Ah, the sweet smell of Fall is in the air and I am loving the vivid colors in the trees. Nothing says fall to me though like pumpkins and cranberries. When I happened upon this recipe for cornbread that incorporated my two favorite flavors of the season, I could not delay making it.

This recipe is so unbelievably fantastic! Perfectly moist and even better the second day, it is a cornbread that you can feel confident serving with a big pot of chili for tailgating or just enjoying a cozy night at home with your family.

I have prepared this recipe two ways for you! The first is the traditional way stuffed with cranberry deliciousness. The second version is as a muffin and minus the cranberries for the cranberry-haters. We have one of those in our family so I made the second batch just for him...To which my husband pronounced, "Perfection," and then he swiftly ate three!

Yes, this is a recipe for everyone and is the perfect way to use up the last of that pumpkin after preparing a pie, or pumpkin pancakes, or pumpkin pasta, or pumpkin spice latte, or pumpkin waffles.

Just consider me a resource for all-things-pumpkin this year!

Pumpkin Cranberry Cornbread

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 8" x 8" baking pan or a 9-inch pie pan. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Mix in the cranberries. Transfer to a prepared baking dish. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature.



Pumpkin-y Cornbread Muffins (For the Cranberry Haters)

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of vinegar to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room
2 tablespoons honey
Sugar for sprinkling (I used the raw sugar)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, sour cream or buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with a little sugar (I used raw sugar) on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature. Makes approximately 12-13 muffins.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

It is that time of year again- hurray! Pumpkin eating is in the air as soon as my calendar flips to September. If there is a better fall ingredient in the world, I don't know what it is! I couldn't wait to whip out the waffle iron so I could make a yummy batch of my Spiced Pumpkin Waffles.


The kids were all smiles and hovered around my waffle iron the entire time, impatiently waiting for their waffles to be cooked. The house smelled of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. As each waffle hit the hot iron, our house smelled like pumpkin pie.

No waffle house would be complete without a fresh batch of orange juice. These are our favorite juice glasses and come from my grocery store indulgence. The bottles are those little frappe coffees that you can get in the cooler. These little drinks are my treat to myself if I stay under budget on the groceries. After I drink them, I peel the labels off and put them in the dishwasher after my little treat. If one should break, it just gives me an excuse to indulge the next time I am at the grocery store. Aren't they just perfect for little hands?

These waffles were not just for us though. They were too delicious to not share. My grandfather has been very ill and had an operation last week. He just came home from the hospital and I knew that a stack of these waffles and a heartfelt card from each of the kids would really brighten his day.

I love how anything can become a present... even a stack of pumpkin waffles. These were wrapped in parchment paper on top of an antique platter and tied with a masculine bow. I tucked in some magazines that would have made it into our recycle bin, for reading material for my grandma. The days can be so long when you have to be home so I know she appreciated this small gesture.

If you are the praying type, please say a prayer for a swift recovery for him! It would mean the world to me! In exchange, I will share with you our pumpkin waffle recipe!

Deliciously Spiced Pumpkin Waffles


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl. In a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and butter; beat well. Gently fold in the flour mixture. Spoon in about 3/4 cup of batter into the waffle iron. Cook each waffle for 4-5 minutes. This recipe makes approximately 5 waffles on my waffle iron.

Additional Notes- I double this recipe to make an extra batch to freeze or when entertaining. Make sure to spray your waffle iron well with nonstick spray or these will stick to the waffle iron and make a big mess. Also, be sure to leave these on at least four to five minutes. If you try to take them off sooner than that, they will not taste as good or set up as nicely.

What is your favorite fall food? Feel free to share your recipes or a link to one of your family favorites!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Both of my children love to help me in the kitchen and when I found this fun little recipe for a snack, I had to try it with them. Longtime readers may remember my failed attempts at pretzel-making. While I was discouraged by that experience, I haven't given up on it. I will say though that when I found a quick and easy way to achieve the pretzel goodness without the mess, I had to give these a try.

Store-bought bread stick dough is what makes this recipe so quick and easy. The dough is easy to roll, without any flouring of your surface, and little hands can help roll out the pretzels for you. Within fifteen minutes, we were able to eat some delicious pretzels and everyone enjoyed helping with this project in the kitchen.

This would make the perfect snack for after school or serve when tailgating with friends. I can't wait to make another batch of these fun little treats again and neither can my kids!

