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Does the Fairy Godmother Get the Last Word?

Cinderella ran home so quickly that she lost her glass shoe.  She knew the consequences.

I did not heed the fairy godmother’s warning and stayed at a party past midnight this past weekend. 

I know.  You all are in shock. 

A 43-year-old mom with two kids under the age of 6, partying like a college kid while a college kid kept those sleeping angels, on a time-change night to boot.

Yeah, that’s right.  I even lost an hour. 


The talk in the kitchen that night was the clock.  You know how everyone gathers in the kitchen.  You could clean your whole house for hours, but everyone wants to stand in the kitchen. 

At 10:30 p.m., many said they usually are at home in bed by that point.  Some even looked at the clock and said, “Well, you know it’s really 11:30 p.m. with the time change and all."

Whoa!  That’s late for middle-aged parents. A few made a graceful exit.  Sitters needed to go out on the town. Kids would be up very early the next day.

We knew this was going to be a late night.  This party was a surprise birthday party that didn’t start until almost 9 p.m.  We were in a time deficit before we even cut the cake and sang “Happy Birthday!”

A few rebellious kids, like my husband and me, ignored the clock and stayed after the clock chimed at midnight.  Some even showed up after midnight.  Those were the really brave night owls.

That fairy godmother is all talk. None of us turned into pumpkins.  I didn’t even lose a shoe. I went home with my prince, too.


I admit, we winced a little when we turned the clocks to 2 a.m. before turning out the light, but we’re definitely not too old to stay out past midnight.  We can do it.

But what I can’t do is sit on stools to eat dinner.  We dined at Beasley’s Chicken and Honey in downtown Raleigh prior to attending the party.  The restaurant has diners dine on backless stools.

Ouch!  My back ached for most of the party, and I felt old the next day. I even wanted a nap by 3 p.m., but I had to go to a child’s birthday party instead.

Maybe the fairy godmother got the last laugh after all.



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Simplicity on Mondays: Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

If your Mondays are like mine, then you may want to strive for simplicity in the kitchen on these days.  Usually, at the beginning of the week, my refrigerator is bare, and it’s tough for me to get back on a weekday schedule after two carefree weekend days.

I look for simple, easy meals with few ingredients and little prep time for a Monday night.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas are now part of my Monday meal rotation. 



The original recipe is from a local cookbook that I gave away on the blog in January.  The recipe was originally created with chicken.  Black beans and enchilada sauce are not part of the original ingredients, but I’ve now incorporated those ingredients to make it a Hines original.  I love the rich taste of the chicken and black beans together, but I use my vegetarian option more often because it’s one less step and so easy.

We had this last week with the Wholesome Goodness mild salsa and multi-grain flax tortilla chips that are part of the all-natural, better-for-you foods that I’m giving away on the blog this week. 

I think you’ll agree this is as a great weeknight winner.

Simple Mondays: Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
1 (8-oz) package of cream cheese
1 cup salsa
1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
Flour tortillas
2 cups of shredded Cheddar or Colby-Jack cheese
1 can of enchilada sauce
*2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease baking pan.  I typically need two dishes.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the cheese and salsa.  Cook, stirring until melted and well-blended.  Stir in black beans (chicken if you want to add it).  Fill tortillas with the mixture, roll, and place into the prepared baking dish.  Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Garnish with sour cream and salsa.  Serve with chips.



Have a great week, and I hope you are adjusting to the time change.  It always takes me a week.

Also, I wish the North Carolina teams in the NCAA tournament the best of luck this week. If you are a North Carolina fan, you may want to revisit my Tarheel cupcake post from last year. It's not team specific, but rather this cupcake gets to the root of North Carolina as a Tarheel state.  We would love to have a NCAA champion again.





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How to Feel Good About What Your Child Eats: A Wholesome Goodness Giveaway

There are days that I wish I were that mom who bakes every snack that my child eats from scratch, using only the best whole ingredients.

But, truthfully, that’s not who I am. 

Instead, I am a mom who reads food labels as I go down the grocery aisles.  I rely on minimally processed foods to make my life easier in the kitchen.  My goal, however, is to buy the most all-natural products possible.  I avoid high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives as much as I can. 

I’m lucky because I live in Raleigh, and grocery stores cater to moms like me here.  I can find foods like that with little problem, but it’s not always kind to the grocery bill. Despite the price,  I feel better at night knowing my kids avoided a lot of junk in their diet.

Baby Diva is eating Wholesome Goodness Omega Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars.  These hearty granola bars are made with blend of whole grain rolled oats, whole grain wheat flakes, crisp rice, brown sugar, pumpkin seeds, roasted sunflower seed kernels,  with flax flax seed meal for an Omega boost. 

I am always looking for wholesome food at a good price.  A new food company called Wholesome Goodness recently won me over with its products.  Unfortunately, the company is just getting started, so the products are currently available only at Wal-Mart in a few select states, including North Carolina.  The Raleigh-Durham market is one of the first areas to see these products on the shelves.

I rarely shop at Wal-Mart, but I’m telling you right now that these products are going to make me walk through the doors of that bargain-priced super giant store sooner rather than later after sampling ten items out of the Wholesome Goodness product line.  

