things to do when the weather is bad, part 1

I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately, maybe because moms represent comfort and safety.  My mom liked health food when I was a kid.  I've been enjoying green juice because she used to put liquid chlorophyll in my orange juice (it was supposed to help my eczema).  And she enjoyed the health food store (as do I), so odd flours and interesting ingredients seem enticing and fun to me rather than exotic or unappealing.  I made these buckwheat babies with caramel syrup this morning for breakfast.  The pancake was nice, but I made a small batch of the caramel and accidentally overcooked it.  While I will eat bitter caramel, neither my husband nor Spencer liked it.  Spence gobbled up his pancake, though.  He loves buckwheat.  Last night, while John was having a night out, Spence and I ate grilled tofu and grilled Napa cabbage and brown rice and roasted golden beets and this sauce.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was out of miso until I was ready to serve up, so I made the sauce with tahini instead.  We didn't really enjoy it, but Spence loved the tofu and cabbage.  ("This tofu is delicious, Mommy!" he said, and my heart just melted.  He learned to say "delicious" appropriately in preschool - one of the many things that I love about his teacher.)  Beets make me think of my mom too, although she was more likely to open a can of sliced beets and serve them cold, right out of the can.  (I like them that way too.)  It is strange the things that remind us of happy times in childhood.
On days that don't support being outside, there are still a lot of things to do in town, depending on the age of your children and your budge/inclinations.  You could:

