Tag Archives: roaming rosie

Cheesy Ghosts and Pumpkins … aaand I’m Back!

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by

Halloween Cheesy Ghosts and Pumpkins open faced sandwiches

So I took a look at when I last published a post on this blog and … *gasp* it’s been HOW long?

Well, my attempt at balancing work and kids and going back to school for my masters and planning a wedding all at the same time did not work out as planned.  And things got even more complicated this past spring when we all went into lock down and I was both working from home and home schooling my girls.

I still access this blog all the time, especially for recipes.  And heaven knows I’ve never stopped taking pictures of what my girls and I get up to.

But with the craziness that’s surrounding us all right now, I’ve decided to start writing again.  There aren’t suddenly more hours in the day, but I miss doing this.  Plus, it calms my anxiety (extra important in these stressful times!) and, hey, I love sharing food with you guys.

Halloween is practically around the corner – it IS August after all.  So I’m going to start by sharing Halloween recipes and ideas.

https://static.catsoncatnip.co/images/rwXkWuJxaqSj_700.jpg

This recipe here is for an age-old favorite of mine:  open faced cheese sandwiches.

These are so much fun.  And in the fall especially, my girls wind up getting some variation of these for lunch quite a bit.

Cheese and bread make a great base for a lunch since they go with so many different sides.  I can throw these on a plate with pretty much whatever fruit is on hand and it works.

Halloween Cheesy Ghosts and Pumpkins open faced sandwiches

 

For the pumpkins and ghosts pictured above, I used yellow American cheese and white Provolone.  You could also substitute another white cheese like Swiss, Mozzarella, white Cheddar or Monterey Jack, depending on your family’s favorites.

I placed the cheese slices on the bread and microwaved it for about 8 or 10 seconds, just until the cheese started to melt.  This makes sure it doesn’t fall apart in their lunchboxes.  You could also try warming it in a toaster oven instead – just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

I personally like mine with crispy half-burnt cheese, but well, these aren’t for me…

Once the cheese is melted to the bread, simply use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes.  I can’t remember the brand of cutters I have, but they are similar to these and these.

I was able to get two pumpkins out of one slice with the size cookie cutters I have.  And, really, I often just save the scraps to eat as part of my own lunches.  Or, you know, midnight snack.  If they make it till midnight.

You could also use them as cheesy croutons in tomato soup.  If yours last longer than mine…

Here is a similar way I like to change it up:  Jack O Lantern Cheesy Bread

Follow my Halloween Pinterest Board for more ideas!

Happy Early Halloween :)

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100 Followers :)

Posted in musings by

100 Followers on Roaming Rosie April 2014

My blog reached 100 followers today, which I’m pretty excited about!

That may not be the most gigantumous number on The Internet, but I’m pretty excited about it.

Celebrating milestones are a great way to stay motivated after all.

Next goal:  reach that number of likes on my Facebook page:  Roaming Rosie Remix.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got some bunny-shaped spice cookies in the kitchen that aren’t going to bake themselves.  :)

Roaming Rosie Signature

 

My New Facebook Page

Posted in wanderings in the world & web by

Well, I’ve gone and done it.

I made myself a Facebook page.

I mean, why not, right?  I spend so much time on there anyway:  posting pictures of my kids, posting articles on my realtor page, reading articles my friends post about making organic homemade toothpaste, ignoring political posts, watching funny videos of cats….

Anyway, my point is that I’ve created a page for my Roaming Rosie persona where I can share cool things that I might not otherwise write a blog post about.

Or things about which I might not otherwise write a blog post.  Whichever of those sentences is less aggravating to you.

So check out Roaming Rosie Remix, and “rock” me.

I mean, “like” me.

Because everyone can use more funny videos of cats in their life.

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Roaming Rosie Reads Harry the Dirty Dog

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Harry likes to get dirty and he hates taking baths.  Typical man dog.  :)

Anyway, this is a much requested book in our household.  Both of my girls love reading about Harry.  We have a few other Harry books, but the original is our favorite.

And, I just found out there’s a stuffed version of Harry:

Harry the Dirty Dog

How cute is that?

Roaming Rosie Reads Franklin in the Dark

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Franklin is my favorite turtle.  :)

I read this book with my girls all the time.  The rhythm is fantastic, so it’s especially great at bedtime.

It’s about being brave, it’s about problem solving, and it’s about family.  A great combination.  But mostly, kids just find it fun and entertaining.  Can’t beat that.  :)

Franklin recently celebrated his 25th anniversary.  You can find him here.

Enjoy!

Roaming Rosie Reads Moongame

Posted in roaming rosie reads by

My girls and I love Frank Asch.

His books are magical.  Entertaining but subtly profound:  teaching life lessons and practical thinking in a way that children enjoy.

And I enjoy reading them.

Anyway, this particular book takes place at night, so the illustrations are a little dark (although that may just be because I’m reading an ancient copy).  The pictures are beautiful but a little hard to make out in the video, thus Moongame is one that I certainly recommend following along with a copy of your own.  Although (like all the others I’ve read) it’s still a great story to share with your kids – even if you don’t have the book yet.

But if you’d like the book, you can find it here.

Enjoy!

Roaming Rosie Reads Ten Apples Up On Top

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Ten Apples Up On Top was written by Theo. LeSieg, or, as he’s more affectionately known, Dr. Seuss.

There’s a lot of repetitiveness to the story, but a good rhythm and my girls love it.

It is often requested at home, so, here it is:

Roaming Rosie Reads Owly

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Owly was my favorite book as a child.  Still is.

I read it to my children often.

But as my divorce progresses, things have become difficult in ways that I never imagined.  Like having to say goodbye to my children at the end of every other week.

One day, as their father was about to pick them up, I was talking to my 3-year-old and telling her that I’d miss her but that she was going to have a great time.  I try not to say “I’ll miss you” or “I miss you” too often, because I don’t want her to connect any negative emotions with the time she spends with her father.  But I’m human.  It slipped out.

And she smiled at me and said, “you can read my books while I’m gone.”

It was such a grown-up sentiment.  It was all I could do not to cry.  I’d once told her she could hug a stuffed animal if she was missing me, and now she was giving me the same advice.  And with books!  As a writer (and a reader), story time with my girls is SO special to me.

This happy memory blossomed into the idea of me reading the books to a camera, so my girls could still have me read to them even when I wasn’t around.

And then I thought – why not share them?

Books are a gift, after all.  A wonderment.  A comfort.  And certainly worth sharing.

In the spirit of privacy, I had already decided not to make the stories too personal, (including their names in the video, for example), so I simply added a title onto the front of the video.

Seemed pretty nice.

Nothing too fancy, though.  The books themselves are magical enough.  And I wanted it to be like when we curl up in bed or on the couch or on the floor together and read the book, page by page, sharing a simple moment.  Books are powerful enough on their own with no need for special effects or soundtracks.

So the videos will be just me.  Reading.

Here is my first video, Owly:

I hope you – and especially your children/grandchildren/etc – love it!  Please let me know what you think.  :)

And if you’d like to follow along, you can find Owly on Amazon.