Soft Pretzels with Sweet Mustard Dipping Sauce
1 (11 ounce) can refrigerated bread sticks
1 egg white, lightly beaten
coarse salt
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Roll out each breadstick into a 20-in. rope; twist into a pretzel shape. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack. For mustard dip, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with pretzels.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

In our house, we celebrate just about everything. If there is a reason to do some celebrating, our family will find it. We had to break out the celebration plate twice this past week to celebrate our first day of school. Ethan started on Tuesday and Emily started on Thursday. Next year I plan to combine the celebration into one because doing this twice was a lot of work in that busy first week of school. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, but I wanted to share with you some pictures from our parties.



For Ethan's big day, we all worked together to make the Family Fun school bus cake (there is also a video tutorial here). This cake was absolutely adorable and will be the new Clark family tradition. We found angel food cake loaves at Aldi over by the bread which helped make this cake a little bit lighter. Four people fit on the bus, so we added our family on the bus, complete with a hair bow in Emily's hair! The kids adored this cake. After we cut into it, we headed over to the neighbor's house to share it with the other little boy in our neighborhood who just started his first week of school.

Served with the cake, I made my simple pizza crust in the bread machine so that we could enjoy a little pizza with our cake.



In case you missed Emily's theme for her school year it is purple and flowers. Unbeknown to me, as we sat down for the "back to school party" on Tuesday night, Emily said she could not wait for her perfect purple flower cake for her party. With weary eyes, I looked at my husband over our pizza. "I hope you like pizza," I said.

For her party, I just used store-bought cake mix and frosting. I used tip #129 to pipe flowers and then used tip #4 for the center dot in white on each flower. Prepared icing is a pain to work with, but the day had been too crazy to make a batch of icing. She is three so I didn't think she would mind that the flowers were not as perfect as I hoped.

I love to pipe a little border on the cake plate to go along with the toppings on cupcakes. I think it pulls it all together. Just as her brother's party, Emily's flower cupcakes were served with my simple pizza crust in the bread machine so that we could enjoy a little pizza with our cake.

I am thinking we will be skipping our Friday night pizza routine this week!


What are your back-to-school traditions? Do you do anything special for the big day?

Labels: Family, Holidays, Kid Recipes, Parenting, Recipes

If you have a big eater like me, making a breakfast that will fill your child up in the morning can be a real challenge. Although my little guy looks like a lightweight, he has been known to put away three to four bowls of cereal in the morning. This makes breakfast one of those meals that can really add up in our grocery budget.

Since his school year started, I am getting up early with him and have been making affordable breakfasts a priority in our house. Eggs, bread, oatmeal, and milk are inexpensive ingredients that I am trying to work into our morning meals.

One thing that I know my children really love is milkshakes. When I happened upon this recipe for banana cream pie smoothies, I knew that this would be a thrifty solution to get my kids fueled in the morning... in a really fun way.


When I got home from the grocery store, I sliced bananas and put them in this little dish in our freezer for our smoothies in the morning. I can get a whole bag of bananas at Aldi for $.99. I also bought the large tubs of low fat vanilla yogurt to add to the smoothie mixture. This is also an affordable steal compared to those small containers of yogurt. One tub equals approximately four batches of smoothies (eight smoothies in all).


To round out the meal, I make one or two slices of whole grain toast with a little smear of peanut butter on it. The kids love the combination and feel like they are getting a special treat in the mornings. I love to have one of these myself because they fill me up in the morning and have been a nice addition to my "only coffee" routine.

Just as one more fun idea to add to your morning routine, my son gets to choose his favorite breakfast on Fridays. They have a, "Fun Friday" at school where they get to wear their school t-shirt instead of a uniform. To go along with that theme, I make a "Fun Friday Breakfast." He gets to choose what the breakfast will be that morning and all other days, I get to choose based on our time constraints. Can you guess what he chose this week?

I highly recommend adding this fun and thrifty smoothie to your morning routine!


Banana Cream Pie Smoothie (Courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine, makes 2 servings or 4 smaller servings)

1 cup sliced ripe banana (about 1 large)
1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons whole wheat graham cracker crumbs (about 1/2 cookie sheet- we have been omitting this ingredient)
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ice cubes (about 1/4 cup)
Graham cracker crumbs (optional)

Arrange banana slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, and freeze until firm (about 1 hour). Place frozen banana and remaining ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 216 (12% from fat)
Fat: 2.8g (sat 1.5g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.3g)
Protein: 9.8g
Carbohydrate: 39.3g
Fiber: 1.9g
Cholesterol: 9mg
Iron: 0.4mg
Sodium: 145mg
Calcium: 315mg

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

My son will be attending school all day now and this means that he will be eating lunch at school. I have been gathering supplies and ideas over this last month on ways to make his lunch fun and healthy and wanted to share with you some of the information I gathered.

