My Son WILL NOT Drink Root Beer
This, as you can see, is a bottle of Root Beer. My husband bought this because it was a childhood favorite of his, a ‘special treat’, as we call it in our house.
He remembers making Root Beer floats and remembers this particular brand as being very, very good.
He offered a sip to my son,
“You wanna try some Root Beer? It’s my favorite!”
My 4-year-old looked at him and stated very firmly,
“Daddy, I don’t drink Beer. It’s for adults.”
My Big Guy chuckled and continued,
“No, this is Root Beer, not adult beer. You can try it.”
“No Daddy, I don’t drink ANY beer. Beer is for adults.”
My husband tried to then explain that it is just a name and that Root Beer is a (non-caffeinated) type of soda… like Sprite. We’ve let Little Guy try some Sprite at special occasions.
But my son was having none of it.
“It’s beer Daddy. And I don’t drink beer.”
Nothing like having a self-regulating 4-year-old.
Does this mean we are doing a good job? I’m not sure…
‘Mad Housewife’ Wine Party!
Thanks to the wonderful people at MAD HOUSEWIFE CELLARS–
my home was transformed Saturday evening into a wine tasting venue with tons of wine, food, prizes, and most of all, cool DC Metro Mom Contributors and cool readers!
Here are some of the DC Metro Mom Bloggers who came and imbibed. It was awesome to see familiar faces of some well-known bloggers like Toddler Planet, StimeyLand, Monkey Business, Tech Savvy Mama, Surely You Nest and ‘Where’s My Cape?’.
We had fun welcoming a few new contributors too! It was a pleasure to meet Caffeinated, My Party of Six and Crunchy-Chewy Mama!
As the evening wore on, smiling and laughter increased. I had to include this picture, however, because of the funny face that StimeyLand is making behind the bar.
NOTE TO READERS: I don’t normally have a bar in my living room. There is normally a big chair in that corner. But I move it out when we entertain…
The scary reflection on me about this, is that NOBODY questioned the fact that there was a bar in my living room… No one.
People had a great time. There were spatulas and nail files, courtesy of Mad Housewife. And Toddler Planet won the door prize!
Good talk, good women, good times, good wine- What could be better?
Well, Maybe a T-Shirt… lots of people asked me how to get the Mad Housewife T-Shirt I was wearing.
I love this wine!
Thanks to my dad for providing the beautiful Dahlia arrangements that were all over the house.
If you look at the top picture in this post, the Dahlia to the right of the Mad Housewife sign is from the same plant (that my dad grew) that won Best in Show a few weeks ago at the National Dahlia Show, as in, the whole country.
THANKS AGAIN TO THE GREAT PEOPLE AT MAD HOUSEWIFE CELLARS!
If you see this wine, pick up a bottle, it’s very good! Give it a try!
PS- GIANT FOOD FREE GROCERIES GIVEAWAY
Just another note about Giant Food; they’re giving away a year of free groceries every week for the next several weeks. Go HERE to enter…
FREE GROCERIES FOR A YEAR… what could be better?! Actually, when you read the fine print it’s $5,200.00 of free groceries, so $100 of free groceries for a year- but who’s counting… still a great deal!
GOOD LUCK!
A SHOUT-OUT TO GIANT FOOD
I have to do a Shout-Out to Giant Food. Their stores look great, employees are SO helpful and they’ve undergone BIG changes…
I went to a great lunch downtown sponsored by Giant some weeks ago, in anticipation of their new logo and all the new stuff they are adding to make mealtime simpler for moms.
I left the next week for the beach. After arriving at our rental house and dropping our stuff down, my mom and I headed to the relatively new Giant down at Bethany Beach. It was enormous and beautiful, and (GASP) had THE DELI KIOSK!!! As I wrote in my previous post about Giant, the idea of deli kiosk is cool, but it’s amazing in ‘real life’.
You swipe your Giant card, enter what you want from the deli, and they announce your order is ready over a loudspeaker system in the store. Could anything be more cool?
Okay, I’m calming down.
Then I returned home from the beach to a big stack of mail. In it I got coupons from Giant, including one for a free reusable bag! Everybody knows that everybody likes free stuff and Giant knows that MOMS like to know about good stuff we can use…
SO, I then headed over to a newly-renovated Giant down Old Georgetown Road a bit. I pulled in a parking space and was helping my little guy out of our car when a Bentley pulled into the space facing us… A little old lady was helped out and walked eagerly toward the new Giant on opening day of the renovation. I thought to myself,
“Giant is doing something right, if a woman is being driven in her Bentley to check out their new store.”
The new store is awesome- with a deli kiosk- and really, some great new prepared foods.
