Laura Kubicki | Lauras Choice

Live Your Passion!

March 20, 2015 by Laura Kubicki Leave a Comment

Many of you know – my father, John Mochnick, was practically born a professional musician.

It’s truly his life’s passion and only my mother, whom he’s been happily married to for 40 something years, and his children, my brother Jonathan and yours truly, supersede his love for music. Music for him IS happiness and his dedication to his life’s passion has provided my brother and me with a strong, real life example of what living happy is all about.

Thank you Dad.

Born to my grandparents who owned a typewriter store (The Mochnick Typewriter Company) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, my Dad started playing the piano at age 7. He’s been playing every day ever since.

John Mochnick - Age 8 — John Mochnick – Age 8

Now retired from a 35 year career as a university choral and orchestral conductor, composer/arranger, administrator, and teacher, my Dad continues to pursue his musical passion by playing jazz.

I’m lucky enough to live in the same town as my dad and as you may guess, I too love jazz. Especially my Dad’s.

I grew up listening to HOURS UPON HOURS UPON HOURS of practicing and watching his multiple musical performances from darkened concert halls, and I’ve been beaming with pride and amazement for my whole life as I’ve watched him time and time again impress, move, and amaze audiences with his unique talent and flair.

So, I just had to share with you, a sample of his latest accomplished performance, because it was downright AWESOME.

Once again my heart swelled with pride as I watched my gifted father perform March 4th in Wake Forest’s Brendle Recital Hall (where he used to work running the music department) with his long time friend and colleague Matt Kendrick. The two of them have formed a local jazz duo (Mochnick and Kendrick) and play all over town in different venues (check out Nobles in Winston Salem, on Saturday nights from 7-9pm for live entertainment you’ll go back for again and again)!

The March 4th concert presented a truly unique and brand new jazz and classical program, where Dad and Matt conceived of and actually wove famous classical music pieces with uniquely arranged jazz improvisations. They titled it Bach, Brubeck, and Beyond. Fourteen pieces written, arranged, performed and improvised.

Totally blew me away. I think it will you too.

And, if your thinking right now “WOW. She sure is proud of her Dad” – you’re right. I am. I am every day.

Now I invite you to relax, turn up the volume, sit back, and take a look at this impressive, authentic, example of what can come of a life dedicated to pursuing its true passion. (For more, check out Mochnick and Kendrick on You Tube).

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy and live happy my friends!

Homework Tip That’s a Real HIT!

March 12, 2015 by Laura Kubicki 6 Comments

Many of you know I’m completely smitten with boys. Mine especially :o). I love girls too – I just don’t have any…

…except Dixie – but that’s a different story…

$Nerf Math Facts$

So in a never ending quest to find the best ways to grow, motivate, teach, and shape my boys into the amazing men I know they’ll be in the future, I, like you, am always on the lookout for great ideas to help me…

And I found one today.

If your little boys are like mine – ACTIVE, ACTIVE, CRAZY ACTIVE – they resist (and flat out resent) dull, repetitive, boring, homework – like practicing math facts, spelling words and the like – especially after sitting for nearly seven hours under school duress.

Frankly for my squirmy, basketball playing, tree climbing, pogo stick jumping, bathroom noise making, Lego building, wrestling, ants in your pants type of boys – any homework of this type can just be a total grind! Especially as we move into spring…

So we’ve tried racing challenges, contests, verbal quizzing en route to school to use up our car ride time, and frankly we’re running low on interest…

So if your boys (kids) are feeling like mine, I found a great tool that helped change it up a bit in our house that I thought could work for you too – at least til April or so… :o) :o) :o).

And here it is…

Thanks to my FB friends, I was made aware of a great resource for parents with boys called BuildingBoys.net. On this blog by Jennifer Fink, I found a plethora of great ideas and discussions on, well…boys.

THANK YOU JENNIFER!

One of these ideas was NERF GUN MATH FACTS and man has it been a HIT (get it?) in our house!

I just used a write on/wipe off board, wrote various math facts on it, along with four answer choices. The boys stood with their loaded NERF guns in hand behind a line. I read out the math facts one at a time along with the answer choices and then my 1st grader enthusiastically scc–reamed out the answer and shot at the target!

Voila!

Fun Boy (kid) Math Fact Practice. And, I’m sure there are other great ways to execute this (SPELLING WORDS come to mind)…

…and maybe for girls they’d like to dress up as their favorite princess and HIT it with a magic wand spell or something??? Honestly when I comes to girls I have no idea (sigh), but maybe it’s worth a try….

Anyway, we “practiced” in a variety of ways…slowly, quickly, in order, mixed up, and we made new number sentences, and the best thing is – they ASKED when we can do it again. Ah Ha!