One idea that I am excited to start with him is adding Knock-Knock jokes each day to his lunch. My girlfriend told me about someone doing this at her school and I thought it was such a cute idea to do with my children. I used our free lunchbox notes printable and found this website for ideas on knock-knock jokes to write to him.

I stocked up on small plastic containers that I plan to fill with batches of boxed pudding, applesauce, trail mixes, or raisins to cut down on the cost of the individual serving cups. We also bought stainless steel water bottles that can be filled with juice instead of the juice boxes. Sundays will be spent filling mini-containers and bagging up veggies for the week so that the mornings will be easier on everyone.

He used to eat lunch at preschool each week and the only thing he would ever eat was peanut butter sandwiches. To save on time, I would make five peanut butter sandwiches, put them in baggies, and then I would put them the freezer for the week. In the mornings, I would pull one out and it would be thawed by the time lunchtime rolled around. It was a time-saving strategy that worked really well for us. Unfortunately, he has moved on from peanut butter jelly so I can no longer implement that!

Last month I was hired by Sara Lee to act as a consultant for the company to help them plan a nutritional summit to share with moms ideas for creating a healthy and nutritious school lunch. It was such a unique opportunity for me to help in the planning stages of a blogger event and it is one that I hope I can repeat again with future companies.

Their emphasis was on creating balanced lunches and educating consumers in the bread aisle. I have to say that I have already added many of the ideas that were shared as well as implementing many of the shopping tips and I wanted to share with you some of the best information I got at this summit.

• Instead of juice, which can add a lot of calories to a child's diet, try making fruit-flavored waters. I loved this idea for infusing water with mint, strawberries, or oranges for a fun way to make inexpensive flavored water.
• Get your children to eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables by hanging a rainbow on the refrigerator. As they eat from each color, they can add a star to it. This helps them see what colors they need to eat and what colors they are doing really well on.
• Trail mixes are a healthy and satisfying snack in lunches or before/after athletic events. An easy formula to remember for making trail mix is 1/2 cup of dried fruit, 1/4 cup of nuts, and 1/8 cup of chocolate.
• One of the easiest ways to incorporate whole grain into your child's diets is to to pack a fun whole grain snack like popcorn!
• When examining nutritional labels on bread, make sure that the first ingredient listed is, "whole wheat flour." If the first ingredient listed is, "enriched flour," look and see whether whole wheat flour is listed and where it is listed on the ingredient list.
  

If you have any nutritional questions or if you are needing guidance on packing a school lunch, you can contact Sara Lee through their Facebook page. They have added all of the great recipes that they shared with us while we visited the facility and they have Chef Jill checking the site and sharing ideas daily so it is definitely a page worth peeking at.

I think that the main message that I walked away with, is to do the best you can with nutrition, but don't beat yourself up if you can't do it perfectly. Lunch is supposed to be fun and not a chore. Educate yourself about nutritional labels, do your best sharing fruits and vegetables in their lunch, try to incorporate whole grains into your child's diet, and pat yourself on the back for trying... and don't forget that cookie cutters, knock-knock jokes, or a sweet little note can be a fun way to make lunchtime fun for your children.

(Full Blogger Disclosure- This was an all-expenses paid trip to their Chicago headquarters which included air travel, a one-night hotel stay, and a gift bag. All thoughts and opinions on this trip are my own.)


What are some of your favorite ideas for making lunches fun & healthy? This is our first year packing lunches and I would love your ideas!

Labels: Family, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Parenting

I sincerely hope you love blueberries because I am afraid it is blueberry week on my blog. We brought home a ton of fresh berries that were dying to be poured on top of some deliciously light waffles this week.

I love making pancake syrup, but this is my first attempt making a berry syrup. It is amazing how sugar, water, a little vanilla, and fresh berries make such an incredible difference on a plain old waffle.

The burst of flavor, the happy dance in my mouth, and the smacking of lips at the table make me so incredibly joyful. The berries coat the waffle perfectly and add a little sweetness to my waffle without a sugary overkill.

This is really and truly a fantastic indulgence that takes about the same amount of time to cook as it does to make up a batch of waffles. Fast and delicious!


