Hotel Breakers at Cedar Point

June 16, 2015kakakakaty Leave a comment

Disclosure: As a #BloggingatCP blogger for Cedar Point my family stayed one night at the renovated Hotel Breakers and entered the park for free. Food, travel and all other purchases were on my dime. As always, my thoughts are 100% my own.

I have lived in Ohio my whole life and an annual (or more!) trip to Cedar Point is a must. While I’ve been going there for decades I’ve always lived close enough to not necessitate an overnight stay. I recently learned that there is no reason to “need” to stay overnight when the accommodations are enough of an attraction to stand on their own.

When Cedar Point offered me a stay in the newly renovated Hotel Breakers I very literally gasped at the offer. Hotel Breakers has always been the fanciest place to stay near Cedar Point. The U.S. National Historic Landmark beachfront hotel has been there for 110 years and has always been “THE place” to stay when going to Cedar Point. In it’s heyday it hosted celebrities like John D. Rockefeller, Hellen Keller and many US Presidents. I said yes immediately and started counting down the days to our trip.

The reason I was invited was to see the new renovations – 2 years in the making and the largest cost project ever at Cedar Point. The results are stunning.

With an indoor pool, outdoor pool, zero-depth entry splash pool with watersides and the beach there is something for everyone. Plus each pool is watched by some of the most alert and attentive lifeguards I’ve ever encountered.

The indoor pool was a good size, guarded and had plenty of chairs. Bonus – it overlooks the lake!

They each got 2 trips down the slide before the thunder started rumbling, sending us inside. This pool has 2 very alert guards and is enclosed by a fence. The opposite end is zero entry and has all kids of splash/spray stuff.

Lots of room on the beach to enjoy the sun and sand.

Of course, there are two more lifeguards keeping watch over the Lake Erie swimming area.

If dry activities are more your thing there is an arcade, fire-pits overlooking the lake, a bar with views of the beach, lots of lounge chairs and rocking chairs . Plus tons of eating options including an ice cream shop serving delicious, local Toft’s ice cream, and a full-service Starbucks.

With the storms keeping us inside, we had lots of time to explore the hotel. We found this great ice cream parlor tucked away near the doors to the outdoor pool area.

When your kids are up before 7:00 AM no matter what, you are some of the first guests at the on-site Perkins restaurant

View from Starbucks on Sunday morning.
Lake Erie was angry that day and the rain was pouring down.

Guests staying at all Cedar Point resorts get early entry into Cedar Point, discounted tickets, free shuttle service, and free parking. From Hotel Breakers you can enter the park at the beach entrance – a 2 minute walk with no lines, no crowds. Due to the thunderstorms the weekend we stayed we didn’t get to take advantage of these options but it would make for a very easy trip. Plus the early entry would mean getting to ride a number of rides before there are any crowds! That is worth a lot.

The rooms are playful with punches of red in the decor and the best headboards around. The desk chairs are so cute I was looking at the bottom to see who made them because I want to buy them for our kitchen table.

A seagull nest was right outside our window and the kids checked on the bird constantly.

But what really stood out throughout the whole hotel was the family-friendly attention to detail:

The area near the front desk has tons of seating and the kids immediately started making faces in the fun-house mirrors on the wall. It made checking in so easy to have them entertained nearby.

The rooms have a dorm-sized fridge with a real freezer – an unexpected bonus – plus a microwave and shelves to stash snacks. I loved this set-up.

This seems so silly but this drying rack in the bathroom MADE MY DAY. We are always draping wet suits and bath towels all over the bathroom when we’re at hotel and they get in the way. I have been know to travel with those Command removable hooks just to have a place to hang wet swim gear. Having a bathroom with plenty of hooks is a DREAM.

We got to say goodnight to Snoopy, who was dressed for bed himself.

The room had plenty of space for the 4 of us and our stuff. It was very comfortable.

I think she was excited to ride. Too bad the storms meant we couldn’t go the following morning.

Mark and I also really enjoyed the attention to detail they took when renovating and decorating. As owners of our second 100-year old home we could appreciate the craftsmanship and care they took in the work of updating the historic Hotel Breakers. From the beautiful stained glass in the entry to the often-photographed rotunda. Everything was well done and well cared for. We also enjoyed the artwork – nostalgic photos of the park’s 145-year history.