Thanks to Giant for making their stores more family friendly and adding products that may help moms tackle nightly mealtime! Go to their website to learn more and don’t forget about their SIMPLY ENJOY brand- I love it.
Now all I have to do is encourage my Giant on Arlington Road in Bethesda to get a deli kiosk too!
GIANT FOOD RECOGNIZES MOMS
I had the absolute pleasure of attending a luncheon sponsored by
Giant Food down at Chef Geoff’s downtown on Tuesday.
Giant Food wants us to know that they love moms.
Frankly, they should; Moms spend the most money in the household and let’s face it-
moms just about always do the grocery shopping.
Everyone should love moms, but that’s a post for another day…
Getting back to Tuesday: Yey- Giant!
We learned lots of incredibly good stuff that is going on at Giant right now,
Got a fabulous and relatively easy lesson from Chef Geoff about making risotto (above),
While having a fabulous lunch.
A few highlights before I head off to the beach:
Prepared foods: Giant will be introducing about 100 new prepared foods in the coming month to help Moms out… including New Rotisserie Chickens!
Simply Enjoy IS A GIANT BRAND! This rocks. This is the only brand brand of spaghetti sauce I use, it’s delicious.
Deli kiosk: this is up there for me with the dawn of baby monitors.
I literally gasped during lunch and had to lay my hands on my chest to regulate my breathing I was so excited. Someday very soon you will be able to go to your local Giant, go to the deli counter, type in what you want… and leave.
When your lunchmeat and cheeses are ready you will hear your name announced on the loud speaker and then all you do is go back to the deli and pick it up! Can you imagine the fabulosity of this? It makes the world a better place… in a little way.
Much more about great things happening at Giant after I get back;
…And I’m trying Peapod- more on that too.
Post Script: Moms out there and especially DC Metro Moms –
give a big SHOUT-OUT of congratulations to Chef Geoff Tracy and his great wife for the birth of their little girl, born just 6 weeks ago… and just 12 months after her twin brother and sister.
Sending lots of wishes for lots and lots of sleep ☺
THE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED MARYLAND CRAB FEAST
A few days ago my husband, 4-year-old son and I went to a friend’s home for a crab feast, also known as ‘picking crabs’.
It was such a nice afternoon that it reminded me of how special it has been growing up in Maryland and how psyched I am that my son is growing up here. There is really nothing like a good ol’ Maryland crab feast.
The crab feast is perfect (except if you are REALLY hungry)…
First of all, crab feasts are in the afternoon, so kids can run around, go in the moonbounce that our friend had, or play badminton (that my son tried for the first time). Kids always have fun outside anyway, so the kids are taken care of, because, let’s face it, anybody would be crazy to have a crab feast inside their home.
Now for the adults: you fill up on munchies and appetizers because again let’s face it, ‘are you really going to pick crabs for over an hour or two, just to get full?’
The over-21 set can choose from soda and beer beverages; wine isn’t even an option at a traditional crab feast, at least the ones I’ve been to. Crabs and… wine- ewww! That doesn’t even sound good to me.
But the crab feast was great! Guys naturally gravitate to one table, girls to another.
I sat down with my husband‘s friends’ wives, who I see a few times a year,
and we talked and talked,
about our kids, restaurants and covering up grey hair.
Everyone had a manicure, and everyone was picking their crabs.
It’s so relaxing. It’s cool. And the great secret to picking crabs is that you don’t have to know how to do it well. You just need a mallet, nutcracker, trashcan and paper towels.
I know that some transplanted DC Metro people have said they don’t get it… but that’s the thing-
There’s nothing to get!
It’s not about getting a full belly and having fresh crabs…
It’s about picking crabs, sitting around, taking time to talk and catch up, drinking a beverage and relaxing.
And what is better than relaxing on a humid summer afternoon that DC is famous for?
Yes, the crab feast is just about perfect…
Like I said before: crabs, mallots, nutcrackers (to old-school crab-pickers this is cheating, but it’s so much easier), trashcans, plenty of paper towels, paper plates and great conversation.
The clincher was that I got into my first great conversation about the Redskins’ pre-season…
an extra bonus 
An abbreviated version of this can be read on DC Metro Moms Blog.
VERY COOL KARMA
On our way home from a delightful trip to Hershey Park, we stopped at one of the few Roy Rogers I’ve seen.
It was in Thurmont, MD. If you think about going to Hershey Park…Go! It has lots of rides for all age groups and the drive from DC is EASY !!!!!
So we went into Roy Rogers and I ordered for our family as ‘my guys’ sat down. I noticed the teenager who was taking my order was named Nicole.
“My name is Nicole too,” I said.
