Since last month’s Jack-O-Lantern Fruit Cups were such a big hit, I decided to make a healthy Thanksgiving themed snack this month.  Family Fun Magazine once again provided my inspiration, this time for an adorable turkey!

Gobble me up!!

Directions:

Arrange apple and clementine or navel orange slices on a plate as shown, and lay a cored pear half on top.  Use scissors to halve a dried apricot, then snip small triangles from each half and tuck them under the pear to form the feet.  Finally, use peanut butter or softened cream cheese to attach mini chocolate chip eyes, a nut beak (we used a cashew), and a dried cranberry snood.

Note: I spent forever working on this post, then got to the end and thought “Who cares?!”  Bloggers, does this ever happen to you?  Anyway, I hope somebody will find this interesting!

In case you haven’t noticed, the “Homekeeping” section of my blog has been sorely neglected lately, with most of my posts being about The Littlest Apple or food.  That’s a pretty accurate reflection of real life right now.  Home projects and all home keeping but the bare minimum have come to a screeching halt around here not only due to sickness, but also because of a a very demanding Little Apple and upcoming Christmas expenses.  That bathroom makeover?  Still working on it.

But I do have one little project to share with you that is very much still a work in progress: The Playroom.  We have this loft-like space upstairs with vaulted ceilings that is perfect for a playroom.  It was one of the reasons we picked this floorplan.  It is most definitely an awkward space- long and somewhat narrow with LOTS of doors: 7, to be exact (leading to the office, the master bedroom, the laundry room, the linen closet, The Littlest Apple’s bedroom, a bathroom, and the guest bedroom).  The vaulted ceilings make it seem a little bigger than it really is.

My original plan was to use a bright fun color on the walls.  I envisioned apple green walls with white furniture and other brightly colored accents.  See how fun this room looks with the green walls?  NOT my room!

image from Ohdeedoh

But when I painted our playroom apple green, it was disastrous. It was just too bright and there was too much of it.  Maybe it would have worked better in a bedroom with lots of white furniture and bed linens  to offset the green, but in this large open space, the center of our upstairs, it was just not working.

I repainted using the very neutral Rice Grain from Sherwin Williams.  This is SO MUCH better than the green, but it isn’t that much different than the builder’s original paint color.  This space definitely needs a color that is light, but I’m tempted to repaint it just a shade darker so the white furniture really pops.

Because of the shape of this space, it is extremely hard to get a photo that shows most of the room all at once.  Here’s a sneak peek at what it looks like now, mid makeover:

Here’s a breakdown of what I selected for the room…

The couch is the Karlstaad Loveseat from Ikea with a long white slipcover:

The shelving is the  Expedit Bookcase from Ikea.  I keep seeing these pop up everywhere, and they really are the perfect storage system for kids rooms, craft rooms, play rooms, anywhere!

For the curtains, again I went with white.  Simple twill and a basic rod, hung as close to the ceiling as possible.  There is only one small window in this room, so I didn’t want to take away from the natural light.

Rug: I am absolutely in love Dash and Albert rugs.  They have so many great stripes and other patterns.  The Pond Stripe is the color scheme we were looking for.  A little bit of color on the floor should go nicely with this otherwise neutral space.  The large size we need was back-ordered until this month, so I’m hoping to get it soon.

I searched and searched for pillows that I thought would complement the colors of the rug (judging solely from the rug photos online).  I wanted pillows in a pattern, but NOT striped, so as not to compete with the rug.   Then one day at Target, I ran across these pillows on an endcap, not near the other pillows.  They were pricey for Target pillows, but I grabbed two, then found two in the solid blue to match.  I also found a super soft throw in the same shade of blue.  LOVE!  I’m not convinced as to how it will look once the rug is in the room, but for now, I am completely enamoured with my pillows. (I couldn’t find them online to give you a link, nor could I remember the designer.  Sorry!)

We hung a huge mirror from Homegoods over the couch to make the room seem a little bigger.  My husband and I argued over how high the mirror should be hung.  He won.  I think it is too high, but maybe everything just seems high because I’m only 5’0″.  Or maybe we just need an even bigger mirror.

I’ve also got these wonderful sketches of our family, drawn by my father in law, that I wanted to include in the room somehow.  Aren’t they amazing?!

I think the frames and/or mats need to be more colorful and the off-white mat I used looks a bit pink, but they work for now.