We went back to the park to ride 2 weeks after our stay and I found myself wishing we had booked a room for the night on this very hot day. Even so, we had a great time as always:

After 2 Cedar Point trips with him refusing to ride anything but the CP & LE Railroad it was fun to watch him ride a few things this year.

I can’t leave the park without taking this picture

Checking out the view of Hotel Breakers from the top of the Giant Wheel

She has refused to even think about riding the Gemini ever since her first time in 2013 that included the train stopping while going up the first hill. After a little bribery (I promised to ride the Pipe Scream with her) she conquered her fear and declared the Gemini “the best ride ever”.

Madman and I spent some time in the (air conditioned) Town Hall Museum in Frontier Town while Matilda and Mark rode the Mine Ride. It was there that we found this great Gemini photo set up.

It was Matilda’s idea to recreate this shot to copy the artwork from the Hotel Breakers bathroom.

THIS is how you end a 95 degree day at Cedar Point.
Which leads me to my #1 Cedar Point tip: ALWAYS bring a complete change of clothes, including shoes, for every person!

The Monday-est of Mondays

June 15, 2015kakakakaty Leave a comment

Scene: Monday morning. 7:20 AM. First day of camp and our summer schedule, which has us leaving about 45 minutes earlier than the school year. Includes me driving another kid to camp.
Internal monolog in italics.

[Up early, backpacks packed, kids eating breakfast. I go to load the car about 30 minutes before we leave.] “New schedule, I OWN YOU.”
“Hmmmm, my keys aren’t on the hook. Must be in my purse”
“Um, where is my purse? Not on the hook, did I leave it on the table?” “OMG DID IT GET STOLEN LAST NIGHT?!?!”
“Calm down, Kate. No one broke in to the house and took only your purse then locked up behind them. You last had it at the hardware store yesterday. Where is it? Let’s see… when you came home you went right into the garage to glaze windows….oh crap! It’s in the car!”
[Walking out to car, which is parked in driveway] “Please let it be there, oh please oh please.” “YAY there is is!”
[Goes to open door] “CRAP! LOCKED!! NOOOOOO!”
“Ok ok, it has this nifty keyless entry button… maybe that will work” [tries both front doors] “SH*T”
[texts Mark to tell him I’m an idiot]
[texts mom of car pool kid to tell her I’m an idiot]
[calls police to ask if they can help – they can and they will be there “soon”]
[text Mark to say he doesn’t have to come home with his key after all]
[flurry of texts – girls will get to camp thanks to other kid’s dad who has the week off. whew!]
[25 minutes later the cops arrive] “Hooray! we’ll be out of here in a few seconds!”
[10 minutes pass]
Madman thinks it’s the coolest thing ever that a cop is outside and the squad car is in our driveway so he digs out his old police car toy

Cop: “Ma’am, I can’t seem to get it unlocked. There’s an anti-theft bar blocking the tool. I’ve called for backup and a different tool”
[2 more cops arrive, they fuss with car] “This does NOT look promising”
[Mark texts to say he’s coming home anyway because the A/C in his office is broken. He’s on the train already]
[car is still not open] “Sir, my husband is on his way home with the extra key. You can stop trying. Thanks so much for coming over to help” [cops leave]
[about 10 minutes pass] “I should go check to see if they damaged anything while they were trying to unlock it”
[sees a few small scratches. Tries door handle just for fun. IT OPENS. Car alarm blares] “WUT?!?! OMG IT’S OPEN”
[flurry of texts to Mark. he’s almost home. dangit!]
[pick him up at train stop and drop him at home]
[take Madman to daycare, nearly get hit head-on by an F150 speeding the wrong way down Courtland Blvd] “Are you freaking KIDDING ME WITH THIS DAY RIGHT NOW?!”
[text from Mark. He forgot about a meeting downtown so he has to go back. I feel terrible] “OH COME ON, MONDAY!”
[realize I have a Starbucks gift card in my purse and if any day needs a venti iced double dirty chai it’s today]

End Scene

Garden Local with Petitti + a Giveaway! #ad

May 20, 2015kakakakaty 4 Comments

Disclaimer: This post is part of a Petitti’s campaign. I was given a gift card to use for myself and one to give away in exchange for a post about my experience. As always, my thoughts are 100% my own. Since I was already a Petitti’s customer, I was happy to be a part of this campaign.

