Posted on 24 Comments

Keeping it real

Remember my to-do list from last week?  Well, I did manage to cross off everything but three items that day.  And today, when I decided another list was in order, I sat down to write it and ended up with the exact same list.  (Well, almost.  Replace “blog hat” with “start another hat” since I’m a hat-making machine lately and not quite ready to blog about it.)

Such is life, I guess.  There will always be laundry to fold, orders to pack, dishes to wash, and exercise to do, and no matter how many times you cross them off of the list, they are just going to keep on coming back.

While I’ve got some creative things in the works, and there are small havens of clean, comfortable, cozy areas scattered around my home, much of my day is spent looking at things like this:

Reality

Which is really not as bad as it looks, and could probably be cleaned-up in less than an hour if I’d just DO it, already.

And reminding myself that, really, the time has come to reclaim the family room from this:

Reality

Which I really have no excuse for other than laziness at this point.

And wondering how the boys are doing in school after fueling up on this (as they do nearly every morning):

Reality

Which brings me to a question:  what on-the-go kind of breakfast can you give two growing boys that doesn’t come from a package?  All three of us pretty much crawl out of bed 1/2-hour before the bus arrives, so pancakes are out of the question.  I’ve done muffins in the past, and that tends to work, but I’d like a little more variety in my repetoire…

Thanks in advance.

And, by the way, if you’re interested in admitting, too, that your life is not as well-manicured as your blog may make it look, head on over to Stefani’s new flickr group and join in the group therapy 😉

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

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Posted on 24 Comments

24 thoughts on “Keeping it real

  1. My kids love pancakes, but on days we are late I usually serve up croissants and english muffins. If your kids like eggs you might want to check out this toaster:
    http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-TEM500-Muffin-2-Slice/dp/B000B18P96/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
    Isn’t it awesome? I’m totally getting one!

    We also have yogurt on days we’re running late; especially the tubes since they can be eaten in the car. The organic yogurt tubes don’t have artificial colors or high fructose corn syrup if you care about that stuff. Smoothies are also quick and easy and are portable. I make mine with vanilla rice milk and banana for my son and orange juice/mango/banana for my girls. The combos are endless and they’re really quick in the blender.

    See what arizona has been blogging about: I’m In Love

  2. Oh, and my house looks that way all. the. time. !

    See what arizona has been blogging about: I’m In Love

  3. Ok, why didn’t my first comment go through? I wrote so many breakfast ideas! Was it held in moderation? Did it get lost in the internet wasteland? Did it simply disappear? What does one do in a situation like this? Rewrite everything? I’m so confused now! lol!

    1. It was held for moderation – Comments with 2 or more links are automatically held, since they’re more likely to be spam.

  4. I wish there was such a thing as blogging when my kids were young! It really makes me feel like maybe I wasn’t such a bad mom as I thought! All I had for positive vibes was Erma Bombeck.

    See what Marty has been blogging about: That is sooo cool!

  5. Dear Lisa, I’ve been reading your blog for over one year now, but never commented. Shame on me! Thanks for writing about craftiness and everything else, I love reading your blog 🙂
    I’m polymer clay obsessed, but I love cooking too, so, as I was saying, shame on me for writing my first comment about… well, food! About your boys’ breakfast you might want to check this blog http://lunchinabox.net/ ; the author’s a pre-schooler mom with many great ideas for packing meals. She blogs about lunches, mostly, but there are some desserts ideas here and there, and overall it’s very inspiring (since we’re speaking of on-the-go kind of food). Hope you’ll get some ideas 🙂
    Good luck with the house chores!! They should invent self-tidying furniture…

    See what Carla has been blogging about: Smontare la macchina per la pasta

  6. lol @ the poptarts. This morning my star pupil – who is not a morning kid – is sitting in class with a tummy of Nesquick cereal. Some mornings it’s poptarts or oatmeal. Most mornings it’s half a bagel with cream cream cheese or pb or butter and a glass of juice or milk by her choice.

    She prefers the muffins and breakfast cookies (pretty much round cereal bars, usually oatmeal and fruit or peanut butter and some generic fruit filler) when we make them but baking is a treat here.

    I beat you on the Christmas stuff because we cleaned for the kiddo’s bday party on the 18th. Only reason.

    See what Elaine has been blogging about: Winter 2009 Giveaway

  7. That is the great part about my blog….its the ONLY thing that I can control! 🙂 My kids LOVE poptarts. We found some poptarts that have 5 grams of fiber in each tart. The kids love them, and I dont feel so guilty about them eating “junk”.

    See what kashoan has been blogging about: SNOW and more Hats…

  8. I make and freeze breakfast burritos. He micros them for 2 mins (wrapped in papertowel) and it keeps his hand warm as he eats it and walks to the bus 🙂

    Can also be done with homemade egg Mcmuffins, but the filling stays inside the burrito better.

    Breakfast cookies are a healthier option too.