So, that’s what I’ve completed so far, and I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made.  But there is still lots left to do!

Here’s my list of things I still want to do in this space:

• New side table
• Table lamp
• Shelving unit or entertainment center for niche
• Baskets for Expedit shelving.  I’m picturing baskets in each square with tags/labels on each so you know what toys are inside.  That way you’re not overwhelmed with the color of all the toys at once!   
• Colorful artwork for above the shelves  (right now I’m using some old children’s album covers from my childhood, but I want something different)
• New light fixture
• Add beams or other visual interest to the vaulted ceiling
• Chalkboard paint on the laundry room door

So, what do you think?

I haven’t done an Apple Picks post in a few weeks, but I really love doing them!  I hope you enjoy reading them and get a chance to check out some blogs you might not know about yet.  I know I love reading posts like this on other blogs.  This is how I find out about blogs that I don’t read regularly (not like I need any more blogs to read!).  There is so much great stuff out there!

In celebration of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, Bakerella made Sesame Street Cake Pops.  I love ALL of her cake pops, but these are super cute!

If and when it’s my turn to host Thanksgiving, I’d love to use some of these Thanksgiving centerpiece ideas from Tip Junkie.

Lots of Thanksgiving crafts for the kids from The Crafty Crow

If you love spinach artichoke dip as much as I do, then you should definitely try Cassie’s Spinach Artichoke Lasagna.  Doesn’t that sound amazing?!  The Picky Apple doesn’t care for spinach artichoke dip, but I HAVE to try this!!

Here are directions on how to make your own pumpkin pie spice.  I’ve been going through this stuff like crazy, what with the Pumpkin Spice Granola and Pumpkin Spice Scented Playdough.  Definitely going to make my own next time!!

I am complete in love with this Book Page Wreath from Living with Lindsey.  Crafty wall decor projects are part of my 31 Things, and this wreath is at the top of my list of things to make!

We have a Christmas Book tradition which I’ll share soon, but this list of 20 of the best kid’s Christmas books is a great one!

Pumpkin muffins topped with gingersnap cinnamon chip streusel from Emiline at Sugar Plum.  Need I say more?

Tidy Mom is hosting a Love The Pie Party.  I’m participating with my Beef Cheddar and Potato Pie, and there are lots of great looking pie recipes if you need inspiration for the upcoming holidays.

Monday: sandwiches

Tuesday: leftover Indian Spiced Pork Skewers, Pita Bread, Acorn Squash

Wednesday: Perfect Roast Chicken, Delmonico Potato Casserole (new recipe), Spinach Salad

Thursday: Chicken-Broccoli Mac & Cheese (new recipe)

Friday: Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Saturday: Dine out

Sunday: Lasagna Soup, Salad, Homemade Bread (new recipe)

Baking: Gingerbread (held over from last week)

For more menu inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday at The Organizing Junkie

The Littlest Apple is 26 months old.

This week I presented activities to The Littlest Apple on trays, letting him choose which activity he would rather do.  I only offered two trays at a time, partly because The Littlest Apple gets overwhelmed by too many options and also due to a lack of space (I’m really not sure where I would put 5 or 6 trays).

We did several “life skills” activities this week.  The Littlest Apple helped me mix our Pumpkin Spice Granola:

He also vacuumed up a storm.  He LOVES his vacuum, and all vacuums, really.  We have to look at vacuums every time we go to Target.

The Littlest Apple was not interested in arts and crafts this week, but we did manage to complete our Letter H project, from No Time For Flashcards.  As you can see, my guy is a little heavy handed with the glue.

We talked about lots of things that start with the letter H: hands, hair, head, helicopters, hearts, hamburgers.  We made the letter H sound.  That was the extent of our Letter H activities for this week.  The Littlest Apple wasn’t interested in the rest of what I had planned!

We tried the Harvest Sensory Tub again, this time on the living room floor with a quilt underneath.  He loves this activity so much, and the quilt definitely help contain the mess….some.  Until he started throwing the popcorn kernels over his shoulder with a ladle (not pictured).  As much as I would love for this to be an activity for The Littlest Apple to do while I get a quick task done nearby, I think I’m going to have to supervise very closely until he learns the “rules.”

