Egg Burritos

Video Tutorial:

Egg Burritos

You might know them as breakfast burritos, but at our house where we eat them morning, noon, and night, (just not all in the same day) they are called egg or sometimes ""eggie" burritos. They are my go to, the meal I can count on for a last minute dinner, an easy breakfast, or a quick lunch.

In case you missed it, you can read last weeks post on how these became a staple in our home and watch a video tutorial on  teaching your child how to crack eggs.

Ok, back to those egg burritos. Here are a few thoughts from making this video. While in in the process of cutting up the bell pepper I opened the fridge to grab an onion and Olive saw an apple. She immediately wanted to eat it and when I tried to encourage her to finish her job before getting the apple she completely shut down (as in she collapsed on the floor and had a meltdown). Out of respect for her I cut this part from the video, but feel it is important to share because shockingly things do not always run smoothly at our house while cooking together! We hit bumps in the road all of the time when somebody does not like their job, when somebody wants to go play, when somebody gets hungry, or when somebody is simply having a cranky day. It happens. And I feel that there are always a million and one reasons, distractions, excuses, you name it that keep us from feeling like we have the time or the ability to cook and to cook with our kids.

So here is what I did. I did not force her to continue cutting the pepper. Instead I cut her those apple slices she wanted, placed them on her cutting board, and let her eat them. The trick is that I placed them on her cutting board so that she remained in the kitchen, right next to me, with everything there, ready for her to continue when she had finished eating or felt ready to help again. I will talk about this concept more in an upcoming post and video, but for today I want to stress the importance of keeping them in the kitchen with you while you are cooking. It is the only way it becomes a routine for both you and for them. Even when my children were babies and it was mealtime prep I had them in the kitchen with me. Sometimes they were in swing, a bouncer, a bumbo, or a carrier on my back or chest. Like any other routine you establish with a child repeated exposure is the key.

Now, for the recipe.

1 tsp butter
2 Tbsp finely diced onion
1/2 medium bell pepper, cut into thin slices and then diced
5 eggs (our chickens just started laying eggs so their eggs are small to medium size)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet melt the butter and saute the onions for 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Add the peppers and cook for another 2 minutes or so. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl and add them to the pan. Cook until desired firmness.

My kids love their eggs rolled up in a warm tortilla with their favorite salsa and a little bit of sour cream (current favorite salsas are mango salsa and Trader Joe's Salsa Authentica). My favorite way to eat it is on a corn tortilla with Trader Joe's Hatch Valley Green Salsa, avocado slices, and arugula (I'm obsessed with arugula).

What I love about making this dish is that everyone can make it the way they like. I hear a lot from other moms that they end up eating a lot of kid food during the day because they make something for their kids and then do not feel like cooking for themselves. With egg burritos, this problem is virtually solved.  So, give it a try with your kids and remember when things get a little crazy that just like anything else in life the more you practice the better you get!

Sparkle Paints and Dish Towels

Last week I had to run to the craft store to buy paper supplies for an activity at church. As I browsed the paper isle my three year old provided ample support in filling my cart with a multiplicity of options, including her very own 6x6 paper pad. Although I normally do not make spontaneous purchases at the store, I was easily convinced that this item would provide hours of entertainment for my daughter given her current love of coloring and cutting any piece of paper to shreds. I gave her my consent to keep the item in the cart and began searching the isles for the second item on my list: a pack of glue sticks.

Not knowing their exact location I began briskly pushing my cart up and down each isle desperate to get out of the store as soon as possible. However, as any parent of young children knows, taking your child to the store ensures that your trip will be anything but quick. As my eyes searched up high for glue, my daughters eyes searched down low and discovered paint, sparkle paint. Before I knew it the paints were whisked up in her arms with a fervent and authoritative reminder that we had just run out of paint the day before.

There was no need to remind her of her previous choice in art supplies and the need to pick only one, for she initiated the conversation asking me to put back the paper (and new pack of crayons) in exchange for the paints. I reluctantly did so as I traded an independent activity for one that now required my supervision. As we walked up to the counter, she proudly carried the paints, verbally affirming that they were her very own.

I am not sure what struck me about her words, or maybe it was her tone that suddenly made me realize what I had done. In my desire to provide an outlet for my daughters artistic creativity I had unknowingly given her an unhealthy dose of instant gratification and a sense of entitlement towards an item she had not truly earned.

I then stopped in line and asked her what she was going to do to earn the paints, what job she might consider a fair exchange. I suggested that perhaps she fold and put away the dish towels and rags I had pulled from the dryer on our way out the door, to which she agreed. As we walked in the door at home, and I momentarily dreaded the task of reminding her of our deal, she promptly walked over to the couch and asked if those were the rags she needed to fold. To be honest I was a bit baffled by her assertiveness, but quickly and happily confirmed.