Update: Congratulations to Jennifer – winner of the gift card!

Last month Matilda and I were lucky enough to get a tour of Petitti Garden Center’s Casa Verde, in Columbia Station. This massive greenhouse operation is where 98% of the live product sold at Petitti is grown. NINETY EIGHT PERCENT! It means that every plant you buy from Petitti is already acclimated to our climate (hello 80 degrees one day and 45 the next!) because they were grown from seed right here. In fact, Petitti is one of the only area growers that takes the plants through 3 stages of growing (in different greenhouses) before deeming them ready for purchase. During high growing season they have as many of 100,000 hanging baskets at Casa Verde – it’s truly amazing to see!

Casa Verde is also where they do things like mix their custom blends of potting and planting soils, and assemble and plant their beautiful planters that are ready for your porch.

During our tour we got to hear Angelo Petitti’s story of how he immigrated to the US from Italy when he was 16, started his business and grew it to 9 stores plus a 32-acre greenhouse which employes up to 400 people during peak season. I have always known that Petitti was a family-owned operation but hearing his story and seeing the facility was eye opening. I always like to shop as local as possible and it was great to see “behind the scenes” of a robust local company.

As part of the visit we were given a gift card to start our garden for this year (and some awesome Troy-Bilt garden tools – also a local company!). This past weekend Matilda and I were finally able to hit up the original Petitti Garden Center in Oakwood for our plants. We were after some tomatoes and herbs to fill our patio pots of for the summer. Our yard gets a lot of shade, the soil is a terrible clay, and our neighbor has a black walnut tree so growing veggies in the ground is nearly impossible. So we make due with a hodgepodge of pots on the back patio.

Matilda picked what we were planting this year – lots of cherry tomatoes (the kids snack on these right off the vine when they are playing outside), some big heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, basil, rosemary and mint. She was also pretty excited to pick up several bags of Petitti’s soil since we saw it being mixed and bagged at Casa Verde. We added a bag of organic vegetable fertilizer and some compost to the cart before we checked out.

Once we got home she declared the planting her project. With just a little guidance from me she filled up all 6 pots with soil and plants. She might have more of a green thumb than I do!

Do you have a garden project you want to tackle? A black thumb you want to turn green? I have a $50 Petitti’s gift card to give away and it could be yours! ~~To enter leave a comment about what you would buy with $50 at Petitti’s. For an extra entry tweet the following: I want to win a @Petittis gift card from @kakaty #Pettitis: http://wp.me/p3i9i6-Pa~~

~~Limit 2 entries per person (one comment + one tweet). This giveaway will run until Monday, May 25th at 11:59 pm. Good luck!~~ Giveaway is closed.

Recycled Robot Craft & Cleveland Upcycle Parts Shop

April 24, 2015kakakakaty 1 Comment

Madman turned 5 last week and this meant it was time for his first real birthday party. I have a lot of feelings about both my baby turning 5 and birthday parties in general but I’ll spare you those thoughts for now and just share this awesome craft we did.

Madman is super into robots and has been for a long time. So several months ago I started looking for ideas on having a robot-themed party. I found some great robot decor and goodie bag items on clearance in the Target Spritz aisle. But with 90 minutes to fill at the party venue I needed a craft that was 1) appropriate for 4 and 5 year olds and 2) would take up about a half hour. After crowdsourcing on Twitter and browsing the internet I found this great craft on TheArtAnnex.com. Once I decided on the craft I knew exactly where to get the supplies.

If you’re a CLE parent (or a crafter) and you don’t know about the Upcycle Parts Shop you are missing out. I discovered them when they had kids craft tables at the Cleveland FLEA but hadn’t been to their shop until earlier this spring. It’ is a wonderland.

“What is The Upcycle Parts Shop? Simply put, we’re an affordable art supply store stocking pieces, parts, nuts and bolts that have fulfilled their original purpose and are now looking to be transformed and repurposed into something beautiful and useful. We offer classes and workshops in addition to a curated selection of materials on the shelves.” {yanked directly from their website} If you live in the Cleveland area give them a visit and have fun exploring.