I created this very rough looking name puzzle for The Littlest Apple.  His real name is Finley aka “Finn”…I’m not sure why I decided to call him The Littlest Apple instead of using his real name for the blog way back in January 2008, but it stuck.  I created this on the spur of the moment.  The bubble letters didn’t lend themselves to tracing and The Littlest Apple crumpled up the paper at one point.  I’ll make a nicer version of this at some point, perhaps laminated.  He caught on to this very quickly and impressed all the grandparents with this one!  I’m planning on making some other simple “see and spell” activities, similar to this Melissa and Doug toy (which we may buy him for Christmas).  He has mastered uppercase letter matching and some lower case.  The Littlest Apple is starting to understand that those letters form words, like his name and the word “mix” for cement mixer (that’s on one of his shirts).

The Littlest Apple loves any activity that involves water pouring and transferring.  I found a turkey baster this week at the store that I thought would be perfect for this.  The idea was to transfer from the bowl to the pitcher, and after a little coaching, The Littlest Apple figured out he had to squeeze the bulb on the turkey baster, then wait for it to “get big” again, meaning it was full of water.  Then he moved it the other bowl and squeezed to empty.  The table was probably a little too high for this activity, but he absolutely refused to let me move it to the floor.  He had so much fun with this, until he decided to pour the pitcher of water on the floor.  Between this and the popcorn kernel slinging, is he testing the rules or what?!  Sorry this photo is slightly blurry.

This little pie puzzle from our Funshine Express curriculum went over better than I thought, and The Littlest Apple came back to it several times.  There was a 2 piece pie and a 4 piece pie to fit together.

The most successful activity of the week was sorting coins and putting them in his duck bank.  We sorted the coins together, naming them as we went (though he only remembers “dime”), then The Littlest Apple dropped them into the bank one by one.  We did this in batches because The Littlest Apple was very eager to get to the dropping-coins-in-the-bank part.  Once he was finished, we poured them all out and started again.  Dropping the coins in the bank took a long time given the number of coins, but The Littlest Apple loved it (and I was most grateful to be able to take a break and sit on the couch nearby reading a book!)

This recipe grabbed my attention right away.  I love pie.  I love meat and potatoes.  But the two of those things combined?  Intriguing.  This is my first attempt at a savory pie, and it was delicious!  It was a little labor intensive getting all of the ingredients chopped up and rolling out the pie crusts.  Definitely more time consuming that a typical Rachael Ray recipe, but well worth the effort!  As you can see from the picture below, I still need a little work on my pie crust skills…my top crust didn’t seal properly with the bottom crust.  Delicious nevertheless!

Beef, Cheddar and Potato Pie

from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup dark beer
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper
• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed but cold
• 1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a skillet, combine the beef, carrots, onion, celery, garlic and potato and cook, breaking up the meat, over medium-high heat until the beef is cooked through and some of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.  Lower the heat to medium, add the beer and cook for 10 minutes.  Add the cheese, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Let cool.

On a floured surface, roll 1 puff pastry sheet into a 12-inch round.  Place in a 10-inch skillet or deep pie dish.  Roll the remaining puff pastry sheet into an 11-inch round.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat mixture to the skillet.  Lightly brush the edge of the crust with some of the egg wash, then place the second sheet on top.  Press the edges to seal, then trim to a 1/2-inch edge.

Place the pie on a baking sheet.  Brush the top with more egg wash and cut an “X” into the pastry.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Bake for 45 minutes, tenting with foil if the crust darkens too quickly.  Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes.

I’m submitting this recipe with Tidy Mom’s Love the Pie Party.  Be sure to check out her site for lots more pie recipes!

I’ve seen lists like this pop up on various blogs, including Meg’s and Michelle’s and wanted to make a list of my own.  I LOVE lists, and this is a fun one!  Some of these things will be easily accomplished, others may present more of a challenge.  I’ve got 8 months until I turn 31, so I better get started!