1. go to Discovery Days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9, 10:15, or 12:30.  Miss Stephanie does a different theme each week and offers four different craft tables, a themed sensory table, a playdoh/gak/slime table, themed pictures to paint at an easel (and paint shirts to keep your child's clothes nice), a puppet theater with lifelike animal puppets, a flannel board, a playhouse and more.  It's the best way to spend $4 in town.  They have a punch card that doesn't expire.  The Longmont Museum is also highly interactive, with things the kids can touch and explore in every exhibit.  There is a fantastic section on early Americans, a big train engine with an i-spy activity, a unique water table to demonstrate how the community shares water resources, a child-sized accordion that they can play, a wall to graffiti on, a real moon rock, and a ton of activities on the top floor, including dress up costumes and books.  The top floor also features one of the best views in Longmont, and if you ask before you go up, the front desk will loan your child a pair of binoculars (free of charge).  They have interesting music and social programs throughout the year, a concert series in the summer, and various summer camp options for older kids.  They also have the absolute best selection of Dover sticker and activity books that I have ever seen in their Museum store, and they do not mark them up over the cover price.  These are fantastic for restaurants or traveling - they take up no space, can occupy toddlers to much older children (depending on which book you choose), and are easy to clean up if your child stickers up the table.
2. Go to the Longmont Public Library for storytime on Tuesdays or Wednesdays at 10:15 and 11 and Wednesdays at 1:30 and Thursday nights at 7.  They also offer a bilingual storytime on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.  (This one is just a few times a month, or maybe once a month.  I have heard that the storyteller is outstanding.)  For the daytime storytimes, there is an infant/lapsit storytime, a toddler storytime (with parachute play), and a preschooler storytime.  Parents are not required to stay in the room for the preschool storytime, and it nearly always seems to involve a flannel board.  Not being required to stay means that you can go to the infant or toddler story with your youngest while your oldest enjoys some solo time - if you can trust them to stay in the room, listen to the teacher, not throw tantrums, etc.  And just as a note - if your child needs a bathroom at the library, they have special tiny toilets in the bathrooms in the children's section.  The library also features a train set to play with, a stand alone train setup that they can operate by pushing a button, a puppet theater, educational and fun computer games on computers with child-size headphones and a special mouse that is just right for tiny awkward little hands.  (Also tiny keyboards, but those aren't really needed much.)  They have plenty of special family programs throughout the month, and they keep their calendar updated on their website. 
3. Try out the slot car racing at Slot Car Speedway, which is the building attached to HobbyTown USA.  Spence went here with his dad starting at about 3, and we had a great time.  They often have cheap coupons/gift certificates on the BestofLongmont website, so that's something to watch.  (Our first time, I got an evening's worth of entertainment for $2.50 thanks to the Best of Longmont
4. The Longmont Recreation Center features a zero entry pool with a toddler slide, all kinds of fountains and splash features that are interactive, and two water slides (one of which you can ride down with your child).  They also have a lazy river, a water basketball area for better swimmers/bigger kids, and of course a hot tub and lane swimming.  They also have incredibly cheap babysitting, a rock climbing wall, and a lot of toddler classes.  Their hours are not amazing for the weekend, which is when it usually occurs to me that we should go swim as a family, but they are a wonderful daytime retreat and a nice place to go for a playdate, once you get over the awkwardness of seeing all your mommy friends in their swimwear.  The pool allows pretty much any kind of inflatable or reasonable toy that you care to bring, so pack a big bag and enjoy yourself.  They do have a small cafe, and I think it has pizza and other simple foods, so you could potentially eat lunch there.  They also have free coffee and tea by the front door.  If you are truly losing your mind, you can take the kids to the cheap babysitting and enjoy a workout, shower alone, sauna, book in the hot tub, etc.  (They will page you if your child is crying, so maybe don't depend on this option when they are weepy.)
5. There are the fast food options, which in Longmont means two McDonalds playplaces and a Chick-fil-a.  The McDonalds at Main and 19th (1900 N. Main St.) is our favorite.  It has a music theme and a special under 3 play area as well as a several story high playground for bigger kids.  There is a piano keyboard you play with your feet, a guitar you play by standing on it, several ways to play music from various countries, a climbing wall, and other fun things.  Your child can easily waste an afternoon here, and if you disdain McDonald's food, feel free to buy a carton of milk and then turn them loose.  The McDonalds at Main and Ken Pratt (245 S. Main) is also nice, and I wouldn't shun it if your child has their heart set on going there.  It is better for bigger kids and features a helicopter that they can jump in, lots of levels to climb and explore, and a car to sit in while your child looks down on you.  The under 3 toys tend to be worth having, but the over 3 toys are gender themed and often very related to the latest kid movie.  I have never had them tell me that I can't have the toddler toy, though, and those tend to be things like cars, submarines, buses, etc.  The Chick-fil-a (215 Ken Pratt Blvd) has healthier lunch options and their play place is very clean.  There are no tables in the playplace, but the play area is enclosed in glass so that you can recline at your table in comfort and watch your offspring race around the car, airplane, tunnels and slide.  There is also an under 3 area.  The whole thing is smaller than McDonalds but more accessible in some ways.  I think kids tend to outgrow the Chick-fil-a option sooner and then start misbehaving on the equipment, but it is easy to see what they are up to and intervene if necessary.  Their toys tend to be more worthwhile, and their under 3 toys are quality board books.  If your child doesn't open their toy/book, they can turn it back in to the counter for an ice cream cone with sprinkles.  If you don't want to let your child eat fast food, they have a great fruit cup that is reasonably priced, and they also have a grilled chicken option now.  (We haven't tried that yet.)  They will let you get the fruit cup instead of fries in the kids meals.  They also give out a lot of free food, once a week or so, if you sign up for their mailing list.  Periodically they have Princess Night or Sports Night for the kids, and if your child is a Disney princess fan, you should definitely take her.  Their staff members dress up like the princesses and do a pretty decent representation of them, and spend time dining with the kids, doing crafts with them, taking pictures, etc.
6. More suggestions might include going to the movies, Crackpots, the WOW museum, the REI playground, the new Boulder children's cafe, the (fairly sad) Longmont mall playground, go roller skating or ice skating indoors in Broomfield/Westminster, go to Bouncetown, Airborne open gym time, Itty Bitty City, or Gymboree drop-in classes.  If the weather isn't too awful, you can go ice skating at the Longmont Pavilion in the winter.  You can also hit the consignment stores, if your child is able to shop without sobbing, and can sometimes get some fantastic deals and unusual toys.  More details on all those next time.  Of course if you want to drive to neighboring towns or to Denver, your options grow and grow.  I will keep adding to the list as I think of things.

