our "fast food" dinner and what we gave out in lieu of a birthday goodie bag

Somewhere along the way, I read an obvious but revelatory nutrition fact: that in nature, fat, sugar, and salt all exist, but completely independent of each other. Alone, they're hardly addictive; combined, well, that's McDonald's.

Confession: I love McDonald's. In particular, the filet of fish sandwich, the milkshakes, and most recently, the caramel frappé, which I think is tastier than Starbucks.

Of course, none of this is good for our health, and eating out is the major budget buster in our family. While we usually don't choose fast food for our family dinners (our favorite restaurants are the small family-owned businesses in town), no one in my house has ever turned down a hamburger, a hot dog, chicken fingers, or french fries.

When we went into the city to get our no-longer-a-baby Baby naturalized this past February, the biggest attractions were the hot dog and pretzel carts that dot Manhattan, even at 9 a.m.! 

There's just something about junk that is so inherently appealing. 

So sometimes, I'll try to do fast food at home. It's not Wendy's (which is my favorite fast food chain of them all) that's for sure, but it's a tasty and far healthier alternative.

Here's a picture of Wednesday's "fast food" dinner:

For the chicken fingers, I used boneless chicken breast dredged in egg and 4C 100% Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs (it's not easy finding partially-hydrogenated-free bread crumbs!) and then baked them at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

The mozzarella sticks (we ate most of them for lunch and saved two for Kevin) were just cheese sticks dredged in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs (twice), left to harden in the fridge for about four hours, and then baked at 400 degrees for about seven minutes.

The french fries are from ShopRite, baked until crispy, never fried (too messy and labor-intensive a method for me).

The fruit is mango (I always use the Martha Stewart method of mango-cutting).

...and speaking of healthier alternatives, I want to share what we gave as party-favors at our four-year-old's party:

I know kids LOVE goodie-bags, in all their choking hazard and junk food glory. But last year, we went to a party where as an alternative, the mom gave out travel-sized chalkboards as party gifts. What a great idea! Our version was ice-cream scented bubbles and a sticker book for each child (all from A.C.Moore, heaven for moms) in little bags with tags I made on the computer thanking our friends for sharing in the celebration. So as usual, someone else's great idea that I copied and am now passing on to you! ;)

Have a great weekend, all! xo

Korean Dramas: Why I Watch (and watch and watch...)

This post is dedicated to reader jasi who was very encouraging of my writing a post about Korean dramas (see our comments at the bottom of this post).

For those of you not in the know, Korean dramas are soap operas, and  like the telenovelas from Latin America, they have a beginning and an end, averaging about twenty episodes per series. In other words, they don't go on and on for generations like the American soaps we're used to stateside.

Being Korean-American, I like to dabble in my Korean-ness from time to time, and one day I stumbled upon "Lovers in Paris" (a Korean-French connection? why not?). The next day, I woke up early just to squeeze in one more episode. And so it went until I'd watched the entire series.

Over the years, I've realized that the appeal of these dramas is based on the following: they broaden my Korean vocabulary and expand my cultural knowledge; the fashion is always fun; the scenes of Seoul and the countryside are my passports to a country I've still (!!!) not returned; and the plot twists and turns that end each episode in a cliff hanger are so exciting that I can't stop thinking about them for days after (much like Lost - remember?).

My three most recent dramas have been:

I Need Romance 2012: This one is kind of like Sex & The City for thirty-somethings. Speaking as a married mother of two living in suburban New York, it was kind of hard to relate to these unmarried and impossibly good-looking singletons; but the romantic in me took over, and I enjoyed this drama immensely. Remember how maddening it could be to watch Carrie give only half her heart to perfect Aidan because the other half was taken by too-suave Mr. Big? Watching Yeol Mae (played to perfection by the adorable Jung Yoo Mi) and Seok Hyun date and then break-up was often equally frustrating, yet just as hard to turn away from.

Importantly (to me, I hate bad endings), the final scene is satisfying in that everything gets tied up neatly, ends up as it should be, and yet has you thinking about what might have been had the writers decided to keep writing. I only wish!

Nine: Nine Time Travels: Currently ending its run, I've watched up to Episode 18 (of 20). This drama pulled me in because of the lead, Lee Jin Wook - talented, good-looking, and hot off of I Need Romance 2012. The premise is completely off-the-charts silly, perhaps even more so because it's described as a melodrama. But a melodrama it is, as you can see in the teasers (here and here). I was happily immersed in this series until very recently, when I started to feel that it was being dragged out to no real satisfying end. With two episodes to go, I can't imagine not seeing how things turn out, and I hope I won't feel like I have at the end of a bad movie (i.e. two hours of my life I'll never get back, thanks a lot Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).

When A Man Loves: Family intrigue, a reformed gangster, love triangles, and Song Seung Hun. A bookshop owner's daughter, brothers,  and a forgotten mother of a forgotten son. Forget that you'll want to throw Seo Mi Do out the window by Episode 8 (as her father said, "stop two-timing"), this is the drama that I love to hate. Currently subtitled to Episode 12, it's prompted me to sign-up for alerts so that I get notified ASAP when the next one is ready. Translators, please get on it!

So that's it! My not-so-secret guilty pleasure. Feel free to share yours (drama or otherwise) in the comments.

To watch Korean dramas online (free): www.dramafever.com
Dramabeans is a fun blog that has the inside scoop on all things (Korean) soap: www.dramabeans.com

 And of course,

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

New Post for Frugal Mama: "Bring More Peace-of-Mind to Every Day With These 10 Simple Habits"

Like many of you, I’ve longed to create a family life where coming home at the end of a long day doesn’t mean another set of different stressors. Where we are happiest surrounded by each other in a cozy home and a true haven.

After a couple of years of testing and refining, I have settled upon some daily rituals that have made me more serene, productive, and in love with being at home. Here is what is working:

1. Plan (In Detail) for the Following Day

We all have calendars and reminders — from old-fashioned wall calendars to kitchen chalkboards to pings on our iPhones. The most important thing is that before you go to bed each night, you know exactly what has to get done the next day and map accordingly.

This might mean a nightly consolidation of everything from all those sources onto a single sheet of notepad. I like to use sticky notes that I hang on a cabinet. As things get done, the paper gets taken off and thrown away. It’s not exactly green, but it’s effective.

Even though there are many nights when I think, “I’m too tired!”, I remember how much nicer it is to wake up knowing exactly what’s going on that day, and that keeps me going.

Read the rest...