!

 

Laela's best friend, Bailey came over for a sleepover a few days ago.  We made all kinds of goodies- cookies, pancakes, and most importantly, PIZZA!  That morning, I had discovered something called "Fleischmann's® Pizza Crust Yeast" that claimed to make pizza crust in 15-minutes instead of having to wait for the dough to rise like with normal pizza crust.

 

The package didn't lie!  I made one batch of pizza dough with the girls, and we had 4 mini pizzas assembled and ready to be eaten in less than a half hour.  We had a lot of fun creating our own pizzas! 

 

The best part was that girls really enjoyed making their own dinner.  Laela and Bailey were so proud of their pizzas!  If you're the type to get nervous having tiny cooks in the kitchen, this is a really great way to have them learn about cooking without stressing you out- just put all of the toppings into bowls, help them mold their pizzas, and let them put on the toppings!               

 

30 Minutes or Less Pizza 

 

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 envelope Fleischmann's® Pizza Crust Yeast

1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup very warm water (120 to 130°F)

3 tablespoons oil 1Tb Italian seasonings or freshly chopped basil Toppings:

Pasta sauce

Other toppings as desired

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Combine 1 cup flour, herbs, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky (kind of like if paste and play dough had a baby). Knead ("fold, push, and turn" the dough, and repeat) on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, for about 4 minutes.  If the dough becomes too sticky, just add more flour and work it into the dough.
• If making 4 pizzas as we did, break the dough into 4 even sections.  Gently pat dough with floured hands to create a circle.  If you like thin crust, you can roll it a little less than 1/4 inch thick.  Don't go much thinner though, or it won't hold your toppings well.
• Grease the baking sheet/pizza pan/pizza stone.  I just sprayed our pizza stone with cooking spray.  *I highly suggest investing in a pizza stone.  They'll only run you about $15, and your pizza will taste a lot better.  It gives the pizza a really great crunch to the crust, whereas a baking sheet or pizza pan don't.
• If you like, spread some sauce on the crust. Top with desired toppings and sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake on lowest oven rack for 10 to 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.  If making thick crust pizza, add about 5 minutes to the bake time.
• Enjoy!