The Mott's for Tots Scandal

I once heard a statistic that for each child a woman has she loses 9 IQ points. That sounds about right to me. There is also an old saying that mothers want what's best for their children. Recently I discovered first-hand that Mott's (the applesauce company) is exploiting our love for our children and frazzled brain stupor to cheat us out of our hard-earned $$. It's called "Mott's for Tots."

The other day I was at the store, faced with a dilemma: buy the regular apple juice, which is cheaper, or buy the juice that is "40% less sugar"...but also 40% more dinero.

I want my kids to get the healthiest foods and everyone knows that sugar is not healthy...my mom-brain tells me...so I am willing to spend more money for my kids to get the healthier drink. I'm such a good mom!!

What my mommy-brain couldn't see (what with all those missing IQ points and brain cells and such) was that what they really mean by 40% less sugar is that you're actually getting 40% less juice. They simply took the liberty to water your kids' juice down FOR you. That's what you pay extra for...but you probably won't realize that until too late.

How rude!

I say we boycott.

P.S. Here is another 10 month picture of Zach. Couldn't you kiss those adorable cheeks about a thousand times? I know I could!

Double Digitz

Happy 10 Months to my Little "Monster" Zach!!

*My computer jumbled the better picture during the download. Maybe I'll post that one another day, but right now I'm too lazy to reboot and try again. For now, enjoy Zach's impersonation of "Mr. Grumpy Gills".

Katelyn-isms

*Shrek*

Kids say the darndest things. Here are a few that made me laugh yesterday:

*Warning-this one is a little gross*

Katelyn runs in excitedly with something on her finger.

Kate: Mom! Look at this!!

Me: What is it?

Katelyn: Well...It's not a booger.

Me: Then what is it?

Kate: It's NOT a booger.

Sometimes you need to acknowledge what they're saying before they can move on. So...

Me: Okay, it's not a booger. So what is it?

Kate: It came...(dramatic pause)...from my toenails.

That one still makes me chuckle. Here's another:

Sometimes when we say a word we say it twice and that makes it sound cuter. For example, out loud say "What a big bum." Now say "What a big bum-bum." Which sounds cuter? Now imagine Bam from "Viva La Bam". Then imagine Bam-Bam from "The Flintstones". Which is cuter? Get my point?

Also, Katelyn enjoys finding rhyming words, but she's not always perfect at it. For instance: "Hey! It rhymes! Park...Let's go to the park."

And we just bought a new Wii.

Now you'll understand our next conversation a little better.

Me: Let's go play with the Wii Wii.

Katelyn: Hey, it rhymes! Let's go play Wii Wii...Zachy has a wee wee!

And last of all...this one took place after I gave my bedroom a quick "cleaning" by stuffing everything in the closet. Katelyn came along and opened my closet door and...

"HO-ley SHOOOT!!! Mom! Come look at the mess in here!!"

Go Nie!

*This is not me. This is Nie.*

Nie has a new goal. She plans to hike "Y" mountain on Aug 16th, one year from the date of her accident. Adam teases me for caring about this girl I don't even know, but I can't help but love her for all her faith and courage. Here is an excerpt from her blog describing her first attempt at training:

"MY GOAL: To officially hike the "Y" on my accident date, Aug 16th.Working my way one switchback at a time until I am officially ready-hopefully by August.We climbed up the first switchback in good time. My legs barely bent with so much scarring and tissue holding them back. I wanted to break free and begin running up the trail like I used to. This was hard emotionally and physically.My parents and my sweet Mr. Nielson (in his white hat) cheered me on. Finally getting to the first switchback I did it! It was like heaven. Everyone smiling, everyone happy, everyone hugging.We held hands down and the beautiful sun was gone behind the lake. Time to go home and make dinner, kids in tubs, church clothes picked out, house picked up, kisses, stories, and then goodnight. Just like the good old days.Really."

Is it just me or is anyone else tempted to be there on August 16th to cheer her on?

Go Nie!!!

Ode To Baked Salmon

My sister was over the other day. My house smelled fishy because I had left some out earlier. I've never cooked fish in my life. It was just some frozen Gorton's that I had microwaved for lunch. Pretty sad, I know.

Anyway, she thought I had cooked it myself. "Wow," she said, "I've never cooked anything 'fancy' like that before. I have no idea how to make fish."

Well, neither did I. I felt the same inadequacies about preparing fish as she did, but I didn't tell her so. I just let her believe I had the skills. But by taking credit for the Gorton's I had sealed my fishy fate. I knew I would have to make the real thing in order to feel like less of a fraud.

So yesterday I hopped on over to recipezaar.com for a little lesson on baked salmon. Holy cow, was it ever easy! My sister and I had been silly to fear fish. All we needed was a little education.

Here is the Baked Salmon Recipe, which is easy, healthy, and inexpensive. Not to mention, it tasted "fancy" in a good way. Even Katelyn liked it. I have a feeling this will be my new staple dinner recipe. Go Mediterranean!!

Baked Salmon
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons light olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 (6 ounce) salmon fillets

Directions
1. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley.
2. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade.
3. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal.
6. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.