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Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?

Do you remember Sesame Street’s “Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?”

It was a series of songs that introduced kids to people in their neighborhoods in the late 70s. I bet a lot of you are singing it in your heads right now!

Teachers, fire fighters, librarians, police officers… the songs introduce them to kids as friends and neighbors.

Some people in Ohio, though, have decided that public employees in our neighborhoods are not actually our friends and are working hard to take away many of the rights these people deserve.

If you haven’t heard about Ohio Senate Bill 5, I encourage you to do a little research and figure out where you stand. Here’s an article that sums it up pretty well, and a lot of information can be found on the Ohio Education Association website.

It’s not a partisan issue – while every democratic senator in Ohio opposes the bill, this article from the Columbus Dispatch discusses the republican senators who think it goes too far as well.

So, Ohio friends, read up on it and then see what you can do. I tried to call Governer Kasich himself yesterday, but his voicemail box was full. (If you want to give him a piece of your mind tell him your thoughts, his number is 614-466-3555.)

As Jenny’s brother and sister-in-law wrote on their FB status this morning, we (public employees) are not the enemy.

We are the people in your neighborhood.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Weight Watchers-Friendly Recipes

I’ve been trying out a lot of new recipes lately, and I’ve found some that work well for me with Weight Watchers and also work well for my family. Because most of the time I don’t even want to make one meal, let alone two! Anyway, I thought I’d pass them along – here are my top ten WW-friendly recipes.

1. Slow Cooker Lasagna. I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion app. With no-cook noodles and my favorite kitchen appliance, my slow cooker, there was nothing to it. It turned out really well!

2. Chicken Enchiladas. I’ve mentioned SkinnyTaste.com before, but it is one of my favorite sites to find recipes. I was especially excited to see this one, because I loooooooooove enchiladas. I made two batches on Sunday, and while we haven’t actually eaten them yet, they smelled and looked amazing and I can’t wait to try them. After I made them, I said to Andy, “I just made enchilada sauce that didn’t even come from a can!” Quite remarkable, really. Also, this is a great recipe if you’re making meals for the freezer!

3. Baked Jalapeno Poppers. I’ve made these twice now and I am completely obsessed with them. The second time I doubled the amounts of bread crumbs and seasonings, and they were even better that time.

4. Applesauce Pancakes. I’ve tried out a few homemade pancake recipes lately and this was my family’s favorite by far. I doubled the amount of cinnamon, which was delicious.

5. Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops. Back to Skinny Taste! I pretty much love lime anything, which is why I thought this recipe sounded great. It was really good, and I think next time I’ll make the cilantro lime rice to go along with it. I am completely addicted to Chipotle, so having a cheaper and lower-calorie way to make it at home is great.

6. Chicken Tortilla Soup. This recipe isn’t marketed as a “diet” food, but it is really very light. And very easy – dump it all in the slow cooker and call it a day! Kate particularly loves this one.

7. Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. I’ve been trying to eat better breakfasts lately (read: not just black coffee) but it’s difficult for me to find something easy, nutritious and something I can grab on the go. I’m going to attempt AmyinOHio’s steel cut oats, but until I get up the nerve to try oatmeal in a bowl (yes, you read that right – I have never had a bowl of oatmeal), this recipe fits the bill for breakfast. And they are muffins.

8. Ham and Potato Soup. I love to make ham in the slow cooker (two cups of brown sugar on the bottom, add the ham, one more cup of brown sugar on the top – voila) but unless you’re serving Easter brunch for your extended family, there will be leftovers. I found this recipe for soup when I was trying to use up the leftovers, and I love it. To make things even easier, I use a bag of frozen onions/celery/carrots, which saves a lot of time. Again, not diet per say, but quite reasonable as far as points go.

9. Mexican Stuffed Shells. I found this recipe on Once a Month Mom a while back, but I remembered it recently and made it again a couple weeks ago. It’s an easy recipe to lighten up – I used really lean ground beef and reduced fat cheese. YUM.

10. Baked Slow Cooker Chicken. This couldn’t be simpler but it is so good! You put foil at the bottom of the crock pot, and the fat drains right off. However, seeing me prepare the chicken made Kate realize for the first time where exactly chicken comes from. Then she asked how someone becomes a vegetarian.

So there you have it, 10 recipes I’ve tried and enjoyed. The thing I like best about Weight Watchers is that it fits into my life – I can cook recipes I love and recipes my family will eat without completely derailing my diet. The mobile tools are really helpful in this, too. The website offers suggestions for substitutes for higher-point items that can make a big difference in points without making a big difference in taste. Also, using the recipe builder, I can find out exactly how many points are in something I make, which makes tracking much easier and more accurate.

Do you have any recipes I should add to the list? I’d love to hear them!

This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda – check it out!

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As a Weight Watchers insider, I was provided with an iPad and a three-month online membership to facilitate my post.

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Just Another Way We’re Screwing Up Our Kids.

Yesterday I came across this article in New York Magazine.

Titled “How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The inverse power of praise,” the article discusses research done by psychologist Carol Dweck at Columbia University, who found that in an effort to not screw up our kids, we are in fact screwing up our kids.

I encourage you to read the article, but the one-sentence version of the story is that we’ve become so focused on building up our kids’ self-esteem and making sure every kid gets a trophy and no one’s feelings are hurt that we’re setting them up for failure when something difficult eventually comes along.

Which, as we all know, it will.

Something difficult eventually came along for Jenny – she took failing her driver’s test hard (much harder than was called for), simply because she had never failed anything before and thought it was the end of the world.

Something difficult eventually came along for me – after graduating from college in three years, I couldn’t find a job. I was unprepared for how difficult the job search would be (and how much effort I would have to put into it) and fell into a deep depression.

In other words, I think Dr. Dweck is onto something.

“Dweck discovered that those who think that innate intelligence is the key to success begin to discount the importance of effort. I am smart, the kids’ reasoning goes; I don’t need to put out effort.”

Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

So… what do we do? Obviously completely withholding praise isn’t recommended (or very nice), but the article asserts that the way in which we offer praise can alter the impact it has on our kids.

“By and large, the literature on praise shows that it can be effective—a positive, motivating force. In one study, University of Notre Dame researchers tested praise’s efficacy on a losing college hockey team. The experiment worked: The team got into the playoffs. But all praise is not equal—and, as Dweck demonstrated, the effects of praise can vary significantly depending on the praise given. To be effective, researchers have found, praise needs to be specific. (The hockey players were specifically complimented on the number of times they checked an opponent.)

Sincerity of praise is also crucial. Just as we can sniff out the true meaning of a backhanded compliment or a disingenuous apology, children, too, scrutinize praise for hidden agendas. Only young children—under the age of 7—take praise at face value: Older children are just as suspicious of it as adults.”

Again, this makes a lot of sense to me. Hearing specific things they’ve done right or worked hard on not only focuses on their effort, but shows kids we’re paying attention.

Changing the way we praise our kids – just another thing to add that to the to-do list, right?!?

But seriously… what are your thoughts on all this?

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