31 Things To Do Before I Turn 31….

1.  Volunteer or donate food to Texas Children’s Hospital Ronald McDonald House

2.  Complete playroom makeover

3.  Complete kids bathroom makeover

4.  Learn how to use our Canon Digital Rebel XSI instead of just relying on the automatic feature

5.  Paint master bedroom

6.  Donate old furniture or list on Freecycle

7.  Sew a quilt

8.  Chalkboard paint project

9.  Submit an article to be published

10.  Dine at Mark’s Restaurant

11.  Take a weekend trip to Austin sans Littlest Apple

12.  Complete backyard landscaping

13.  Make tortillas from scratch

14.  Make sandwich bread from scratch

15.  Print and organize photos of The Littlest Apple…scrapbook?  baby book?

16.  Declutter office

17.  Start weekly nature study with The Littlest Apple

18.  Have dinner guests at least once a month

19.  Host a cookie decorating party for kids

20.  Have date nights once a month

21.  Blog giveaways!

22.  Create wrapping center for wrapping paper, bags, ribbon, tags, etc.

23.  Have a girls’ night out!

24.  Create my own wall decor for around the house

25. Meet some other bloggers in person…attend a blogging conference like Mom 2.0?

26.  Read Nourishing Traditions

27.  Try new vegetables

28.  Decorate the guest bedroom

29.  Join a CSA

30.  Cook at least 3 Julia Child recipes

31.  Finish reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover!

I love to eat steak at restaurants, but every time I attempt to cook or grill it at home it never lives up to my expectations.  I feel like I’m a fairly capable cook and baker, and my utter failure so far in the steak department is a sore spot for me.  Until now.  Thanks again, Pioneer Woman!  These steak bites were delicious and super easy to make!  I paired them with Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and salad for a yummy dinner, but these would also make a great appetizer.  From now on when I cook steak, it will be little steak bite form.  Delicious!

Steak Bites

from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Sirloin Steak (without Much Gristle) OR Pre-cut Beef Tips
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Butter

Trim off the large obvious piece of fat that runs along the side of the meat. Next, cut strips less than 1-inch wide. Rotate the meat and cut into small bite-sized pieces. If you see any more large chunks of fat, gristle or long silvery membrane cut them off.

Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss the meat around a bit to thoroughly coat with the seasonings.

Next, turn on your ventilation fan overhead. Heat the skillet over medium high to high heat. As the pan heats, add about 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. Allow the butter to melt, then brown, before you add the meat.

Place some of the meat in the pan in a single layer. It should sizzle loudly when it hits the pan – if it doesn’t, the pan isn’t hot enough. Don’t stir or disrupt the meat for 30-45 seconds. You want it to sizzle and brown on one side. Scoop as many steak bites as you can with your spatula and flip them over. Repeat until all the meat is turned. Cook for an additional 30 to 45 seconds—just long enough to sear the outside of the meat but NOT cook the inside.

Remove the meat to a clean plate. Add a little more butter to the pan and repeat the cooking process with the next batch just as before. Lastly, when all the meat is nicely browned and removed to the plate, pour all that browned/blackened butter all over the meat. And enjoy!

In my post a few weeks ago about The Littlest Apple’s picky eating, I mentioned that he has something called delayed gastric emptying.  The medical term for this condition is gastroparesis.  The most common cause for gastroparesis is diabetes, but many people also have idiopathic gastroparesis, meaning the cause is unknown.  We don’t know what caused The Littlest Apple’s gastroparesis.  Gastroparesis is a chronic condition caused by damage to the vagus nerve that controls the movement of food.  (Blah, blah, medical jargon…stay with me, folks!)  As a result of the nerve damage, the stomach empties reeeeeeeeeally slowly, meaning that someone with this condition almost always feels full.  As The Littlest Apple’s dietician said on our recent visit, “He’s walking around all the time feeling like he just ate Thanksgiving dinner.”

Dealing with The Littlest Apple’s gastroparesis is our biggest battle right now (and that is saying something, given that we’re in the midst of the “terrible twos”).  It is an all day, every day kind of battle.  His pickiness doesn’t help, but even when we offer his favorite foods, he rarely takes more than a few bites because he always feels full.  He just isn’t hungry.  And he REALLY needs to eat, because he’s currently not getting enough calories.  There also seems to be absolutely no predicting the times when he actually IS hungry, so we’re just offering up food as much as we can throughout the day.  It is very reminiscent of the frequent and all-consuming feedings of a (very opinionated) newborn, with perhaps a little less screaming (I’m thankful for that, at least!).  Our schedule still revolves around feeding opportunities, and that can be very exhausting at times.

There are only a few treatment options for gastroparesis, and these treatments only offer some relief (no magic cures), if they work at all.  There are a few more experimental options available to adults (botox injections, gastric pacemakers, etc), but most of those remain untested on children, especially toddlers.  There is very little information available out there about gastroparesis in children, and that’s one reason I’m discussing our situation here.  I approach problems in life by learning everything I possibly can on the subject, and in this case, the available information is seriously lacking.

