Reward/Consequence Jars

I'm back! I was really on a roll with my blog posts lately. Then my youngest daughter decided NOT to listen and ate her Reese's peanut butter egg in the living room and drooled chocolatey peanut buttery saliva all over our keyboard and shorted out the letters "K" "L" and the comma. Needless to say, I can't really post without using those letters and it's too tough to compose on my iphone. We ordered a new keyboard for the laptop and I installed it yesterday afternoon. Easy Peasy. Which leads me to today's post on a parenting idea.

Many of you know my kids are preschool aged. My oldest is 4-1/2 and my youngest is almost 3. They're smart girls and generally good kids. They have their moments, though. One of the difficult things for me as a parent is blatant disregard for instruction. You all know what I'm describing. You ask your child to pick up a toy. Child ignores you. You ask again. Child ignores again. You tell the child to pick it up. Child continues to ignore you. This continues until either A-you pick up the stupid toy yourself or B-you raise your voice, scold the child for not doing the task AND not listening, and perhaps administer a consequence meanwhile the toy is still sitting on the floor where it doesn't belong. I'm not the only one, right? My problem was this: I don't enjoy harping on my girls. I don't enjoy scolding them. I don't enjoy yelling at them. I became frustrated when they chose not to listen. I needed a behavior modification technique that would be understood by young children, could be used for positive or negative reinforcement, was easy enough that my husband would use as well, and taught the correct behavior I was trying to achieve.

My solution was a set of reward and consequence jars. First, because my kids are craft-crazy, we took some upcycled pizza sauce jars, made labels and mod-podged the labels on the jars. Each child had a jar and mom and dad had a jar to share. I cut the labels so they did not go all the way around the jar. I wanted to be able to see the contents from one side (more on this in a minute). I placed 50 pennies in each of the kids' jars and an assortment of pennies, nickels and dimes in mom and dad's jar. If your kids are older, pennies might not work as well, you may have to start with nickels or dimes or even quarters, but the concept is the same.

I used them like this: if the girls were asked to do something (clean their room, pick up toys, brush teeth, put clothes in laundry basket, etc) and did not do it, they were asked a second time (just to ensure it was not a hearing issue but a will issue) and still didn't do it, a coin was moved from their personal jar to mom and dad's jar. Being able to SEE the coin moved from jar to jar and seeing the coins pile up in mom and dad's jar instead of theirs is key. Everytime during the week the girls demonstrated an instance of not listening, a coin was removed. BUT if the girls did an extra chore, showed extra care or sharing, or had an above and beyond good attitude, they were rewarded by receiving a coin or coins in their jar. I try to reward with nickels and dimes and consequence with pennies. Again, seeing the coins move into their jar is key to reinforcing the behaviors. At the end of the week, the money left in each child's jar was removed and they could put it in their piggy bank. I would fill again with 50 pennies and the week starts over.

I had to explain the jars to the kids when we started and at the end of the week when we counted the money. I also made sure to explain the jars when I took coins out during that first week. I wanted my child to see me remove or replace the money in her jar. The first week was difficult, too. My girls had coins removed every day. I quickly saw some behavioral changes as well. Now, I can say, "Do you want to lose money?" or "I'm going to take money from your jar." and they know to change behaviors and/or follow directions.

The unintended consequence of this method has been the kids asking if a certain chore will get them money. I believe there are some chores which should be done regularly, without pay, because you're part of a family and that means working together to maintain the home. My oldest tries to get "paid" for some of these types of chores. I use it as a learning exercise to show that mom or dad doesn't get paid to clean or do laundry but it still has to be done. It's a small consequence I will accept in return for the better behavior.

I've been pleased at the results I've seen with the girls. I feel it's helped me be a better parent because the situations don't escalate. The jars hold both positive and negative behaviors and are easily administered. My husband follows through as well. We don't do allowances, so this lets the girls earn money for saving. It's also a learning activity too! My youngest can learn counting out objects and sorting (I usually ask for piles of 5) and then we can count by 5s as well. My oldest is learning about coin values so she understands 1 dime = 2 nickels = 10 pennies. Both girls love counting their money at the end of the week.

I hope this gives you ideas on alternative techniques to change the behaviors in your own homes. Let me know what you're doing, what is successful for you and your kids, what you've tried that wasn't successful. We have to learn from each other!!