She cheerfully folded the rags, opting to roll some of the larger dish towels that were a bit "too tricky" to fold. I applauded her for being a big helper in our family (thank you Daniel Tiger) to which she then spouted out a stream of self-applauding phrases such as "I'm a super helper" and "I'm being a big helper in my family". Then, just as I was thinking this was all too good to be true she groaned about having to put everything away...but she did! With a little bit more encouragement along the way she mange to complete her task and then, without missing a beat, she climbed up to a bar stool and declared her readiness to paint.

(Although I was tempted by the thought, I did not refold or rearrange her rolled up dish towels. Surprisingly, almost a week later, I am still alive and it had no major or minor impact upon my ability to function in the kitchen.)

Because commodities are so easily accessible (and affordable) it can be easy to get into the habit of frequently purchasing items for our children that they have not earn. Although young children can not always earn the exact amount of money needed for a desired item, regardless of age, your child is completely capable of performing small tasks that teach them the value of work and the importance of contributing to the family team.

Chicken Eggs

YouTube Video Tutorial:

Teaching Your Child To Crack Eggs

Early in the spring of 2012 my husband and I decided to buy a batch of baby chicks for our kids. Although I would not consider myself to be a real lover of animals, these chickens proved to be the perfect pet for me and our entire family. As a graduate student and mother of two, my time was extremely limited and my husbands busy job left him with even less time than me.

However, we found that the time required to fed them our table scraps and check their food and water regularly with the kids seemed to be in harmony with our fast paced life. Within six months our baby chicks had grown and we began to enjoyed the daily delight of checking their nesting box for fresh eggs. Our young children loved to carry their small bucket to the backyard each afternoon and squealed with delight at the arrival of each new egg.

Surprisingly, the novelty of finding new eggs did not seem to wear off over the coming weeks and months, even as we found ourselves with more eggs than we knew what to do with. Egg burritos quickly became a family favorite as we tried to find a use for our never ending supply of eggs.

I remember the kids being extremely interested in the egg cracking process, always pulling up a chair to the counter to watch in amazement as I cracked and revealed the inside of each treasured egg. Although they were not allowed to crack the eggs on their own, their little hands could hardly resist the temptation to pick one up and gently (or forcefully in the case of my two year old son) tap it against the counter. They were so eager to help, and as their mother I was equally eager to keep their participation to gathering eggs and, on occasion, handing them to me to be cracked.

But then one afternoon all of that changed as I stood in my kitchen on the verge of tears. I was in my second semester of graduate school, I was taking thirteen credit hours (nine was considered full time) and I had recently picked them up from child care, desperate for a few minutes to spend together before running out the door again that evening. I felt the the divide of mother, wife, student, teacher, and homemaker each pulling at me and begging for my attention. Should I be a good mother and play with my kids? Or should I be a good homemaker and make a healthy meal.

Before going back to school I had committed to maintaining our family's healthy eating habits despite how busy our schedules may become and I knew to honor that commitment I need to make dinner. But in that moment I just stood there in the kitchen looking out the back door window longing to run outside and play with my children. And then I had an idea. Just like that I opened the door and called for them to come. I knew I did not have time to play with my kids and to make a healthy meal that night, but if I was open to the idea of a little mess, maybe, just maybe I might be able to let my kids help me and thereby find a way to make dinner and spend time with them.

They washed their hands and each pushed a chair up the counter just like before. However, this time instead of simply handing me the egg or tapping it on the counter only to have it taken away, I let them crack them all the way. A few, or possibly more, ended up on the counter and I carefully took the bowl, placed it under the lip of the counter and swiped the eggs in. For those eggs that I caught in time I placed my hands on top of my child's and helped them open the eggs and drop them into the bowl. Just as I had feared there were egg shells and messy fingers, even a few (or more) remnants on the floor. But it really was't that bad. Kids are messy, regardless of the activity, and as I have learned through years of parenting, messes can always be cleaned up. More importantly was that what had transpired in those few minutes was more than I could have every imagined. It literally changed the course of my life and that my our family's.

Over the coming months as I included my children in more cooking and more of the household duties I learned that working together has an incredible power to bind us together, to help us feel connected to one another. It has the ability to create unity. And as I continued through the remainder of my graduate program I was more able to balance each of the roles I initially felt so overwhelmed by. I realized that I did not have to do everything for everyone because our family was team. We were there to help each other.

Although this video will not show all the mess, and all the weeks or even months of consistent practice it took for my youngest daughter to master her egg cracking skills, I hope this video will give some guidance and a systematic approach to teaching your child to crack eggs. Make it a game, make it fun, and remember messes can always be cleaned up!