So, we're in the market for a new bed (and if I have my way, a new bedroom set) for Snuggle Bug. In specific, I want a twin bed with a trundle so that his little friends have a place to sleep when he starts doing sleepovers. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of bunk beds yet, although I know he'd be thrilled.  He's only 4 1/2 years old.  I'd worry about him falling off in the midst of climbing up the ladder.

I've done research online and I must say I'm a bit shocked at the prices! Oronzo seems to think he's going to walk into a furniture store and walk out with a bed for $200. I told him that I seriously doubt he'll get anything of any quality for $200 (I don't want a metal frame for a bed)...and that's not even considering the additional cost of the mattress.

Here's a set I kind of like. Want to guess the price?



This white bed & trundle is $448 + S/H.

Labels: home, kids furniture, Snuggle Bug

Happy Friday! It's time for my Favorite Ingredients Friday Lunch Box Meals Edition!





Now I look forward to seeing your Favorite Ingredients Lunch Box Meals Edition recipe!

Don't forget to link your specific recipe post link on Mr. Linky so I can see what's cooking at your house!

Oh, and be sure to put the title of your recipe in parenthesis! It makes it so much quicker for me to go back and search for recipes as I build my weekly menu.

For guidelines and my past Favorite Ingredients Friday recipes, click here.

Thanks so much for your participation. I do appreciate it!

Labels: cooking, Favorite Ingredients Friday, recipe exchange

A while back I got an email from Tricia with Aroma Housewares Company with information on their Aroma Professional Rice Cooker & Food Steamer (the ARC-1000 model). She offered to send me one to try and review on my blog!

I do love kitchen gadgets (Oronzo might say I have an addition to them) and I was quite excited to open this beautiful, digital rice cooker.

As I took it out of it's box and started reading the instruction manual, and then recipe booklet, I knew that this wasn't going to be a situation where I'd use it once and offer up a review.  I wanted to use it several times before I posted anything on my blog.

Let me just say, that our family really loves this rice cooker!  Truly, we do.

This isn't just a simple rice cooker.  The Aroma Rice Cooker has an easy-to-use digital control panel with multiple features: White Rice, Brown Rice, Quick Rice, Smart Steam and 15-Hour Delay Timer Sensor Logic™ technology self-adjusts for consistent, restaurant-quality results.  You just put in the rice and water, close the top, push a button and it does all the rest!  

This rice cooker will prepare up to 20 cups of rice and keep it warm for up to 12 hours.  When it's just the four of us, we usually only prepare 4 cups of cooked rice but we had friends over one night and I used it to prepare a much larger batch.  

The "Quick Rice" function cuts my cooking time down approximately 10-15 minutes when I'm in a hurry.  Or, I can plan ahead and use the delay timer to set the time that the rice will finish cooking, up to 15 hours in advance.

Here's the best part, I can use the "Smart Steam" feature and the steam tray that's included to steam meat or veggies, separately or simultaneously while the rice is also steaming,  to create delicious all-in-one meals!  No more dragging out my two pot All Clad steamer to boil water on the stovetop for steaming.  I love that I can have everything cooking at once!

Believe it or not, you can use this cooker to prepare oatmeal, soups, stews, desserts, and much more!  The Aroma digital rice cooker includes recipe booklet with a lot of great recipes (the marinara chicken fettucini and the pepper steak burritos are two of our favorites).  Plus you can go to the Aroma website and find even more scrumptious recipes to choose from!

Labels: cooking, product review

Nap and bedtime has become such a struggle with Boo since I've returned from my CA trip.  

Labels: Boo, toddler

I'm not sure if I mentioned this yet or not, but we have some new baby chicks!

Labels: family, pets

Hooray!  I'm packing up and heading home today!

Labels: business travel

Oronzo and I chatted today and he told me something cute that the kids did today.

Labels: business travel, family, playtime

I'm heading to Lancaster, CA for work.  I'll be here through Thursday afternoon.

Labels: business travel

This weekend I'm in San Francisco, CA attending a family reunion for my extended family on my dad's side. I arrived in CA on Thursday afternoon.

On my flight to CA, I mentioned to a fellow airline passenger that I was flying in for a family reunion and he commented, "Oh, good luck with that. I know those can be hard."

I assured him that I was very excited about this family reunion because my dad's family was a lot of fun! I haven't been disappointed.

So far, this family reunion has been filled with house remodeling tours, reminiscing, joke telling, lots of laughter, marveling at how our families have expanded, hugs, and cooking good food together!

There's something wonderful about connecting with extended family that you haven't seen in a long time! There's a comfortable camaraderie that falls into place instantaneously, as if you hadn't been apart at all.

My sister and I are sharing a hotel room (she lives in another state too). As we were getting ready to drift off to sleep last night I said, "Remember how we used to stay up all night talking?"
She replied, "I remember you scaring the crap out of me in recounting all of those horror stories you'd read!"

We probably spent a good our talking in the dark, laughing about old times. It was lovely!

In my opinion, family reunions are good for the soul and I'm thankful that I'm able to attend this one!

Labels: extended family, family, family reunion

Happy Friday! It's time for my Favorite Ingredients Friday WeightWatchers Edition! Click here to see last year's Weight Watcher's recipe submissions.

Labels: Favorite Ingredients Friday, recipe exchange

For over a month now, I've been meaning to make Snuggle Bug a superhero cape using the tutorial that I found over at Puking Pastilles. Since I'm leaving on a week-long trip today, I was determined to get his cape done before I left!

Labels: sewing, Snuggle Bug

Snuggle Bug and Boo are headed off to preschool summer camp this morning and, for the first time ever, the school is requesting that parents pack lunches for their kids (they're in summer camp from 9 AM- 1 PM three days per week).

Labels: family, kid friendly food