    See what Kim has been blogging about: Getting my groove back

  9. Lisa,
    I have enjoyed reading your blog for the past year or so. I would read your blog every morning once I made it to work. Well today I didn’t have to make the trek to work, I lost my job yesterday. It’s a good thing. anyway I have been laughing because I also was thinking about what I would/could be making breakfast for the boys. I have been spoiled with the sitter making them b-fast everyday. here’s to a fresh start!

  10. I used to make “breakfast pockets” – sorta like a home made Hot Pocket, but with eggs, cheese, and bacon (or sausage). If you’re really in a hurry, you can even use store bought dough. My son loved em.

    See what neca has been blogging about:

  11. If you visit my place then go back to yours…
    believe me, you’ll think yours is neat!!
    (I follow your blog all the time Lisa…I’ve got you on my Google Reader).

    See what mary tempesta has been blogging about: Ce l’ha FATTA!

  12. This morning we did eggs, toast and fruit. Yesterday it was scones, eggs and fruit. The day before scrambled yellow potatoes with pinto beans and pepperjack cheese (my favorite!). We also have oatmeal from time to time. Oh and sweet potato biscuits with vegetarian grazy is another household favorite. Now I’m getting hungry!

    See what Rachel has been blogging about: Valentine’s Day Roundup 2009.01.27

  13. my friend makes yummy yet healthful breakfast cookies. Do you want the recipe? Let me know and I’ll e-mail it to you! I often reflect on how we can show people exactly what we want them to see of ourselves, yet maybe never quite the whole truth…keep it real!

    See what lee-ann has been blogging about: Caught in the Middle

  14. Hi Lisa,
    Now that I’ve seen the looms you have, a couple look sort of big. You mentioned Malabrigio yarn…my fav…another is also from S. America but I can’t remember the name. Anyway, I use those with any other leftovers to make the felted purses you can see on my Etsy banner. They are so much fun and you just throw them in the washer in hot water to felt them. I think I just cast on 94 or so and work in the round. I use needles but I’m sure the loom would do it and I’ve added ribbon, those laddery thready type things on spools at the yarn shop, anything, as long as the base is wool. If you’re interested, just let me know and I can give you more details. It’s such a cool purse to carry.
    Susan
    http://www.cocojaneandme.etsy.com

  15. Now that my commute is a bit more challenging (car and then 2 trains on the DC Metro) I’ve been leaning towards portable food when I can. We’ve bought (and Tina has made) scones and we’ve bought bagels as well. Somewhat better than pop-tarts, I think.

  16. As Ray said above, I’ve had good luck making scones — I use this recipe and leave out the raisins. Ray likes cinnamon ones and I prefer chocolate chip, so I make the dough, divide it in half, and add a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and some cinnamon chips to his half, and some vanilla and chocolate chips to mine, and bake as directed. I’d imagine you could add anything you like.

  17. Dry cereal is the favorite around here. And if you can get the kids to eat something that’s not TOTALLY sugar, you can feel pretty good about it. Or granola bars/breakfast bars. And I also buy frozen waffles and pancakes, too. Just pop them in the toaster or the microwave and they’re done in no time. We have to get up at a certain time for the waffles though 🙂 LOL

  18. If the kids like pancakes, you can do as we do. I make a big bunch of pancakes and freeze them in plastic zip bags in groups of 3 or 4. In the mornings all we have to do is pop them in the toaster.

    Eggs and toast is easy to do ahead as well. Scramble up some eggs, and freeze. Microwave for 10 second intervals until well heated, make some toast in the mean time and serve with jam, or honey.

    Just a few ideas! 🙂

  19. You guys are so great! Thank you for all of the fabulous ideas. I can hardly wait to go food shopping 🙂

  20. We usually do cereal, although on a lazy Sunday I’ve been known to go out for bagels. My girls have been fixing their own for a while, and have been branching out to foods that aren’t generally considered breakfast. Rice, kani, leftover chinese food. . .

    See what AlisonM has been blogging about: Will it Work with Facebook?

  21. This might be a little late- but right now my son’s favorite is oatmeal. We make it plain, then he adds brown sugar and cinnamon and he loves it and it only takes a minute.
    Our 2 year old is in love with Kix, and our 8 y.o. eats a piece of fruit.

    We’ve also done cinnamon sugar toast (whole wheat bread for sticking-until-snack-time power), toast with PB & bananas, and cereal with fruit.

    See what Amanda has been blogging about: Our first…

  22. Flapjacks! Not the pancake type, but the European type. Kinda like granola bars. Oats, brown sugar, Golden syrup, butter. Yarnstorm has a good recipe on her blog. Good luck!

    See what Holly has been blogging about: Mehmet Girgic – Felt Rug Workshop

  23. Lisa when I was little I lived with my grandma. She used to make up a bunch of pancakes and wrap them individually in foil and freeze them. Then all I had to do was throw one in the microwave in the morning before leaving the house!

    See what Stephanie has been blogging about: Weekly Green

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