Mommin' It Up!

August 14, 2013

The great cousins sleepover!

~~Four score and~~ Two weekends ago, Emily’s kids came over to have a sleepover with my big kids., because for SOME reason, Emily thought it would be “more fun” to celebrate Andy’s 40th birthday with some grown-up friends at a Reds vs. Cardinals game and leave her kids with me. (Just kidding, they took the kids to yet another Reds vs. Cardinals game the next day. And also, yes, it is more fun.)

Sophie spent the night with Kate and Sammy back in February when Joshua had some cool guy friends for a sleepover, but this was our first all-cousin bash.

And it was a hit! I wasn’t worried, but since I have memories of Emily and her sis calling their Dad to come get them from sleepovers at MY house at 11 pm, I was trying to keep things fun at our house just in case! You know, make it so they’d never want to leave.

Fortunately, we have a WiiU, and Emily doesn’t have a Wii at all. SO, we were able to indoctrinate the children into the world of video games, and ensure that Sammy WILL be asking Santa for a WiiU, which means he WILL get one, which means Nintendo definitely owes me a commission fee. Even Kate who declared at first that she was not good at video games, quickly learned that she CAN be good at video games, and she loved it!

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Then, I turned them into Young Republicans. Sammy went home wearing a white oxford, red tie, and navy blue sport coat. Oh, I kid!

So anyway, we had fun! And if the WiiU wasn’t enough, then we made Minions out of fake Twinkies, icing, and candy eyes! BECAUSE I’M A FUN MOM/FUN COUSIN, dangit!!!!

Too bad Minions aren’t gluten free…

Anyhoo, since we were on a roll in the FUN department, we also got Wendy’s for dinner, popped boatloads of popcorn, and watched “Wreck It Ralph”. After which, at 10:30 PM, the kids had a manic dance rave to the Japanese pop songs on the credits. Joshua was moving SO FAST, I think his popcorn *may* have been laced with ecstasy. It was crazy! He has got manic panic dance moves. All the kids were cracking me up. I really wish I had that on film.

Then, those 4 kiddos went to bed with absolutely no problem whatsoever and we didn’t hear a peep out of them all night! The ones that I didn’t give birth to even slept in a little!

It was a great night. I sure do love my cousins. Emily really spawned some terrific kids and I’m so glad they are buddies with mine! Can’t wait to do it again!

August 14, 2013August 14, 2013

Review: Ninja Frying System

I’ve eaten plenty of deep-fried foods in my life, but I’ve never tried to deep fry anything myself. To be honest, the process intimidates me. However, when I was asked to review the Ninja Frying System, I wanted to give it a shot.

From their website:
The new Ninja Frying System allows you to prepare your favorite fried dishes with 30 percent less fat and 40 percent faster due to its revolutionary heat combination that keeps cooking oil at a uniform temperature, so foods cook to light, crispy perfection – with less oil absorption.

Now, let’s be honest – we’re not deep frying twinkies for their nutritional properties, but certainly less oil absorption is a good thing!

My first attempt at deep frying was, shall we say, a learning experience. I attempted to fry mini-Milky Way bars.

If I had gone to NinjaKitchen.com and read the very first bullet point under “Tips,” I would have been much more successful!

When frying battered foods, lower the empty fryer basket into the oil. Then slowly lower food into the fryer basket one piece at a time, using tongs hold the food down in the oil for a few seconds. This will help the batter form a crust and prevent the food from sticking to the basket.

Yeah. I put the battered foods into the basket, and then put the basket into the oil. The battered part stuck to the basket – oops! But seriously, they tasted great. My husband is still daydreaming about them two days later.

Speaking of the basket, that’s one of the neat things about the Ninja – the basket has a lid, which keeps all the food down in the oil and means you don’t have to flip the food as you’re cooking it. Very clever!

Here are a few more things I like about it:
– The oil reservoir is dishwasher safe. This is hugely important to me, as I like to put things in the dishwasher!
– It’s easy to drain, as it comes with a spout. I drained the old oil into an apple juice container and didn’t make any mess at all.
– It comes with Cool Zone Technology, which helps keep oil cleaner for a longer period of time. This is important, because deep fryers use a lot of oil, and it would stink to have to throw it out after deep frying just a couple candy bars!
– The exterior remains cool while it’s in use.

Next up, I plan to fry pickles and make churros. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Learn more about the Ninja Frying System (and their other fun products) on their Facebook page!

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I was provided with a Ninja Frying System to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.

August 13, 2013

Back to School Shopping at Kohl’s

Clothes shopping for a nine year old girl? It’s hard.

For starters, clothes that are made to fit nine year olds are often – how can I say this delicately? – wildly inappropriate. Add that to a kid who is rather (and by rather, I mean extremely) picky about how clothes look and feel (my Kate likes to be comfortable!) and, well, you’ve got your work cut out for you.

When Kate needs clothes, we often head to Kohl’s. Their girls’ department has a wide selection, and she can find things she likes from dressy to sporty. Of course, I like the price – Kohl’s is always having killer sales.

Kohl’s is definitely one of our back-to-school shopping stops, and I’m happy to partner with them on Mommin’ It Up. They sent us a $100 gift card to help us get started, and Kate and I had a blast picking out some clothes for the fourth grade.

Check out some of our finds!

As you can see, Kate found a bunch of cute outfits that are both cute and comfortable (her priorities) and quite appropriate for her age (my priority!) – and the price was right. She is particularly ~~picky~~ selective about jeans – she doesn’t like them to be too tight or constricting, and they must be soft! – and we’ve found that the Mudd jeans at Kohl’s work great for her. In fact, she was wearing Mudd jeans from Kohl’s when we got to the store! We picked up a couple more pairs for her on sale for $20 each. Score! She also found a couple long-sleeved shirts that are super soft but have added detail (the peach one has lace sleeves and the green one has sequins on the shoulders) that give a touch of style without going over-board on the girly-ness (Kate won’t have that!). They were each on sale for $9.99. I only wished they had them in my size!

Kohl’s is also a great place to pick up the basics – we made sure to stock up on underwear and socks while we were there as well!

While Kate and I enjoyed a girls’ night shopping trip, we often shop at Kohl’s as a family. It’s nice to have a one-stop-shop for all of us. I am also slightly obsessed with their kitchen section, but that is a story for another day!

Overall, our trip was a big success – Kate has a great start on her fourth grade wardrobe, and I didn’t have to break the bank. Check out the picture of our receipt below – thanks to the in-store sales and 15% off for being a Kohl’s card holder, we saved more than we spent! I’d say that is a win.

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Kohl’s provided a gift card to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.