Tom Kha Gai

Tom kha gai is a delicious, creamy Thai soup. I first had it at a soup cookoff at my previous job. I'm still new to Thai cuisine since my family ate pretty American growing up. I've come to love Thai food, but my husband and kids can take it or leave it. At least they humor me and try it when I make it. Bountiful Baskets had a Thai veggie add on pack last week so I bought it and was excited to make the tom kha gai. I always thought it meant coconut chicken soup, but perhaps that was simply a descriptive definition instead of literal. Apparently it means chicken galangal (blue ginger) soup. Frankly, I don't care what it means because I like it. Here is the recipe I used:

2 cans coconut milk
1 can lite coconut milk (or the water from 1 coconut...I used the coconut water)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
4 stalks lemongrass (remove bottom 3 inches and outer layer, bruise with knife and cut into 2 inch chunks)
5 kaffir lime leaves (leave whole) or the juice of 1-2 limes
2 inches of gingerroot, peel and slice thinly
1 shallot minced (about 3 Tbsp)
1-3 tsp sriracha (depends on preferred spice level)
1.5 pounds chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces (do not cook first)
about 8 oz mushrooms (shitake and oyster work well)
2-3 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Infuse the coconut milk: in large sauce pan pour all coconut milk (and water if used) and broth. Bring to simmer. Add ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves, shallot and 1/4 tsp hot sauce. You can put the solid ingredients in a mesh bag to make it easier to remove later. Allow this to infuse for 15 minutes.

Prep the chicken and veggies. Cut into small pieces while the broth is infusing.

Balance the flavor of the soup: taste the soup and let rest and simmer between each step. Remove the lime leaves. Add chicken. Remove lemongrass. Add mushrooms. Remove ginger. Taste. Add fish sauce and brown sugar. Taste again. Let cook at least as long as it takes for the chicken to cook (10 mins). The goal is to balance spicy, sweet, salty and sour. Add more fish sauce, hot sauce, lime juice and/or brown sugar to achieve preferred taste.

Serve with diced tomatoes, cilantro and jasmine rice.

This recipe doesn't take as long as you might think. If you're making and trying it for the first time, be prepared to taste it repeatedly. Let your taste buds guide you to the "right" combination of flavors for your family. My husband and oldest daughter are pretty mild, so I kept the sriracha low in the batch but loaded up on it in my own bowl. And as most soups, it was better the next day. mmmmmmm

Autographed Disney Character Postcards for Kids

The Disney brand is amazing. Sure, it's a ginormous company with thousands of branches of business, but they still take time for the little things. My daughters are huge Disney Princess fans. It started before my oldest turned 2 and has continued to this day. The princess love being passed from older sister to younger sister and even down to the day care kids. I had read that you could send a letter to Disney and you'd receive an autographed picture/postcard back in the mail. My oldest wrote a letter and drew a picture to her favorite princess of the month, Ariel. We just got a postcard back, addressed to my child, with a picture of all the princesses and their "signatures!" Needless to say, my daughter was thrilled. Such a simple act gathered a giant smile.

Here's how you can get a postcard sent to your child:

Write a letter to your favorite Disney character (it's not just princesses, you know!). Be sure to include a return address!

Send the letter to:
Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

~OR~

Walt Disney Company
Attn: Fan Mail Department
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Wait about 4 weeks and your child should receive their card in the mail.

 Hope your little one enjoys this as much as mine did!

Huli Huli Chicken

I love reading cooking magazines. I used to subscribe to four different magazines. I'm down to just a couple these days. I always find new meals in them. Sometimes it's a full recipe, sometimes it's an inspiration to tweak an existing recipe, but there are so many ideas between those covers. Today's recipe came from one of those cooking magazines. It sounded tasty and the preparation was simple (just what every mom wants, right?). The key to this is to let it marinate for at least 8 hours. I usually make the day or night before we're going to eat it and really let it soak into the chicken. Obviously, it was a hit or I wouldn't be sharing it. Here's what you need:

 

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup ketchup

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup sherry or chicken broth

2-1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger root

1-1/2 tsp minced garlic

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts)

 

In a large ziploc bag, mix all the ingredients except chicken.

Reserve about 1 cup of marinade and set aside.

Place chicken into bags and mush well to distribute the marinade.

Refrigerate at least 8 hours (I recommend overnight).

 

When ready to cook, heat grill to medium heat.

Oil the rack with a touch of oil to prevent sticking.

Place chicken on grill and cook 6-8 minutes on each side (or until no longer pink).

Baste occasionally with reserved marinade.

 

 

I served the chicken with some grilled pineapple and white rice. The reserved marinade also makes a great sauce for dipping and the rice. Try it out! Add a little Hawaiian into your meal plan!

St. Patrick's Day Leprechauns

I don't know about you, but my kids are holiday crazy. We actually had to celebrate Groundhog's Day. Saint Patrick's Day is a bit more fun to celebrate with two young kids. This leprechaun craft is a Mama In Montana original creation. Not inspired by Pinterest. Not recreated from an image or a blog. I prepped everything for my kids to make it easy since they're smaller, but depending on your childrens' ages, you might be able to let them do more of the work. It did take me about 30 minutes to prep 6 of these little guys, but they turned out so cute! Here's what you need:

Paper in green, black, peach, yellow

toilet paper tubes

googly eyes

cotton balls

markers

glue/glue stick

scissors

optional: glitter glue

 

 

Prep: cut a piece of green paper the height of your toilet paper tube and long enough to wrap all the way around. Mine was 5.5" square. Cut the pieces for the hat, belt, buckle, and face. I cut out of black a 2"x2" square for the hat part and a 5.5"x1" for the brim. Out of white a 2"x.5" belt. In yellow a .5" square for the buckle.  For the face, I cut a 1.75" square out of the peachy color. You could do circles for the face, but I was on a speed mission.