I emailed Upcycle to check to see of they had CD cases for my craft – they did and set some aside for me. Last weekend I headed over to pick them up and find more “robot parts”. I had a BLAST … every time I turned around I found more shiny objects just begging to be part of the robot. The staff was super helpful but also just let me browse and do my thing, which was nice. I just kept piling my treasures up on a table until I was ready to check out.

What did I get? Washers, grommets, bunches of random beads from broken jewelry, what looked like fancy christmas ornament hooks, a brand-new bag of tiny silver hearts, old keys, plastic caps, book rings, and more. I found a ton of laminate samples – many with a metallic finish – that would make perfect “heads”. I even found some sheets of colored paper and a stack of old folders that would work as a sturdy backing. I had more than enough supplies to make 16 robots. I spent $11. Let me repeat that: ELEVEN DOLLARS. I told they person checking me out “I feel like I’m robbing you!” The only things I did’t get there were the googly eyes and the craft sticks… I spent more at a big box craft store on those 2 items than I did on the rest of the materials at Upcycle.

That night I prepped my prototype robot (above) so the kids would have something they could visualize. Then I prepped the craft by gluing the folders shut, gluing the colored paper to the front (spray mount was great for this), then gluing the cd case “bodies” to each one. That way the kids could just go to town building their robot (and I figured having the glue dry would make thing go smoother).

At the party I had set all the parts out in an old muffin tin. The kids each picked a “body” and a “head” and I glued the head on for them. I had some old clothes pins to hold the laminate piece in place for a bit until the glue dried and I’m glad I did that. Once the heads were on the kids went to work picking and placing the parts. I had both glue sticks and Elmer’s glue out at each table and their parents helped them with the gluing. They kids had SO MUCH FUN! Some of them got really creative and went back and forth to the parts table over and over. There were robots with interlocking parts, robots with earrings, dancing robots and even a cyclops robot!

about half of the robot creations

This was a really fun craft – most of the parents even said they had fun helping. WIth the prep work I did this was perfectly suitable for 4 and 5 year olds and occupied about 20-30 minutes of party time. I could see older kids having fun with this, too (Matilda, age 8, made one and said it was fun). I highly recommend it!

*This is NOT an ad for Upcycle Parts Shop. I’m just really glad I found them and want other people to know about what they do! I paid for everything and I have no affiliation with them.

Chipotle’s Picky Eater Challenge

April 1, 2015kakakakaty Leave a comment

Disclaimer: This post is part of Chipotle’s Picky Eater Challenge. I was given coupons for a family meal. As always, my thoughts are 100% my own. As a regular Chipotle customer I was happy to be a part of this campaign.

A few things you need to know: 1) My daughter Matilda is 8 years old and a somewhat adventurous eater. I say “somewhat” because while she will happily eat octopus and raw oysters she also refuses to even try anything that might be spicy or try again a food she has disliked in the past. 2) When she was about 4 or 5 we were at Chipotle, she had a bite of my barbacoa and declared everything at Chipotle “way too spicy” and has refused to eat there ever since. 3) Madman is 4 years old, stubborn as mule, and survives on cheese, bread, and chocolate milk. 4) Taco Tuesday is never, ever skipped in our house.

So when Chipotle contacted me about taking the Picky Eater Challenge and said they’d send coupons for the 4 of us to eat a meal there I took them up on it immediately. Mark and I would get our beloved burrito bowls, the kids could try anything they wanted and if they refused to eat it we wouldn’t be out any cash. Win win.

Chipotle’s kids menu: “Let your kids get creative and build their own taco meal. Choose any three ingredients (one meat, sofritas or guacamole) and two crispy corn, soft corn or soft flour tortillas. Or choose from a small cheese quesadilla, with the option to add meat, Sofritas or guacamole, with a side of rice and beans. All Kid’s Menu items are served with fruit or kid’s chips, and juice or organic milk (plain or chocolate).” [from Chipotle’s website]

Last Tuesday we hit out our local location and Matilda, a fan of all things taco, got busy building her own tacos.

She picked chicken, a mix of Fresh Tomato Salsa + Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa, cheese and soft tortillas. Then she selected chips and added an order of guac.

Madman surprised no one when he got a cheese quesadilla, rice and beans (which he gave to Mark), a clementine and chocolate milk. This is a picky eater’s dream menu and I loved that I knew he’d eat every bite.

Once we were at the table Matilda absolutely loved DIY-ing her tacos – putting a different mix of ingredients in each tortilla then mixing things together to eat them with a fork burrito-bowl style.

And guess what? She LOVED the food – nothing was too spicy and she ate every last bite of her chicken. She gave this “taco Tuesday” a big thumbs up.

Thanks to Chipotle we now have a reliable place to get good food when Mark and I don’t feel like cooking. I’m sure we will be back soon on another Taco Tuesday (or Thursday or Saturday!)

In the Kitchen, Noodle Kid Style

January 23, 2015kakakakaty Leave a comment

When I heard that Jonathon Sawyer was releasing a cooking-with-kids cookbook I immediately went to Amazon to pre-order it. Last week Noodle Kids arrived and we were SO! EXCITED!

http://instagram.com/p/x71CZwlhEj/?modal=true

The timing was perfect with the long MLK Day weekend ahead. Matilda and I read through the book and she picked Roasted Chicken Ramen and Pho to make and made the shopping list. Of course with a list including things like bonito flakes and seaweed we headed to the always-fun Park to Shop in Asia Plaza. The kids love Park to Shop with all the amazing room of noodles, Hello Kitty items and, of course, Pocky (their favorite). We loaded up with all kinds of noodles, spices and sauces we headed home – dreaming of ramen that wasn’t instant.

On Saturday I made the broth – basically your standard chicken broth with the not standard (for me) additions of seaweed sheets and dried mushrooms. I always have a chicken carcass or two in the freezer since we roast a chicken almost weekly, so this want’s an issue for us. You may need to plan ahead of you’re not in the habit of having a bone collection in your deep freeze. The house smelled delicious.

Matilda had a friend over so I had the girls help me chop up the additions to the ramen – tofu, a couple of left over chicken breasts, and green onions. While I peeled the 6.5 minute eggs and added the last ingredients to the the broth, they assembled little bowls of sesame seeds and bonito flakes and made our kitchen island into a ramen station.

(why is the friend cut out of the frame? because unless you are regularly posting pics of your kid on social media I won’t post pics of your kid, even with your permission.
I’m quirky like that.)

They each got to mix and match what the wanted (as long as they both picked something green to go in!) and made their very own custom ramen bowls. Her friend was a little hesitant, never having had ramen before, but she ended up having 2 bowls and even tried some tofu!

Matilda’s verdict: “I’m so in love with this dinner right now!”

My verdict: it was amazing. And I was pretty darn proud of how close my bowl was to the picture in the cookbook (minus the styling and professional photog, of course):

Cookbook photo

My bowl – yum!

On Monday we made the pho – an all day process since the broth needs to simmer 8 hours and I forgot to do it the night before for overnight stock. Next to ramen, pho is Matilda’s favorite food so she was excited for this. Unfortunately this one didn’t knock it out of the park like the ramen. But I can hardly fault the recipe since I didn’t follow it exactly (i.e. I used 3 bones instead of 4 because that’s all the store had, I didn’t have a cinnamon stick so I added ground cinnamon later. I also added some very thinly sliced beef because that’s how we like our pho). So this is operator error more than anything. It was still VERY good but wasn’t on the level of our favorite pho place. Which, honestly, is a pretty high bar. I will likely try this again when I have all the proper ingredients on hand.

I can’t wait to make other recipes in this book over the coming weeks and months. The Grilled Ramen and Cheese and the Little Ears with Kale (a from-scratch version of a house favorite: orecchiette with sausage and kale) are the next two I plan to try.

In case you want to give Noodle Kids a try – the book is for sale in all Team Sawyer restaurants, on Amazon (non affiliate link above) and some local book stores.

*We are friends with the Sawyers however I pre-ordered and purchased the book through Amazon myself. I wrote this post because I am so thrilled for our friends and honestly, it’s a pretty kick-ass book. They have no idea that I’m writing this and I got nothing in return for doing so. What I’m trying to say is: yes, we know them; no this is not an ad. You should buy the book because it’s rad. (hey! I’m a poet!)

Game Day Apps

January 12, 2015kakakakaty 20 Comments

Disclaimer: This post is part of a Heinen’s campaign. I was given a gift card to use for myself and one to give away in exchange for a post with my favorite Game Day recipes. As always, my thoughts are 100% my own. As a weekly Heinen’s customer, I was happy to be a part of this campaign.

UPDATE: This contest is CLOSED. Congratulations to commenter #8 “CourtMarshall”! Please check your email.

Word on the street is that there is a big football game tonight. And another big game coming up for the NFL on February 1. I may not be a big sports fan but when Heinen’s asked me to share favorite Game Day recipes I knew right away what I would do: DIPS. Because everyone loves dips and a “dip dinner*” is a fabulous idea. Of course, three dips are better than one, so I’m sharing a Trio of Dips for you to make for Game Day or any get-together.

First up –
Pan-Fried Onion Dip, adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

I’ve made this a few times based on a recommendation from a friend who said this dip “gets hoovered up every time I make it”. She wasn’t lying… people LOVE this dip. I’ve modified the instructions a bit to suit my taste. It’s really easy but takes a bit more than an hour to get the onions where they need to be so I make it the night before.

2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (adjust for your tastes)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise

My version:
Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick quarter-rounds. Take your time to slice the onions very thin. The first time I made it some of the onion was too big and it made the dip hard to eat. I take it a step further and then cut the onion slices into quarter-rounds or smaller. A mandoline slicer would be VERY handy for this part

Heat the butter and oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and sauté for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 40-60 more minutes until the onions are nicely browned and caramelized. (I found that Ina’s cooking times were way off – to get a good caramelization and sweet, incense flavor the cooking time was closer to 75 minutes – see photos below.) Allow the onions to cool, drain off some of the oil if needed.

Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature with rippled potato chips, pita chips or even toast points.

Chopping the onions into smaller pieces is key so take your time.

Onions after 10 min over med-high heat

Onions after about 35 min. This is where Ina tells you to stop. I say keep going.

After about 1 hour 15 min over the heat the onions are transformed into delicious delicious stuff. Make sure you stir often during the last 30 minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan.

Dip #2 –
Whipped Feta, adapted from Ina Garten

I heard about whipped feta on twitter and immediately had to make it. I LOVE feta and the idea of a spreadable/dip-able feta make me swoon. Of course after I did some investigation I found that it all originated with Ina. What can I say? The Barefoot Contessa knows her stuff. This is a very basic recipe that can be made with 2 ingredients in just minutes. Dress it up with your favorite flavors for variation.

8 ounces feta cheese, at room temperature (I typically use a solid block of feta and crumble it myself)
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

Add feta to a food processor and pulse until it’s chopped into very small crumbs. Add cream cheese and puree for 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides when necessary, until feta is super creamy and fluffy. Serve with raw veggies, pretzels, pita chips, crackers and/or baguette slices.

Variation ideas:
When adding the cream cheese to the food processor add:
– 1 clove of garlic – roughly chopped, approx. 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, a tablespoon or so of dry white wine to get consistency right.

– 1 clove of garlic – roughly chopped, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.

– roasted red pepper slices (approx. one pepper), 1⁄4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust to taste), 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika, 1⁄2 – 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice.

Dip #3 –
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Everyone has their own version of a buffalo chicken appetizer, this is our favorite. Recipe from a college friend.

1 1/2 packages cream cheese (12 oz), room temperature
1/2 cup Texas Pete Hot Sauce
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
3 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken (we usually used canned but left over roast chicken or rotisserie chicken is really good, too)
2 cups shredded colby-jack or cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and hot sauce until well blended. Mix in the ranch dressing, chicken and 1 cup shredded cheese. Spread into a 9×13 inch baking dish and sprinkle on additional 1 cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until cheese is bubbling. Serve with Tostitos Scoops and celery sticks for dipping.

Here’s the giveaway part: Contest is CLOSED
To help you with your own Game Day recipes, I have a $50 Heinen’s gift card to give away to one reader. To enter: leave a comment with your favorite Game Day food. Bonus entry: tweet about the giveaway: “I want to win a @Heinens gift card from @kakaty http://wp.me/p3i9i6-NL”, then leave a comment letting me know you tweeted. One comment and one tweet comment per person (two total possible entries). Winner will be chosen from comments (so don’t for get to comment if you tweet) at 5 p.m. on Friday, January 16. Good luck!