Did I say THANK YOU JENNIFER!

So let me know what you think! Do you like this idea? Would you do it any differently? Any other great ideas for helping our kids with their homework pressures as we move closer and closer to the coveted summer break??

And as always…thanks for visiting Laura’s Choice!

Come back soon! Come back often! Come back, come back……come back!

Smooch!

Open Faced Refried Bean Sandwiches

March 10, 2015 by Laura Kubicki Leave a Comment

Ok. So you just had Burritos. YUM!

Now what to do with the refried beans and filling leftovers…

Sure I could make another burrito… and what the heck would be wrong with that????

But…if you’re in the mood to try another fun, quick lunch idea with refried beans instead (and you’ll want to use up your beans quickly as you know they only last a day or two in the fridge before they really start to stink to high heaven), here’s a great option for you (and me :o)). Refried Bean Sandwiches!!!

It’s so easy and gooey, warm and delicious, is a great protein source, is fun to eat, and is another surprisingly quick alternative to turkey and PB&J! See what you think! I’m pretty sure they’ll make you smile…

Open Faced Bean Sandwiches

From: Recipe Adapted from Beth Mochnick (thanks Mom!).

Ingredients:

Fat Free Refried Beans
4 Slices of whole wheat bread, toasted
A sprinkle of shredded cheddar
A sprinkle of shredded lettuce (iceberg gives a great crunch, romaine or other leafy lettuces deliver better nutrition – take your pick!)
Finely diced fresh tomatoes (optional – I have a hard time eating anything without tomatoes…)
Dash hot sauce (also optional)

Directions:

Toast bread slices. Spread beans liberally (about 2 TBS) over toast.
Sprinkle with cheese and broil for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and beans are warmed.
Remove promptly from broiler, place on serving plate, and sprinkle shredded lettuce to taste on top.
Serve with a side of fruit. Hot sauce optional.

Comet The Cog

March 6, 2015 by Laura Kubicki 2 Comments

Ok. I just gotta share this.

I know, I know. There are hundreds of funny animal videos all over the internet and FB. They pop up practically every day…

Sigh.

Well my friends, yes. I. Have. One. Too.

Many of you know our cat Comet. He’s nothing short of hysterical. Everyone loves him – even cat haters like this cat. Promise. I tell you no lie!

Today he’s a big, fat, 14 year old, friendly, luv-ie, laaazzzy, lap baby. Wouldn’t hurt a thing (or move a muscle) – unless you’re a lizard, mole, or bird on a beautiful spring day…

But I digress. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…

Jason shot this with our family cam nearly 14 YEARS ago. But with all the other videos out there – we just had to share this one. It’ll explain why we fondly refer to him as our “COG” (half cat/half dog). Boy has he made us laugh over the years…and keep your eyes peeled ’cause you just may see him from time to time wander into our food videos!

Til then, (drumroll) “hhhhheeeerrrrrrreeeessssss” Comet!

Hope you enjoyed and please share if you feel like it! Luv ya – really.

Easy Bean Burritos

February 27, 2015 by Laura Kubicki Leave a Comment

Ok everyone. Big day for Laura’s Choice. Our first food video.

We wanted it to be quick and easy to follow. We hope it is. We happen to use this recipe all the time and the family LOVES it. I love it because it’s so fast and easy – even easier than tacos.

So…here goes. Let me know what you think. If you notice something we could do better, let us know! We’d love your help on this journey!!!

Easy Bean Burritos

From: Laura Kubicki: Adapted from Dee Mochnick, CA

Ingredients:

1 package of whole wheat tortillas
1 14.5oz can of fat free refried beans
Dash of hot sauce (optional)
6oz grated cheddar (or so)
1 C finely diced tomatoes (or chunky salsa)
2 C finely shredded lettuce (I used Romaine)

Delicious additions if you have the time to get fancy

Seasoned ground turkey, chicken, or beef
Mexican rice
Sliced black olives
Diced sweet onions
Diced jalapeños
Corn
Chopped fresh cilantro
Diced avocado or guacamole
Salsa
Sour Cream
Squeeze of lime juice

Directions:

Spread refried beans on about half of a whole wheat tortilla. Sprinkle with 1 TBS or so of cheese
Put bean and cheese tortilla on top of a dampened paper towel on a plate. Cover and microwave 30-45 seconds just until the beans are heated through and the cheese is melted
Sprinkle with hot sauce (optional), lettuce, and tomato
Roll into a burrito by folding the edge with the beans about a third of the way over. Then fold up a portion of the bottom to make a pocket to hold the fillings inside. Finish by rolling over once more and you’re done!
Serve with extra salsa, hot sauce, sour cream if desired. Other fun sides we use are corn chips or Mexican rice. Enjoy!