Mr. Cool and I could not get enough of the Whole Grain Sea Salt Chips.  They have 19 grams of whole grains per serving.  They are light, crisp, and a low-sodium snack.  
Wholesome Goodness is an all-natural, better-for-you food brand that emphasizes natural ingredients such as whole grains, fiber, and beneficial antioxidants while minimizing sugar, sodium, and fat. 

The price is right at $2.78 for a delicious, low-sodium, whole grain sea salt chip to $3.78 for a cereal made from a blend of five grains and packed with fiber.  My kids ate these items like candy.  I did, too.  A Multi-grain and Flax Tortilla Chip with 20 grams of whole grains, and 200 mg of Omega-3 was pretty addictive, too.  These are minimally processed foods I don’t mind giving to my kids. 

I commend the company because it is trying to keep costs down.  Wholesome Goodness believes that nutritious foods are beneficial only if they are accessible and affordable.  The prices are comparable to mainstream brands and significantly lower than other natural/organic product lines.

Wholesome Goodness is currently in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia.  It hopes to expand nationally soon. 
Wholesome Goodness has also set a high nutritional standard by banning the use of 126 ingredients including artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings, and preservatives.  I’ve gone over the list, and for curiosity looked in my pantry. I was shocked to see some of the banned items on food in my pantry.  Maybe I wasn’t buying as “healthy” as I thought.   Many of the Wholesome Goodness products also meet gluten-free and Kosher dietary guidelines. 

I used some of the products to cook simple meals like BBQ chicken, and black bean and cheese enchiladas, which I’ll share with you later in the month.

I’m now a fan of the product line. To see if Wholesome Goodness is sold in a Wal-Mart near you, visit http://www.wholesome-goodness.com/US/locator/

Wholesome Goodness has also decided to give away the same packet it gave me so you can try its new foods. I think you will be a fan, too. You will not be disappointed, so sign up to win.  It’s about a $30 value. We’re doing the giveaway through rafflecopter, so all you have to do is sign into the box either by using Facebook or by giving your name and email.  It’s that easy.  The required entry is to leave a blog comment, and the rest are optional extra entries.  The giveaway will end at midnight on Monday, March 19, 2012.


The Wholesome Goodness Prize Pack will include: Multigrain O's, Chocolate Almond Drink, Omega Apple Cinnamon Granola Bars, Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats, Whole Grain Sea Salt Chips, Grilled Vegetable Tortilla Chips, Multi Grain and Flax Tortilla Chips, Mild Garden Salsa, Kansas City Style Barbecue Sauce, and Mountain Mix Trail Mix Snack Tubes

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The Book of Why?: Questions Parents May Have

My son has this great book called “The Book of Why?” It asks 50 questions and gives you the answers.  Questions like:

Why do stars twinkle?
Why can’t penguins fly?
Why do flutes have holes?
Why do whales sing?

He loves this book, but every time we read it I think of my own questions.  I just don’t have the answers. 


Leigh's Why Questions

1. Why are there hundreds of dollars of toys and electronics in my house, but yet my kids don’t know how to entertain themselves and leave me alone?

2. Why is it that kids only sneeze when they are buckled up in their car seats and you are driving down the highway?

3. Why is the tissue on the floorboard out of your reach when your children sneeze “big ones” while buckled up in their car seats?

4. Why is it when you schedule a date night with your husband and you want to look your best, it rains?
(Obviously, the rain bothers me more than this couple.)

Image Credit 
5. Why is it when you go on that same date night, the hostess in the restaurant wants to sit you next to a table with small children?

6. Why is it that when you are about to embark on a vacation out of town, your child becomes sick?

7. Why is it that on a day you need to be somewhere, you have to wake your child in the morning, but on the day that everyone in the house could sleep in, you get a pat on your shoulder at 6:55 a.m. with a little voice saying “I can’t sleep!”

8. Why is it when you realize your child needs to wear dress shoes for an event, you realize the shoes are too small just as they are about to get dressed? 

9. Why hasn’t someone invented a machine to fold and put away laundry?

10. Why do I feel that sometimes time stands still, but yet time flies, too?

11. Why is it that one minute my children drive me crazy, and the next minute I can’t get enough of them, all in the same hour? 



12. Why is being a parent the best thing ever?

Believe it or not, I actually know the answer to the last one. If you are a parent, I bet you do, too.  Feel free to enlighten me if you have the answers to any of my questions, or add any more questions that you may have.  I’m sure as a parent you may be asking why, too, on occasion. 





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Five Family-Friendly Attractions Not to Miss in Charlotte, N.C.

I love to promote North Carolina on my blog, and this year my state will be hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.  All eyes will be on the Queen City, which is North Carolina’s largest city, when the President comes to town in September.  But as you make your vacation plans this year, you may want to put Charlotte on your list, too, especially if you live in North Carolina and don’t want to travel too far because of rising gas prices.