We’ve already tried several of the medicines that make the stomach empty faster with no luck, including the dreaded Reglan (with its new black box warning from the FDA…yikes!).  We’ve tried appetite stimulants too, with no improvements.

Another recommendation for gastroparesis patients is to change their diet.  Changes to diet are tricky for The Littlest Apple, because the advised diet for gastroparesis (avoid high fat foods) is the exact OPPOSITE of the recommended diet for a child diagnosed as Failure to Thrive (feed him all the butter and ice cream in the land!).  Because of The Littlest Apple’s small size, our feeding team is focusing more on the high fat, high calorie diet, and trying to treat the gastroparesis with medicine.

We had our checkup with the Feeding Team last week, and The Littlest Apple only gained 2 ounces since his last visit earlier this year.  That came as no surprise to us since we’ve been weighing him at home on a weekly basis.  Needless to say, the team is concerned (again) about the lack of weight gain.  They seem to be running out of other things to try and are discussing feeding tube options once more.  It’s never a good thing when you’ve stumped the feeding team at the hospital with the #4 Digestive Disorders Clinic in the nation.  That’s how tricky gastroparesis can be.  What works in one case might not work for everyone, and clearly, what we’re doing isn’t working….yet.

We’re giving a couple of the medicines a second try.  I’m not inclined to think they will work this time since they didn’t before, but the last couple of days The Littlest Apple has been drinking more of his Boost 1.5 (high calorie nutritional supplement) than normal.  It still isn’t as much as he needs to drink, but we’re hoping this is a trend in the right direction!  If the medicine doesn’t help (or if it doesn’t help enough), then The Littlest Apple will be getting a feeding tube.  More specifically, he will be getting a jejunostomy, which bypasses the stomach completely and goes directly to the small intestine, so as to avoid the stomach emptying issues that got us here in the first place.  Drastic yes, but nothing else is working.  People tend to get really freaked out when I tell them about the possibility of a feeding tube…because this is a very active, otherwise healthy and developmentally on track, intelligent little boy, and most people have the impression that feeding tubes are for “really sick kids.”  I know that used to be my thinking, too.  The Picky Apple and I are coming to terms with the feeding tube, and in some ways, it might come as a welcome relief to our constant stress about whether The Littlest Apple is getting enough calories, but we’re still hoping it doesn’t come to that.

Our next checkup is in mid-January…that’s our “deadline” to see if the current medicine is working.  Until then, I’ll be reporting in with the feeding team via email with weight checks and food journals.  We’re pulling out all the stops and trying anything and everything we can to get some weight on this little boy of ours, including feeding him lots and lots of butter.  I’m not just talking about butter on and in things.  Been there, done that.  Doing that.  I’m talking straight up butter sliced by the tablespoon (dietician is all for this, by the way!).  Oddly enough, The Littlest Apple loves eating butter straight up, and would be elated if I would just hand him the whole stick to gnaw on (eww!).  Not that he would take more than a few bites.  Loves the butter, but needs to eat more!

I just wanted to share a little more about gastroparesis and give an update on The Littlest Apple for those family members and friends (and other parents out there) who might be interested!  If you or anyone you know has gastroparesis (adult or child) I’d love to hear from you.

I haven’t posted my weekly menu plan in a while since we’ve all been sick, and honestly I’m not sure whether I’m going to continue to do so.  Sometimes I feel like this is the most boring post ever…just a list of what we’re eating this week.  On the other hand, I really enjoy reading menu plans on other blogs.  I always get some great ideas and new recipes!  Please let me know what you think.  If you’d like me to keep this weekly feature, I will, otherwise I’ll just share the recipe highlights from the week!

Breakfast

I’m really the only one who actually eats breakfast, so I get to do whatever suits my fancy.  This week, I’m craving pumpkin pie oatmeal!

Dinners

Monday: Dinner with my parents

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

Wednesday: Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

Thursday: Indian Spiced Pork Skewers, Pita Bread

Friday: Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Saturday: Dine Out

Sunday: Beef, Cheddar, and Potato Pie (new recipe)

Baking

Cheesecake Filled Pumpkin Cupcakes (new recipe)

Gingerbread (new recipe)

For more menu planning inspiration, check out Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie.