{Tuesday's Tip} Be Spontaneous

There is something about the outdoors that soothes the soul.

The other day we stopped and enjoyed nature for a little bit while the sun was going down and it was heavenly.  It was a spur of the moment stop but later I realized it was much needed!  We had long day of shopping and passed by the Great Salt Lake on our way home.  We decided to go walk along the beach and climbed around on the rocks for awhile.  Then we played in the water - it was so fun!

Hearing the waves and feeling the water on my toes was very relaxing.  I need to remember to do that more often.  It makes me stop and pause in life for a moment and allows me to just enjoy.

If it would have been a planned outing, then it would have been fun to bring play clothes for the water or a picnic.  But spur of the moment outings can be just as much fun and memorable for the whole family!  There is something special about these unplanned trips that adds a sense of adventure and thrill to life.

You're the "BERRY" Best!

With Teacher Appreciation Week this week and Mother's Day just around the corner, I wanted to share another cute and tasty gift, perfect for spring! This gift can be used as a small note of appreciation for all those special someones in your life (i.e. teachers, friends, mothers, fathers, kids, etc.)

The theme for this gift idea is strawberries!  I came across a great deal on strawberries this weekend and picked up a bunch. I went to town freezing them, drying them, making jam and fruit leather.  But I still had more strawberries leftover and decided to share the joy with my neighbors too.

  

I grabbed a box of strawberries (1 pound, like you see at the grocery store) and my scrapbook paper.  I happened to have a cute strawberry-themed paper in my stash, so it didn't cost me anything extra. Then I wrote, "You are a "Berry" good friend!"  But, if you don't have scrapbook paper, go ahead and grab this free print out instead.

{Click here to print your own "You are a 'Berry' good friend!" note}

Don't forget that it's Teacher Appreciation Week, and with the end of the school year just around the corner, you want to be sure to thank that special teacher in your life!

{Click here to print your own "You are the 'Berry' best teacher!" note}

Oh, and in case you are in need of a quick and unique Mother's Day gift, snag this print out and attach it to your strawberries (which I'm sure you'll make into a yummy breakfast or dessert for one of the special women in your lives!)

 {Click here to print your own "You are the 'Berry' best mother!" note}

Once you have your note ready, simply tape it to the strawberry box lid or tie it on with some ribbon to fancy it up.  We wanted to give our gift anonymously to our neighbors, so we left this berry surprise on their doorsteps.  

We hope this idea will simplify your gift giving and help make somebody feel "berry" special this week!

{Tuesday's Tip} Healthy Toddler Eating Habits

Today's tip is simple but could really make a big difference at dinner.

  

Do you have young children that snack or sip from their sippy cup all day? 

Sometimes by the time dinner comes, young children are not hungry because they have recently had a snack.  To solve this problem, simply feed children small meals several times a day.  Eat breakfast.  Then let them have a small snack.  Have lunch and then three hours later another small snack.  Then nothing until dinner.  Give the children mostly water to drink throughout the day.  A small amount of juice and milk is good as well but should be limited.

If you can, it is best if children eat their food at the kitchen table instead of by the TV or other play area.  This helps them to learn when they are hungry and full because they are eating their food all at one time rather than pecking at it a little here and a little there.

Include simple, healthy foods with your meals so that your young children can eat on their own with the rest of the family.  Also, water helps to keep them hydrated and their teeth healthy and strong because they won't get too much sugar from punches, juice, and milk.

Secret Dinner

Have you ever heard of a "secret dinner?"  It's loads of fun! Here's the basic idea: Cook dinner like normal and prepare a simple menu for your family to "order" from.  But the secret is...your family does not know what they are really ordering because you changed the names!  It's a fun way to mix-up your regular dinner night and great for parties too.

For our secret dinner, I set up a small table in the living room to look like a small restaurant so that no one could see what I was preparing or serving from the kitchen.  (You could also set up your restaurant outside on the patio instead of in the living room.)  Then my daughter contributed by making a sign for the restaurant which we named Restaurant Rumbly Diner.

{Our restaurant sign & decor courtesy of my daughter}

For our dinner menu, I made: lasagna, french bread, cooked broccoli, mixed fruit, and brownies and ice cream for dessert.

To disguise the dinner items on the menu, I used objects and activities that remind me of summertime.  (You could easily choose a different theme to disguise your menu items.)  I also included silverware, napkins, and beverage as menu items to make things a little more interesting when everyone ordered.

Here was our menu:

Summer Sunshine-----Lemonade

Rainbow-----Mixed fruit

Frisbee-----Napkin

Slip 'n Slide-----Brownies & Ice cream

Mud Pie-----Lasagna

Hopscotch-----Silverware

Birds Nest-----Garlic Bread

Wiggly Worm-----Broccoli

Once I had the dinner all ready to go in the kitchen, I invited the family to dinner.  I donned my apron and pretended to be their waitress for the evening.  When my family came in the room, I seated them at their table and gave them each a Menu.  Each person was only allowed to order 3 items on the menu at first. (Remember, my family didn't know what they were really ordering from the menu!) 

After everyone ordered the first time, they started guessing which items went with which names on menu.  I let my family order from the menu 2 more times (a total of 3 times), and each time they were only allowed to order 3 items from the menu.  This made it possible for everyone to order one of everything on the menu. For instance, nobody ordered silverware the first time so we had to use our fingers.  Even my husband, who HATES getting messy, ate with his fingers.  He was a great sport!!