Glue the hat pieces together as shown below.

 

Color the cotton ball orange with a marker.

 



 

Glue the face piece in the top center of your large green square.

Glue googly eyes on the face.

Glue the beard to the leprechaun's face.

If desired, color the rest of the face (nose, mouth).



 

Draw and decorate the leprechaun's body. Use glitter glue if desired. My youngest daycare kiddo had to have "sprinkles" on her leprechaun! 

Wrap the green square around the tube and glue. Wrap the brim around the top of the tube. I trimmed the edge of the hats so they poked out a bit.

 

You can see how cute these leprechauns turned out! Each kiddo made theirs a reflection of their personality. My oldest daughter made a girl leprechaun with a bikini top and skirt. A couple kids did not want the beard. Have fun. Mix it up. Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

 



Three Cheese Manicotti

I had a thought recently. Really! It happens. Just kidding. My thought was this: I spend a great deal of my time teaching about meal planning, taking cooking classes, searching for new recipes to try, discussing cooking and sharing recipes with friends. Especially with my meal planning on a budget class wrapping up, there are recipes I am asked to share frequently. I was chatting with a friend who is just starting her blogging adventure (check out Mama To The Max) and became energized to blog more about the foods I cook. I know this isn't JUST a cooking blog, in fact I have a kids' craft to write up this week as well, but hopefully sharing some of my family's menu items will help others expand their own menus and assist in meal planning efforts as well.

Today's recipe is a three cheese manicotti. The story behind this recipe is that my husband, when we were still just dating, would tell me how GREAT his sister's manicotti was. I made some once and he ate it, but it didn't pass the test. Why reinvent the wheel, right? So I called my sister-in-law and asked for her recipe. It is simple, requires basic ingredients and it really does taste great. Shout out to Julie for this family-pleasing meal. Here's what you need:

1 box manicotti pasta (about 12-16 tubes depending on brand)
1 quart marinara sauce (of course I use my homemade stuff, but pick what you like)
8 oz chopped spinach (I buy the frozen stuff and thaw)
1-1/2 cups each feta, ricotta, and parmesan cheeses
1 egg (optional)

Cook the manicotti as directed. We like ours al dente plus it's easier to stuff when it's not quite as soft. It will be baking in the oven, so it's ok if it's not all the way "done."

Combine the cheeses in a large bowl. If you're using fresh spinach, wilt it slightly. If you're using frozen, thaw and drain extremely well. Add spinach to cheese mixture. You can also add the egg at this time as well. It's not necessary, but does help the filling to stick together a little bit. I've made it both ways and the taste is the same.

Pour a little marinara in the bottom of your baking dish. I usually use a 9x13 Pyrex pan. Tip the pan to spread the marinara all over the bottom. It will help prevent sticking. Stuff the cooked pasta with the cheese mixture and place the tubes in the dish. Continue until all the mixture or tubes are used. I've had extra cheese before and it works well to make a personal sized lasagna.

Pour the remaining marinara sauce over the stuffed manicotti. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

If you ask me, it's the feta that makes this dish. Feta really is "bet-tah." Try it out and let me know what you think!

Quinoa Fruit Salad

I'm still learning when it comes to quinoa. I had never eaten it until last year. It's a funky looking little grain that can be added to lots of dishes to give it substance and boost the protein. Today's recipe is not my recipe, but one I got from my friend Cheryl. It's simple and fresh, so give it a shot! It's easily adapted for different types of fruit, so use what you have and what you like.

1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
2 cups water
pinch of salt

juice of 1 lime or lemon
3 Tbsp honey
1-2 Tbsp finely chopped mint (I used 2, but I think next time I'll just use 1)

Fruit: I used 1 cup each strawberries, blueberries and pineapple. You can increase or decrease as preferred. Think grapes, kiwi, mango, apples, oranges, whatever!

Add your rinsed quinoa, water and salt to saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat and let boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook 10-15 minutes, or until the outside of the grain becomes translucent. Remove from heat and fluff with fork. Let cool.

Make the dressing by whisking the lime juice, honey and mint in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa and fruit. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss well. Garnish with additional mint if desired. You can serve at room temperature or chilled. I preferred to eat it chilled. The flavor enhanced overnight as well.

Enjoy!!