Dinner’s Ready

Here’s to hoping Meatless Monday is still a thing because we have the perfect recipe to try in the kitchen if it is! This month’s recipe, brought to you by Kristen Kammer-Hattox and her family, is Southwest Egg rolls. “They are a real winner for our family, the perfect fit!” said Kristen as she described why they decided to share this recipe with everyone.

Kristen, a media coordinator, shared that these baked egg rolls are easy to fit into their family’s very busy schedule. You see, Kristen and her husband Brandon, have twins in fourth grade. Their son Parker is very involved in his first year playing on a travel baseball team and their daughter, Nola, is part of a grassroots volleyball team. When the twins are not dedicating time to their athletics, they are participating in choir and even once a month Bible studies.

“We often have to divide and conquer.” said Kristen. She shared that most days, starting at 3 pm, she becomes a mom taxi. Thankfully Brandon, who is happily employed at Austal Shipyard, is able to help taxi too! Kristen explained that Brandon is often home in time to be very active in the kids extra-curricular activities, something she is very grateful for! The couple spends an awful lot of time driving the kids back and forth to practices and weekend tournaments and they wouldn’t have it any other way!

Southwest Egg rolls have easily become a family favorite at Kristen’s house because they can be experimented with and are quick and easy to make! She shares that Brandon is the chef in the family and loves to cook. If it was up to her they would eat cereal and microwaved popcorn more often than not, so she is thankful Brandon takes the lead in the kitchen. In joint effort on Sundays, Kristen and Brandon spend time meal planning for the upcoming week. They map out what nights to cook and what nights they should have a freezer or pick up meal. “At one point we were like ships in the night” said Kristen. “We would just grab pizza or Foosackly’s - which is a family favorite!” Realizing they wanted to spend less time and money eating out, they now opt to sometimes pick up their favorite tenders but take them home and add a salad instead. They also incorporate easy, slow-cooked meals like red beans to their meal plans because they can be left on all day and used in a couple of dishes throughout the week.

These egg rolls were a recipe that Kristen had come across years ago and that she and Brandon have tweaked over time. The egg rolls were originally meatless, making them a great vegetarian option but some of the family’s variations do include a heartier filling using pulled pork or buffalo chicken. And when it comes to toppings, Kristen describes the kids as “purists”, meaning they do not add any unless guacamole is on the table. Kristen and Brandon often add sour cream and salsa to theirs.

So without further ado, we introduce the family’s favorite recipe! Enjoy!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 can of corn (drained) • 1 can of black beans (drained) • 8 oz of shredded cheese • 1 packet of taco seasoning • 1 pack of egg roll wrappers

Instructions

Mix ingredients together and make egg rolls. Dip your finger in water to seal the egg roll wrapper closed. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes on each side. Serve with sour cream and salsa. Guacamole also makes an excellent addition on the side. Of course, if you wanted to add meat, you could add shredded chicken, pork, etc.

Gabriele has been married to her husband Daniel for 16 years. Together they have three incredible children - two boys, ages 15 and eight, and a sweet girl who joined the family last summer. She is a full time Pink Cadillac Sales Director for Mary Kay Cosmetics. When she isn’t spending time with family or building her business, she supports her husband who is the Lead Pastor and Planter of Forward Church in Foley.

Everyone enjoys participating in an Easter egg hunt in the community or with family, but if your family is anything like mine, we have an abundance of plastic Easter eggs leftover after our yearly egg hunts. Here are some fun ideas how you can repurpose the eggs that are fun for kids as well.

Memory game

Open the plastic egg and set each half on the table. Hide small items like paper clips, coins, or erasers under each egg. (You will need two of each item.) Play memory and have your child pick two eggs to lift and they can collect them if they match. If they do not match, place the egg back on the table and allow the next person to try. Continue until all items have been matched. With young children, start with just three eggs and increase the numbers as they get the hang of it.

Egg toss

Glue or tape the eggs shut and set up Easter baskets or buckets and have your kids take turns tossing them, trying to get them into the baskets. Whoever can get the most eggs to land in the bucket or basket wins.

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Letter and Word games

For pre-readers, you can work on matching upper and lowercase letters by writing one of each on a half of the egg and then having them match them up. For older kids write common word endings on one half of the egg such as “at”, “ot”, “all”, “ag”, etc. and common word beginnings on the other half of the eggs such as “h”, “b”, “c”, etc. Have your kids put the eggs together to make as many words as possible.

Shake it up

Use the plastic eggs to make homemade instruments. Fill the plastic egg with dried beans, rice, or popcorn seeds and glue the egg shut. Have your kids shake the egg along to music. To make a maraca, glue plastic spoons, one on each side for a handle. Make sure to do this with your children watching otherwise their natural curiosity can cause them to get creative and break open the egg to see what is inside.

Become an artist

Put a small amount of paint on a paper for your child and allow them to roll the egg through the paint. They can also open the egg and use it as a stamp. Change the colors for variety.

Sensory bin

Fill a large plastic bin or water table with beans, rice, or water and add some plastic easter eggs and small containers. Some of the eggs may have holes so they will enjoy watching the water slowly pour out from the bottom. If using rice and beans, they love to use them as scoops to fill up larger containers with the rice and beans. They may crack them open and try to serve you dinner as well.. Let the kids play with the sensory bin as they would a sandbox providing appropriate supervision.

Plastic Easter eggs are an affordable, and sometimes free, item that you can repurpose in many creative ways. Get the kids involved and see what new ideas you can come up with to reuse your eggs. ESP

Sarah Lyons has been published in Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine KC Parent, Austin Family, Creative Child and over 160 other parenting publications.

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