It was a very fun evening.  I enjoyed pretending to be the waitress and watching the surprised looks on everyone's faces when the received their orders.  

We had a great time with this "secret dinner" idea, and we know you will too!

Campfire Chocolate Orange Muffins

Last week was National Park Week (to coincide with earth day/week), which meant free entrance to many national parks! {Checkout the U.S. National Park Service website to mark other free entrance days on your calendar.} So my family planned a little trip to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks near Moab, Utah. We had a blast! 

We stayed in a little cabin for 2 nights, which was easier than worrying about sleeping in a tent with our 10 month old baby. During our stay we tried a new camping recipe:  

Campfire Chocolate Orange Muffins. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and yummy this campfire treat was, and we'll definitely be doing it again!

I found this recipe idea from this blog post. It provides a great tutorial, but I'd like to share my version here as well. First, here is everything that you'll need.

Ingredients:

Jiffy chocolate muffin mix

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

oranges

Other supplies:

knife

spoon

mixing bowl

measuring cup

aluminum foil

campfire/coals

{Step 1} Cut the top off the orange and set aside. Save the tops, you'll need them again later.

{Step 2} Remove the insides of the orange leaving only the orange rind. I used a spoon to dig out the orange and placed the leftovers on a paper plate. The orange was very easy to remove, just a little messy because I didn't squeeze the juice out first. We ate the orange bits with our breakfast so they weren't wasted.

{Step 3} - Mix the Jiffy chocolate muffins following the directions on the box. I chose Jiffy because it was the smallest muffin mix at the store. I only planned to make 3 oranges and I didn't want to have lots of leftover batter go to waste.

{Step 4} Spoon the muffin batter into the empty orange rinds. Fill oranges 1/2 - 3/4 with muffin batter. I filled our oranges too full, so the muffin spilled out over the edge when it cooked. But the aluminum foil kept it from getting too messy or spilling onto the coals.

{Step 5} Replace the top on the orange and rap the entire orange in aluminum foil.

{Step 6} Cook the oranges. Follow the directions from the muffin mix for cooking time.  We used charcoals and placed the oranges directly on them. We turned the oranges upside-down halfway through their cook time to make sure the muffins cooked all the way through. We also improvised and placed an aluminum pan on top of the oranges as a makeshift dome while they were cooking.

{Step 7} Unwrap oranges and eat when the muffin is cooked! Our muffins baked for 10-20 minutes. That's a broad estimate because I wasn't watching the clock too closely. 

When our muffins were done, I served them with some chocolate snack puddings so they wouldn't be as dry. Personally, I don't like eating dry cake/muffins and I didn't want to deal with frosting. Plus the snack puddings were easy because they didn't have to be refrigerated and they were already 1 person serving sizes. The combination was super chocolatey with a hint of orange. Yum!

This is a quick campfire recipe that you can enjoy while camping or in your backyard fire pit!

Have a Super Sweet Day!

This is a cute and easy gift idea!  It is perfect to give to your children or spouse to make them feel extra special (because they are!).

We have a darling little candy shop in our community and that's where I found some fun colorful candies.  You can use any type of candy for your gift.  Then all I did to prepare the gift was printed a simple message on envelope labels and stuck them directly on the candy wrapper.  The labels said, "Have a super SWEET day!"

Click here to print your own "Super Sweet" treat labels

{designed for 2" x 4" mailing labels}

It was super EASY!  And what kid could resist a surprise candy treat?  Kids of all ages (yes, even your teenagers) will enjoy the special reminder of your love for them.  I decided to put my treats in a unique place where each family member would find one in the morning before leaving for school or work. 

I had extra candies so I decided to give one to each of my coworkers in the office as well.  They were a HUGE hit!

Everyone wants to feel appreciated, and it's amazing how such a small and simple gift (with very little preparation) can go such a LONG way!

{Tuesday's Tip} Family Bedtime Snack

Dinner is a very important time for the family but it is challenging for many families.  It may be extremely difficult to get your entire family around the dinner table at the same time because everyone is too busy.  Or maybe you get home late from work and your too exhausted for dinner.  Or maybe your younger children don't want to sit and cooperate.  Or maybe you have a picky eater (or a whole herd of picky eaters) in your home.  These are just a few of the challenges that families face and they can be very discouraging.

This week's dinner time challenge I am focusing on is:

"What if my spouse works late?"

When your spouse has a late shift it can be hard to have dinner together every night because you're both too hungry (and maybe tired or cranky) to wait until he/she gets home.  (Trust me, I've been there!)

One thing we did in our home for awhile when my husband was working late (he did not get home until 7:00 PM or later) is that we would have a family bedtime snack.  We planned healthy snacks, so we weren't eating anything to heavy or sugary right before bed.  I would Google online to find healthy bedtime snacks and found a wide variety of options, such as smoothies, yogurt, fruit, graham crackers, pudding, or apple sauce.  A very interesting tidbit I learned is that eating these healthy foods about an hour before bedtime can actually help children sleep easier. So, it was a win-win!

Even though we did not have dinner together, having a bedtime snack together still gave us a chance to gather at the table and talk.  It was also a great way for my husband to unwind after work and catch up on everything he missed while he was at work that day.  Most nights we would also play a little game while eating our snack.  It was a fun and a great way to end our day together.