Now that school is out, my girls, Eva and Sophia, have a lot more free time on their hands. They have complained of a little bit of boredom so later this week we plan to hit the beach, catch a movie and maybe drive south to Monterey to visit the aquarium. We also plan to make sand candles and beach beads (made with sand) that will appear in videos later this week on my blogs SeaweedArt and JustImaginate.

In the meantime, the girls have been cooking up a storm. They have made dinner the last two nights and are enjoying thumbing through my cookbooks looking for new recipes to try. Then they go to the store to get the ingredients. They shop, the cook and clean up afterward. Here some photos of their recent masterpieces, lemon cake with marzipan frosting, homemade pizza and potato eggplant curry.

Everywhere I go in my house, even in my car, I can look down at any given moment and see an orthodontic rubber band. You know those little 1/4 inch bands that most kids with braces have to wear at some point? With five kids in braces, we have a lot of those things lying around. Each time I find one, I can’t help but be reminded of the cost of raising five kids. Some people get excited when they pay off their student loans or their mortgage, I danced a jig of joy when I made my last orthodontist payment. Now to pay for college, car insurance, weddings… That’s another story. The kids are starting to get jobs to help pay the way a bit, and we are all doing our part to trim expenses as much as possible. Here are some strategies I have used lately that have helped cut a chunk off of our monthly budget.

First, I only shop at Marshalls. I took the kids there when we were in New Jersey this summer and we could not believe the deals. All the girls got stylin’ gladiator sandals for under $10. Cheryl found an O’Neill bathing suit for $7 and Sophia scored an American Eagle wool pea coat for $24. I told the kids, “From now on, that is where we will shop.” No more over priced mall designer stores. After all, why pay more when you can pay less?

Secondly, I canceled the house keeper. It killed me to do it, but I just could not justify the expense anymore. Now I pay the kids a small amount of chore money to clean their rooms and bathrooms and pick up the rest of the house, which is something they should have been doing all along.  I had justified the expense in the past because I was working full time and the kids were so busy with sports and homework. Now, we set aside two Saturdays a month to give the house a thorough cleaning and the money we save can go into a vacation account or toward some  other house hold expense.

Cook from scratch. If the kids want cookies they can make them themselves. Ditto for pizza and other snacks. Here are some recipe ideas from my Just Imaginate blog.

Make gifts and cards. This holiday season I plan to make as many as possible. I am starting now so that I have plenty of time.  Here are some homemade gift ideas also from my Just Imaginate blog.

Cooking/baking and making crafts  is a wonderful way to spend time together as a family. It is entertaining. It’s relaxing and it teaches kids the value of saving money.

I don’t usually describe food as fun, but recently I tried Bear Naked granola and I loved it. ( I would just like to interject here that I am not a paid endorser of the product, and I didn’t get freebies to try it either. I just liked it and want to share it with you.)  My kids were asking me to make them yogurt, fruit and  granola parfaits so I picked up some Bear Naked granola and some Stonyfield yogurt and on the inside lid of the yogurt I found this recipe for granola cupcakes. I have made them twice. The first time with The Heavenly Chocolate granola and the second time with The Vanilla Almond Crunch granola.  The added granola makes for a very interesting and fun texture. My family loved them. For the recipe visit my kids’s craft blog: Just Imaginate.

Paul was in L.A. last week and returned on Friday evening. He was driving back, about a 6 hour drive, and I knew he would be tired and hungry. I was soooo looking forward to seeing him. It was a weekend without the kids so I decided to make us a romantic, reunion dinner. Since we both love fish I chose pan-seared halibut with black bean sauce. He loved it. Here’s the recipe for two. Super easy with a very gourmet flair.

PAN-SEARED HALIBUT WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE Read the rest of this entry »

I just returned from taking all three girls shopping at Valley Fair mall, which is the big mall in San Jose; a 45 minute drive from our house in Santa Cruz. We have a small mall here, but it really sucks.  The stores are mostly tart stores filled with tarty clothes and since I don’t want my three daughters dressing in Britney Spears skank, I take them two or three times a year on a pilgrimage to the big mall. This is torture for me since most people who know me well know that I HATE shopping. Somehow I just missed out on that gene. It is not just because of the crowds or the dressing room lighting and three way mirrors, it’s just that it just… takes… forever. When I see something I like I buy it and leave. I don’t feel the need to ruminate over it like I was deciding my last meal. Let’s get on with it so we can go get a club sandwich at Nordstrom’s Bistro. (recipe to follow)

My children did not inherit my lack of shopping gene, and they LOVE shopping and embrace it with as much enthusiasm as they do for the Jonas Brothers. (B-t-w, did you hear Kevin got engaged?) So I realize I must embrace this time with them in much the same way that I should have embraced the colic years… and I try really hard, but sometimes I fail. Like today when I lost my patience when Cheryl couldn’t decide between the light pink, dark pink or hot pink sunglasses. When it became apparent that my ire was up because I said something like, “MAKE UP YOUR MIND AND LET’S GOOOOO!”, Eva, my new friend on Facebook, said, “Mom, chillax.” So I did. I chillaxed. We drove home to the sounds of Avril Lavigne blaring on the CD player and talked about all the cool stuff we bought.

Here’s the recipe for the Nordstrom Club sandwich I promised. It has become a tradition with the Shwanda women to order this sandwich ever since we first shopped together  for our wedding and bridesmaid dresses three years ago.  The special ingredient is the olive sauce. I asked the server for the ingredients so I could make it at home. It is also a great dip for French fries.

For the sandwich you will need sourdough bread, lightly toasted, avocado, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, string beans (slightly blanched) and thick turkey slices. For the sauce, blend in a food processor: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup kalamata olives, 1-2 cloves crushed garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Ingredients are approximate. So long at it looks light pink (not dark or hot pink) you’ve got it right. Spread the sauce on the bread and layer all the other ingredients. You will have a meal fit for a tired shopper.

I’m adding a new category to my blog called FOODIES REVIEW. As you may have guessed by now, I am a Foodie. In fact, I used to have a food repping business called, guess what? Foodies. These aren’t necessarily reviews per se, but plugs for products and restaurants that I absolutely LOVE. The first product line I want to present to you is from my friend Robert Lambert. He makes the most amazing marmalades, chocolate sauces and preserved fruit! When I repped his line every store I showed it to bought it. People who didn’t like marmalade loved his. He picks all the fruit himself and makes everything by hand. Inspiration for his products came from a family farm in northern Wisconsin, where his grandmother Florrie began cooking at 13 in the logging camps of the early 1900’s. Extensive preserving by mother and grandmother was a fond childhood memory. When these memories met the ingredients of his adopted California home–wine, grapes, citrus fruit and ginger-–-his product line was born. Robert is pictured here receiving his award from Jacques Pepin for his cherries in merlot syrup.