*I’ve been trying to make “dip day” (AKA a dip potluck) happen at work for months, and no one has bitten yet. This is tragic

On Money and Budgets

January 9, 2015kakakakaty Leave a comment

I’m not one for resolutions or setting real goals. For me they don’t make sense. But there’s something about a fresh, new year and wanting to make a few changes. One of the things we’re working on in our house is our budget [groaaaan]. From when we got married nearly 15(!) years ago, Mark and I have always shared finances. With the exception of retirement accounts, all of our money goes into the same pot and we make joint decisions about how to spend nearly all of it.

This is not so say we have a perfect situation set up here, or that I would ever claim that our way is the best way. In fact we need some help in setting budget parameters and living within them without texting things like “I’m going to spend $75 at Target – any reason I shouldn’t?” while we’re at the store. So we are slowing working on setting up “YNAB“.

Setting up realistic numbers should be pretty easy as nearly every penny of our spending has filtered through Quicken over the last 15 years. Seriously. And yet, even with that kind of tracking we don’t always do well with sticking to a realistic budget. More often then not our spending decision is “nope, can’t afford it”. Because with 2 kids, one still in daycare, we likely can’t. We expect YNAB to help us both see exactly were we stand on any given day in regards to all areas of our money. Hopefully this will give us a bit more accountability and maybe even some freedom.

Oh, and here’s a confession: we don’t have credit cards. In fact, 2015 is year 3 with no credit cards. It’s scary at times, but also almost a relief (?), I guess. I mean, if we don’t have the cash to buy something we don’t buy it. Simple decision. No hidden purchases stashed in the trunk (come on, we all do it), no spontaneous purchases. Yes, we have an emergency fund for real emergencies but we don’t touch that unless we have to. It’s the reason we can’t just go to Disney like we desperately want to. We plan to go in about 13 months because the cost of a trip like Disney takes about 18 months to save cash for. That’s just our reality and what works for us right now.

Things should loosen up in the fall when Madman starts kindergarten. But the truth is that most of the savings from tuition will be redirected to the items towards which we are saving. And can I just tell you how wonderful it is that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after NINE YEARS of childcare? I mean we’ll still pay for aftercare and summer camps but it’s about one fifth of what we are paying now. (And those 2 years they were BOTH in daycare? Thinking about those bills makes me hyperventilate).

Right now some of the big, immediate things we are saving cash for include:

– Summer camps for Matilda. She is all signed up for 9 weeks of various camps and we need to pay off the balances before June 1.

– Having the house painted & garage doors replaced this summer

– 3 trips to see my parents in South Carolina in 2015

– Disney in early 2016

By the time bills are paid, food is purchased and savings are stashed away, there is little left for things like my make-up desires or new running shoes.

This lifestyle can be quite hard in today’s society (that sounds very pompous, it’s not meant to be). I can be pouty about seeing a great deal on something and not being able to take advantage of that deal because it’s not in the budget. Or having to turn down opportunities to go out because it’s not in the budget. It’s not to say we are broke, because we aren’t. But when you don’t have a credit card to fall back on those immediate wants aren’t nearly as gratifying to purchase.

But the big picture is this: by the end of 2016 we’ll should enough saved up to rewire the entire house and upgrade our electrical panel (we have old knob and tube wiring and not enough amps), and replace our 90+ year old boiler.

The 5 year plan includes a new roof, complete renovation of our 3rd floor including the existing bathroom into a full master suite. Basically I want it to be this with built-in dressers and bookshelves in the walls. I can’t wait. The 10 year plan will include the start of college(!) for Matilda and full kitchen gut-job and renovation. We’ll do as much of it with cash as we can.

I’m not sure how to wrap this all up with a nice bow. These are just the thoughts rattling around in my head right now.

What the kids are getting for Christmas

December 8, 2014kakakakaty Leave a comment

I’ve asked for gift idea help on twitter and A’Dell posted her gift list for her kids and I thought it was interesting and helpful so I’m posting mine here.

We typically do the want/need/wear/read categories for gifts but cut that back this year to just wear and read because when you add in gifts from siblings and Santa and family it was just TOO MUCH. So, here’s what they are getting…

(Editor’s note: Amazon pricing is drunk as these prices are not what I paid. Photo sources: LandsEnd.com, HM.com, Amazon.com and lakeshorelearning.com. Links are not affiliate links).

