My Sticker Fun - Sticker Charts

My three chitlins (4, 3, and 18 mo.) can be a pain in the rear when it comes to bedtime. The mere mention of the word turns turns the older kids from tired, relaxed, calm sweeties into hell-raising, loud, obnoxious little demons. I like to call this state of being before bed and after dinner “the crazies.” Unfortunately, the crazies seem to be a last-ditch effort to cause as much trouble as humanly possible.

When each was little, we established a bedtime routine that consists of dinner, quiet playtime (while the parents clean), pajamas, books, potty, bed, kisses/hugs/song, eyes closed. Books and websites said promised it would help bedtime go smoothly. Either they all lied, or I’m just mostly a horrible parent who can’t control her children (my ego says the former). After bedtime is complete, there are the attempts at staying up, including “I have to go to the bathroom,” “I need a drink,” “I want to sit next to daddy quietly on the couch,” and my favorite, “I can’t sleep,”  which usually happen in rapid succession.

All I ever want at 7:30 or 8 pm is to have some quiet and watch a show or two (on crazy weekend nights, we try to get a whole movie in) with my husband before we go to bed. One night, in a moment of my-kids-HAVE-to-go-to-bed-or-my-head-will explode, I decided to give the ol’ sticker chart a shot.

I made up a Super Sleeper Sticker Chart for each with a favorite character, and told them when they got seven stickers (one for each night they didn’t get up), they would get a treat of their choice. We made Saturday our treat day, they chose ice cream for their goal, and we were gonna blow the sticker chart theory out of the water!

It worked from day 1! Of course, our three-year-old has given us a few rough nights, but the threat of not getting a sticker (or worse, losing one!) turns it around pretty quickly. It’s amazing what the promise of a Saturday ice cream treat will invoke from preschoolers.

I’ll be darned if they haven’t earned an ice cream treat for five or six weeks now. Sometimes they forget about the sticker chart and a few days go by before they remember their stickers, but we always get ice cream if we’ve had a good week.

Want to try one of our Super Sleeper Sticker Charts? Click on the pics below to get one and please keep in mind that I am NOT a highly experienced graphic artist. I know about enough to get by, so no complaining about the quality of the charts. I do what I can, and the kids won’t care. :) 

Barring any snags, I'll be making more and adding them as I can. If you have a request, leave a comment and I will see what I can do!

My Middle Name is Adventure, Part 2

Well, I gave it a shot. I made the chili-cornbread pizza.

And it was a complete…

I can’t even describe to you how delicious it was. The cornbread was sweet, moist, and evenly baked and the chili was hearty and flavorful. Probably not the healthiest the most delicious way to eat chili. Want the recipes? I don’t blame you.

First let me explain how I made it.

CORNBREAD:

While doing research on the all-knowing Interwebz, I found a few other people who have tried making a cornbread-chili pizza. One recipe that intrigued me was a cornbread dough (rather than a batter) with the chili baked on top, just like you would with pizza toppings. While that person’s CC Pizza looked good, I knew I wouldn’t be happy with a cornbread crust that was too dense. So I turned to mom’s Southern cornbread recipe:

• 1 1/4 C flour

• 3/4 C corn meal

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 C sugar

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1 1/4 milk

• 1/4 C shortening

• 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400. Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the shortening evenly so the dry mixture is evenly crumbly. Add the egg and milk. Mix, making sure that the egg is totally mixed in. To make the cornbread crust, spray a deep, 12” cast-iron frying pan with cooking spray and pour about *half* the batter in.

With the extra batter, you can make little cornbread muffins or something. If you're daring enough, you can cut the ingredients in half to make just the right amount. But I promise, if you make the whole amount, you won't have any left over.

CHILI:

While the cornbread is cooking, make your (thick) chili (or, if you like, make your chili beforehand). For my chili, I typically use the following:

• 1 lb ground beef

• 1 T oil

• 1 onion, chopped

• garlic to taste (I used organic pre-diced garlic)

• 3 or 4 cans of beans

• leftover corn, if I have some

• 32 oz. jar picante sauce (I like using the medium or hot, but kids seem to prefer the mild) If you want a chunkier "base," use chunky salsa

• cumin to taste

• chili powder to taste (usually about 3-5 T)

• 1/2 C beer or white wine, optional (really brings out the tomato flavor, but you have to simmer for a little while)

In a pot, heat oil and brown the onions and garlic. Add the ground beef. I usually cook mine down until there's no liquid left so I don't have to drain it. Add the picante sauce. Add the beans and any other extras you like (corn, etc.). Add spices and alcohol (optional) and let simmer until cornbread is finished.

THE PIZZA:

Let the cornbread cool for a short period of time and then use a knife to cut it like a pizza. Spoon/pour some chili over your cornbread crust, sprinkle with cheese and stick back in the over for a few more minutes to melt the cheese (or, if you lack the virtue of patience like I do, just sprinkle on some cheese and call it good).

Pull it out, and get your pizza server out.

Serve yourself up some freakin' delicious chili-cornbread pizza!

Adventure Is My Middle Name

Okay folks. It’s been a while but I wanted to share with you a culinary idea my brother dreamed up.

He called me on the phone yesterday in a flurry of excitement and told me he had this great idea for a pizza, but not just any pizza. No. This pizza would be an entirely different animal; no run-of-the-mill toppings like pepperoni, sausage, or even pizza sauce. This pizza would be savory and comforting. This pizza would be a—wait for it—cornbread chili pizza.

“A cornbread chili pizza?” I asked, making sure I heard him right.

“Yeah,” he said. “You know: corn bread for the crust and chili for the toppings. And cheese on top.”

I mulled it over for a few minutes and decided it could work. The cornbread would have to be thin enough to eat, but dense enough to hold the chili and stay rigid so you could eat it. The top crust would have to be “sealed” enough to prevent too much chili juice from soaking in and causing it to fall apart. The chili would have to be relatively thick, too.

So, this Saturday, June 7, I’m going to give it a try. I’ll use my mom’s uber-delicious Southern corn bread recipe and my own chili recipe (which just so happens to be quite thick).

Be sure to come back for the recipes used, photos, and a recap of the experiment on Sunday, June 8.