Image Courtesy of Visit Charlotte
Photographer Charles Abbott: http://99cnaclasses.com/charlotte-nc/
I breezed into Charlotte last month to do a feature on the Ballantyne Hotel for my blog, but I have already marked in my vacation planner that I will be returning to the city to vacation with my kids one day.  There’s so much to do in this city that it was hard to narrow down some favorites for my list.

I picked the top five things that I thought would be fun to do with kids over a long weekend or even longer, if you have the time.  I also like to mix in educational opportunities with my ititinary because I feel that vacations can be a traveling classroom. 

Here’s where I want to visit:

Carowinds
www.carowinds.com
The “Thrill Capital of the Southeast” lives up to its name with 13 adrenaline-pumping roller coasters and 25+ more rides for kids, families and thrill seekers.  It opens for the season on March 31. The 122-acre park also boasts more than 30 restaurants and snack stands, live stage shows, Planet Snoopy kid’s area and Boomerang Bay waterpark, featuring a four-story rafting adventure, lazy river, heated lagoon and more. New this year, Carowinds will debut WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall swing ride towering over the park that will spin riders at 30 miles per hour.

Discovery Place
Image Courtesy of Visit Charlotte

Discovery Place
www.discoveryplace.org
Having completed a $31.6 million renovation last year, Discovery Place, the South's premiere hands-on science and technology center, has unveiled a bevy of new exhibits, the first of which is Cool Stuff, exploring the beauty and strangeness of physics. Launch objects into the air with electromagnetic forces, lie on a bed of nails, or crush a garbage can to get physical with physics. KidScience focuses on children under 5, and an expanded aquarium featuring a jellyfish tank will entice visitors to linger in awe.

Levine Museum of the New South
http://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/
The Levine Museum of the New South documents the rich history of our region through the award-winning permanent exhibit “Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers.”  Visitors can relive a civil rights era sit-in at a lunch counter and try on a hat in an early Belk department store. Changing and traveling exhibits offer a real and poignant view of the American South from the end of the Civil War to today. People of all ages will find the hands-on, interactive history educational and entertaining. It is the only museum in the country concentrating exclusively on New South history.

NASCAR Hall of Fame
Image Courtesy of Visit Charlotte

NASCAR Hall of Fame
www.nascarhall.com
The 150,000 sq. ft. NASCAR Hall of Fame is the Southeast’s newest and most exciting attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain visitors no matter their age or interest level, includes a state-of-the-art High Octane Theatre, Hall of Honor, artifact displays and over 50 interactive exhibits. Race car simulators and other interactive pit-stops are a core aspect of the attraction.

U.S. National Whitewater Center
www.usnwc.org
On over 400 acres of woodlands, the USNWC is the world’s premier outdoor recreation and environmental education center. Alongside 14+ miles of mountain-biking and running trails, a climbing center, an 1,100 ft Mega Zip line, flat water kayaking, geo caching and a challenge course, the facility’s unique feature is a multiple-channel whitewater river with class III-IV rapids for rafting and kayak enthusiasts of all abilities. The river is the largest of its kind in the world. New additions to the center include stand-up paddle boarding and two multiple-platform canopy tour activities involving zip lines and aerial challenges.

This list just barely scratches the surface of what to do in Charlotte.  There’s also the great South Park Mall with incredible high-end shopping, and, of course, you know I think everyone needs to make time for some spa pampering.  For a complete list of activities, visit CHARLOTTESGOTALOT.COM

WHERE to STAY:
Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge

Outdoor Pool at the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge
Image Courtesy of Bissell 
I love the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge in the South area of Charlotte because I love the resort-type feel it gives you by overlooking the golf course.  The outdoor pool will be great for those hot, summer Charlotte days.  I’m a firm believer in mixing sightseeing with lots of leisure.  I’ve personally stayed in the hotel, and I know that my luxury hotel lovers would be pleased.  This hotel is about 20 minutes from Carowinds and 20 minutes from uptown Charlotte.  The Ballantyne area also has lots of shops and family-friendly dining options.  This hotel is also a member of Starwood's Luxury Hotel Collection. 

Staybridge Suites, Charlotte Ballantyne

Staybridge, Charlotte Ballantyne-Great Room
Image Courtesy of Bissell
My readers with families have told me that they like space when traveling.  My smart savvy choice, in the same area as the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge, is the Staybridge Suites, Charlotte Ballantyne.  It’s currently the number one hotel ranked on Tripadvisor.  For less than $200 per night, amenities include suites and a complimentary breakfast bar with homemade waffles. Children may also like the indoor pool.  Coffee lovers will enjoy waking up to free Starbucks coffee, and it is available all day.  We all know that when traveling with kids, parents need lots of coffee.



For additional accommodations, visit CHARLOTTESGOTALOT.COM

Hope to see you in North Carolina.  I’m not sure what attraction my family will hit first, but I think they are all winners, or else I wouldn’t have picked them. 
Related Posts:
Pack Your Bags: We're Heading to the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge
Every Day Should Be a Spa Day: My Heavenly Experience at the Spa at Ballantyne
Nothing Beats Walking Downstairs for Dinner: My Night at the Gallery Restaurant



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