Matilda, age 8:
Wear – flannel swim team pants, 2 long sleeved tees, another version of her favorite dress, and one Harry Potter tee I picked up on clearance somewhere a while ago.

Read – 2 Minecraft books

From Madman – Crayola Melt ‘N Mold Factory

From Santa – Crayola Maker Maker and a Chatster Interactive Doll (OMG, I’m scared of this thing). She also got an early visit from the big guy who brought her tickets to the Nutcracker.

In her stocking- hair chalk (as suggested by Marianne), and I’ll pick up some things from World Market.

On her wish-list given to my family: swim team warm ups, DohVinci kit, Charmazing kit, and Crayola Virtual Design Pro (apparently Crayola’s marketing team did a terrific job with the 8 year old audience this year)

Matthew, age 4.5:
Wear – 3 long sleeved tees and shark socks

Read – I went nontraditional here and instead of books got him some letter and number cards from Lakeshore Learning since he needs to work on those

From Matilda – LEGO Junior Fire Emergency

From Santa – Gears! Gears! Gears! and LEGO Junior Police

Stocking – 2 Switch and Go Dinos, and coloring books (thank you 60% off Cartwheel discount!)

On his wish-list given to my family: any LEGO Junior sets (do you see a theme here?), MagForms, an Avenger hoodie, any Transformer.

Are you done shopping? Any exciting gifts this year?

The Shopping Games

December 1, 2014kakakakaty Leave a comment

I’m one of those people who typically try to have my Christmas shopping done by the first week of December. I try not to step foot in any store between Thanksgiving and Christmas and since I do lots of shopping online I want to leave ample time for shipping. This year I had all of my shopping completed as of Black Friday.

Of course, today is Cyber Monday so I checked out some of the sales to see how they compared to what I got.

First up: Land’s End. Last week I purchased clothes for the kids – 4 shirts, a dress and a 3-pack of socks (added to get my total to the free shipping level). A few items were on sale and I had a code for an additional 20% off. Today the whole site is 40% with free shipping on all orders. I loaded up my cart with the same things I got last week, added the 40% off code and… my total was $5 more than what I paid last week! Mmmm. Looks like the stuff that was on sale is no longer on sale, while the stuff that was full price is now on sale. So while 2 of the shirts are now $6 cheaper each, the whole order was more. I technically didn’t NEED the socks but now I almost see them as a bonus. Final total: +$5 to me.

Next: Kohl’s. I got some Ohio State and Miami Dolphins gear for my nephew on sale and with an additional 15% off on Thursday. Plus I got $15 in Kohl’s Cash because I spent $50 to get to free shipping. Today they have 20% off site-wide and shipping is free for orders of $25+, so I re-loaded my cart. The items were on deeper discount plus the additional discount was bigger so the total was $18 less than a few days ago. I seriously thought about re-buying it all then returning the first purchase. Then I remembered the Kohl’s Cash, which I do plan on spending… and all of sudden doing a return and re-buy for $3 seems ridiculous. Final total: -$3

Next: Target. They had an amazing deal for 10% off gift cards so I picked up one for each teacher. I’ve never seen a discounted gift card for Target before so this was my favorite deal. Final total: +$6

Finally: Amazon – I bought some toys for the kids on Friday and did my pricing research using this site. Things looked good on the price front so I ordered (side note: if you have Amazon Prime and select “no rush shipping” you get $1 towards a video rental… so I did a separate order for each toy and racked up the credits). Then yesterday I was at Target and spotted this Marker Maker for Maggie and it was more than $10 cheaper in the store. I looked at Target.com and the price was the same. I called Amazon and they refused to price match. So that one I AM sending back. I got the cheaper one, plus a refill pack and even with the cost of return shipping we’ll break even. Final total: +/-$0 out of pocket. But I did get the bonus refill pack so I’m going to call this +$7.

Also, I recently signed up for Ebates (referral link) and have been religiously shopping through their site. So far I have a whopping $0.40 cash-back. Maybe it takes some time for the cash back to show up? So far I’m not impressed.

All in all it looks like I actually SAVED about $15 by shopping before Cyber Monday.

What have been your best deals this year?

Ka-Ka-Ka-Katy

a 30-something mom, wife, daughter, sister, woman in Cleveland

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