dinner tonight

We were at the store a few days ago and chuck roast was on sale.  I was feeling a little nostalgic and thinking about my mom, and I remembered that she always cooked her pot roast with Lipton onion soup mix packets.  I remember really loving that meal - the way you could shred the meat with your fork into perfect, tiny bits, the flavor of the carrots and potatoes and onions - yum.  So I bought soup mix (which has a helpful recipe on the back) and chuck roast and tossed it all in the crockpot.  I was in a huge hurry, trying to get it all going and still get Spencer to Discovery Days, so I didn't have time to dice anything.  It took me 3 minutes to get this meal going, and that included making lunch for us and singing to a grouchy baby at the same time.  I put in baby carrots and sliced portobello mushrooms, browned the meat in oil, and added the meat and water with the soup mix blended in to the crockpot.  If I had been thinking, I would have deglazed the pan with the water to get a little extra flavor, but I didn't think of it until it was too late.  Maybe next time.  I made baked potatoes and a salad to go along side.  Not earth shattering, but really tasty, and it made me think of childhood.   Also, I liked the contrast between the soft meat and veggies and the crispy baked potato shell and flaky interior.

So the chuck roast made a ton, and a day later, I made a great beef barley soup out of the leftovers.  I sauteed shallots (since I was out of onions) and celery and a bit of garlic in a little butter.  Once the shallots were translucent, I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes.  I meant to add diced, but grabbed the wrong can accidentally, and once it was open, that was it!  I added a few cups of water to thin it out and then diced and added some of the leftover meat, all the leftover juices, and the leftover mushrooms.  I sliced the leftover baby carrots in half and added a little rosemary and shook in some quick cooking barley.  Then I let the whole thing cook while I made cheddar biscuits and butterscotch pudding.  Both of those recipes were from the old Betty Crocker cookbook that my mom used when I was little, and that I enjoyed a lot of experimenting with in my early teen years.  I served it with a salad and everyone was pretty happy with it.  My husband thinks I can only cook from a recipe - but he is wrong!

I saved a fair amount of the leftover roast, and tonight, we will have basil blue cheese stroganoff.  I haven't tried this one before, but I love stroganoff and basil and blue cheese and beef  are delicious together, so hopefully it will be great.  I am trying to use the things we have instead of heading to the store whenever I am out of something (because at the store, I inevitably find a LOT more to buy than just, say, mushrooms and egg noodles, which is what I need for dinner tonight).  So I will use the dehydrated mushrooms I keep in the fridge for emergency substitution, and I think we will probably have our dinner over rice instead of noodles, and it should all be good.  I am going to just use our basic stroganoff recipe, which isn't written down - basically onions (or shallots, since I am still out of onions) and garlic sauteed with mushroom, and then a little beef broth (or rehydrating liquid from the mushrooms) to catch all the fond on the bottom of the pan, and then sour cream, thinned to taste.  Maybe some spinach added, or not.

I find I am always intrigued by those leftover chain meals, where one meal begets the next in a long string of meals, and I am pleased to have come up with my own.  (I think the chain will probably stop here, though.)  I think the combo of winter and still feeling pretty sad has left me craving comfort food, and all of these meals are high on my comfort list.

I get to S's bedtime feeling completely drained now; all the testing just sucks the energy out of me.  He is so sweet and so good with his brother and so loving - and then, unpredictably, so naughty and frustrating and rude.  Typical little boy behavior, I am sure.  He tries hard.  I found this post to be helpful in trying to change my own reactions to his "typical" behavior, and though I won't say today went perfectly, or even necessarily well, it had a lot of really nice moments.