"Mmmmmm"

A little man thoroughly enjoying his shredded pork enchiladas.

"Do I have something on my face? I am so embarrassed."

"Wow, this got messy. I might need another napkin."

Mommy's After School Snack

Nearly every day around 3:00 p.m., I become completely incapacitated by the desire in ingest some sugar. Mmmmmm. Sugar.

Some days I am able to stave off the sugar craving, others days . . . I am not as successful.

Unfortunately for my children (and their nutrition and overall health), my sugar attacks coincide with our afternoon excursion to pick Ellie up from preschool. And more often than I would like to admit, our school pick up is followed by a stop at the corner Starbucks where the kiddos get a chocolate milk box and I get a hot chocolate (skim with no whip, of course).

Yesterday, my sugar problem really escalated when, after picking Ellie up from school, we drove out of our way to Sweet Mandy B's. Simply put, Sweet Mandy B's is the Lincoln Park after school mecca. The scene at this bakery between 2:30 and 3:30 is something to behold. Sugar addict mamas and their offspring lined up out the door waiting to purchase cookies, mud pies, cupcakes and other confections. We got right in line.

We chose cookies to split . . . and they were good. But the whole thing ended up feeling more shameful than anything. Moms indulging their little ones so they can indulge themselves. Me included. I mean, it is so obviously not a good idea to load your little guy up with sugar in the late afternoon. Tomorrow, apples and cheese cubes for after school snack for us.

A Mommy . . . repenting.

A Bright Day

Hello sunshine.

The sun came out today. After many days of sickness and cold, today seems warm and bright. Our spirits are better for it. We actually spent time outside. Hooray.

A little preview of our warm and sunny escape planned for later this week. Can't wait.

A Bit About Jamie Oliver (And Why I Love Him)

I have a had a crush on Jamie Oliver for a long time. The handsome husband knows all about it. And he thinks I am a big dork for liking Jamie Oliver because, well . . . Jamie Oliver is kind of a dork too. Which is exactly why I like him. I love the way he sort of fumbles and bumbles around the kitchen in such an unassuming way. Just cute.

Years ago, I was a devotee of his old cooking show where he would speed around London on his moped gathering ingredients and then invite all of his interesting-looking friends over to his amazing flat for a fabulous meal. I always wished I was invited (I know, I know, it was obviously all staged for the show but it still looked fun).

Anyway, what I am getting at here is . . . Jamie is back! You can't even imagine my delight when I stumbled across his new cooking show called Jamie at Home on the Food Network (which hasn't done a thing for me in years - save for the occasional Barefoot Contessa rerun here and there).

So I watched his new show and. . . I am still totally smitten. I don't love every single recipe and some of his ideas certainly don't translate well to real life (i.e. smoking salmon in an old biscuit tin with herbs and wood shavings usually reserved for your pet rabbit's cage? What?). But some recipes do seem worth a go. Definitely going to try Butternut Squash Muffins with a Frosty Top (simply cannot resist an opportunity to reintroduce butternut squash to picky little eaters again - this time with frosting!). Good to see you, Jamie.

Good Health . . . . Where Have You Gone?

We can't seem to kick all of the various ailments around here. Ear aches. Sore throats. Fever. Cough.

During the past week, when I wasn't comforting a sick babe or lying on the couch looking pathetic, I managed two (semi) coherent posts: Parenting Squad here and Chicago Moms Blog here.

Back to the couch. Sore throat is definitely getting worse.

Meet Seamus

My sweet new nephew. A lovely addition to the clan.

This Bird Made My Day

This chicken was the absolute perfect antidote for a crabby mommy with a sick baby on a cold and snowy day.

I roasted this little guy (free-range and organic) with half a lemon, a few cloves of garlic, rosemary, thyme and sage. So good.

Ellie and Brendan ate it with a side of steamed basmati rice. David and I enjoyed it later along side sauteed chard with Parmesan (also delicious). The leftover chicken is going to make another appearance tonight in a cobb salad.

And it turned out not to be such a bad Monday after all.