We both smiled and she asked me if I spell it with an ‘h'; I told her no,
“That’s cool, I hate when people spell it with an ‘h’.”
“Me too.” I laughed.
Then she got out a little milk carton to accompany my son’s kids meal…
I looked at it and said,
“You’re not going to believe this but my last name is CROWLEY.” Just like the milk.
I’m interpreting this as VERY COOL KARMA…
or at least a very cool coincidence…
No, I’m going with the VERY COOL KARMA thing,
Happy Monday!
FABKINS… CLOTH NAPKINS!
Trying to find a way to go a little ‘green’?
Try Fabkins.
These are cloth napkins made for kids… by MOMS.
Early last year 2 California based Moms had trouble finding cute cloth napkins to pack in their kids’ lunches, so they did what Moms do-
they created their own!
This helps the environment, makes lunchtime a little more special and even encourages good table manners…
not to mention, some people just prefer cloth napkins at any mealtime.
A Great Idea. Check them out online and also see if they are carried by a store in your area. They are in stores in Georgia, California and Virginia (Alexandria).
HEALTHY EATING: An Alternative To Chips
Over a year ago I changed my cooking, eating, and life.
I realized that my cooking involved too many carbohydrates…
Basically, I was doing too many spaghetti nights and ‘I don’t really know how to cook that well so I’ll throw some chicken, potatoes and a bunch of rice into a pot’ nights.
Then my husband and I realized that over the winter we had each gained 15 pounds- Yikes!
I started looking at my ‘cooking’ habits. And started making chicken or beef or fish and a vegetable for dinner. In a few months the weight came off, and we’ve kept it off.
Since then, I make a point of staying away from carbs and I’ve really learned how to cook.
I even make up my own recipes now (HUGE for me).
And, I have given up a love in my life: potato chips (even MORE HUGE for me).
I would take a bowl of potato chips over a cookie, or piece of cake, ANY day.
With that said, I jumped at the chance to try Brothers-All-Natural potato crisps.
These aren’t potato chips; they are fat-free, freeze-dried potato slices with spices and sea salt. So a small bag is 35 calories and only 8 grams of carbohydrates.
A great idea, but do they taste good? Yes, they do. They taste like an actual potato chip- without the grease and all that salt.
These are ‘guilt-free’ potato ‘chips’. You can eat these and still feel healthy! You can munch on these!
I gave these to my four-year-old to taste test and he said, “Mmmm good, Mommy”.
That’s what I love about these crisps- you can give them to your child. They are a really nice snack food for you and your kids. My family tried their apple fruit crisps and peach fruit crisps too. They were good.
But if you are really looking for an alternative to chips, like I am,
and really looking at nutrition facts on the backs of food bags,
try the Brothers-All-Natural Potato Crisps.
Like I said before, they are a guilt-free alternative to potato chips, and in my book-
that’s always a good thing!
They should be available in Costco stores right now.
SAFEWAY PIZZA
So I found myself down the street from my house checking out the NEWLY RENOVATED Safeway on Old Georgetown Road… Wait a minute, this sounds a lot like my post about Wegmans and Mad Housewife Merlot.
Disclaimer: Contrary to how it sounds, I do other things with my son than just go to grocery stores.
This Safeway in Bethesda is beautiful. It reminds me more of a Balducci’s than a Safeway; a huge, bountiful produce section… and don’t get me started on the meats. It’s not a Wegmans, but then again, what is?
What really elevates the store is the deli section. It’s really a step up from your typical Safeway or Giant. That is where I came across my find worth blogging about- Safeway Pizza.
You heard me right- Safeway Pizza. This is not your grandmother’s frozen pizza – this isn’t frozen pizza at all. It’s fresh, unfrozen pizza, already made for you. And the price is… $7.99 for a large cheese; a pizza big enough that the box barely fit in my refrigerator and my husband, son and myself did not finish it.
But is it good? It’s EASILY as good as DELIVERY pizza.
(Parking note: This Safeway is about a block from the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Ave. Turn from Wisconsin Ave. onto Old Georgetown Road because it’s a one-way street for that block or so, just make a right into their underground parking garage right before the entrance to the store. There is PLENTY of FREE parking for the Safeway underground.)
I have not seen this pizza in another local Safeway store or my local Giant store. I’ve only seen them in higher-end food stores, but change may be coming… Who knows?
This is a phenomenal idea: ready-made, fresh pizza for… $7.99! It made dinner easy on a Friday night… and that’s all we are really looking for, isn’t it?
This blog post can also be found at DC Metro Moms… it’s a great site!
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I Was In The 2012 Show !
Check Out …
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Nicole’s Book
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