{"id":13149,"date":"2013-02-13T22:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T03:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=13149"},"modified":"2013-03-05T20:21:03","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T01:21:03","slug":"an-artful-valentines-day-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/13\/an-artful-valentines-day-menu\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artful Valentine’s Day Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting creative, saying “I love you” with a home-cooked Valentine’s Day menu, and examining your daily routine.
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Getting Creative<\/h3>\n

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\nA few years ago they cut our media specialist to a part-time position. I wanted to cry. Working with her for the book fair had been one of my favorite parts of my kids’ school. I adored how attentive she was in teaching children about literature, showing them how to do research papers, running the student-anchored morning news. The next thing on the chopping block turned out to be all the extra-curriculars: music, physical education, and art. For me, these are the areas where kids learn more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. It’s about growing a person, and not just a person who can take a standardized test<\/a>, because there is little to no life value in teaching to a test.
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WI\\ith budget cuts happening everywhere for schools, Dick Blick<\/a> has made it easier for parents and community to get involved with donating to keep kids learning how to be people, not just non-failing test-takers. Together with my kids’ art teacher, Teri Eiswald, we’re working on a school-wide project through Blick’s Art Room Aid<\/a> that will turn the halls of Falcon Heights into a mini art museum<\/a> for portfolio nights and the open houses (that include the Spring Scholastic Book Fair!). That sense of pride in seeing their work displayed can mean a lot to the small people in our lives. We are so excited to have the opportunity to raise funds to make this project a reality. <\/p>\n

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Changing Your Routine<\/h3>\n

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\n“The revelation that routines need to be modified is a difficult one. No one wants to give up the things they enjoy, those things that start their day off in a recognizable and reassuring way. In order to change the ruts that habits fall into, I try to trick my mind into believing that nothing has changed<\/em>.”
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Read the rest and get a recipe for homemade yogurt over on the Attune Foods Daily Digest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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For Valentine’s Day<\/h3>\n

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\nI’m not much for going all out on Valentine’s Day in the gift department, but I do believe in a good celebratory meal, Sunday dinner style.
\nAppetizer:<\/strong> Ginger Plum Crostini<\/a> for something sweet with a bit of spice.
\nSalad:<\/strong> Roasted Beet and Lacinato Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette<\/a> because beets.
\nMain:<\/strong> Cayenne-Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce<\/a> to bring a little heat to the table.
\nDessert:<\/strong> Molten Orange Chocolate Lava Cakes<\/a> or Dark Chocolate Mousse with Cinnamon Pavlova Tarts<\/a> because two desserts are better than one.
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This post is part of a collaboration with The Motherhood and Dick Blick. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting creative, saying “I love you” with a home-cooked Valentine’s Day menu, and examining your daily routine. Getting Creative A few years ago they cut our media specialist to a part-time position. I wanted to cry. Working with her for the book fair had been one of my favorite parts of my kids’ school. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-menu-planning","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13149"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13357,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13149\/revisions\/13357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}