Fresh Blueberry Pancake Syrup

1 pint (or two cups) fresh blueberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow it to cook for 12-15 minutes and give the berries a little smash with your wooden spoon to break them up into the syrup. This syrup can be served warm over The Best Waffles Ever or you can serve the syrup cooled.



1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 egg whites

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk and oil. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (should be lumpy). In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix. Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it. Side Note- I doubled this recipe for my family of four and we had enough for three extra Belgian waffles.

And what did my children think of the new blueberry addition to their plate?

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

I made piggy pancakes for the kids and they were a huge hit! I wasn't sure if they would be able to figure out what they were so I let them guess. They decided these were cow pancakes instead so who knows what animal your own kids might pick?

I made a batch of this pancake batter. It is my absolute favorite because it doesn't require any fancy ingredients and can be made out of everything in your pantry. The pancakes remind me of the McDonald's pancakes and I absolutely could devour a few stacks of those in one sitting.

To save a little bit more money, I make a batch of powdered milk to mix into the pancakes. It isn't a huge savings, but it saves me from making multiple trips for milk throughout the week.

You will want to make one large pancake and two silver dollar sized pancakes. When you see the bubbles bubbling up on top, give them a flip and cook until they are cooked through.

I used kitchen scissors and cut one of the small pancakes in half and slipped it under the large pancake, to make the ears. Plop a small pancake on top for the snout and use blueberries or chocolate chips for the eyes.

For preschoolers, you could tie in any good barnyard book or my personal favorite..."If You Give a Pig a Pancake."

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

We celebrated another birthday in our family this week and my summer child always seems to get all of the fun cakes for the warmer season. We made this same cake two years ago and I decided to dust the recipe off again for another fun celebration.

This cake is just as good as those DQ ice cream cakes for a fraction of the price. The ice cream sandwiches help eliminate the need for cake leveling and provide a smooth and crumb-free surface to swipe with the whipped cream layers.

The best part about this cake is how forgiving this cake is to being adjusted to accommodate your party size. We have celebrated this cake with ten and this time we celebrated with thirty and you just add an extra batch of ice cream cakes to feed the extra mouths.

This cake pictured had 36 ice cream sandwiches and we ate almost all of it. The original recipe says it will feed twelve people, but you would be surprised how quickly this gets consumed!



Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding
8 Oreo cookie sandwiches (approximately 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup whipped topping. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies. Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet. Freeze (at least) four hours.

Amy's Notes- One year I had difficulty with the tin foil sticking to my cake so this year I prepared the cake in a cupcake tote container with a lid and that worked much better than wrapping in tin foil and was easier to stack with other items in our freezer.

Labels: Holidays, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Will my family love oven fried drumsticks?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 06.03.09

Materials Needed: Please see Simply Recipes for the full instructions on this task. I followed the recipe except for using Italian breadcrumbs instead of regular and I omitted the chives.


Results: I was looking forward to having a picnic night with the family since we had that on our summer list of activities. The weather was extremely hot this last week though and no one was ready to brave the heat again for a picnic. We ended up having a picnic night indoors instead and I prepared these yummy oven baked chicken drumsticks for our main course.

Even if you are not a mayonnaise or mustard fan, this blend of the two ingredients seems to take away the strong flavors and creates a really yummy place for the coating to stick. The meat remained moist underneath because of this layering of ingredients and the coating stuck easily to the meat when preparing it.

Conclusion: The entire family loved this recipe and I will definitely be adding it into our rotation. It was an easy and economical dish to prepare and was a hit at our indoor picnic complete with a pasta salad, biscuits, and cheese and crackers!


********************

I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Thursday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

We really put our blender to work in the summer and I wanted to share with you one of my kid's favorite treats for our homemade pizza night.

This is another fantastic recipe that I found on Hillbilly Housewife called, "Magic Milkshakes." To me, this recipe tastes just like a Wendy's Frosty with a fantastic balance of chocolate, creaminess, and the spoonable or sippable goodness that makes them one of my favorite summertime treats.

The magical component about them is that there is no ice cream in this yummy milkshake and that all the ingredients can be found in your cupboards. I adore recipes that can be whipped up as a fun surprise without the need to run to the store.

If you haven't tried this recipe before, do not let another summer pass you by without putting this into your rotation! These are inexpensive, delicious, and will score coolest mom every points!


Homemade Wendy's Frosty (The Magic Milkshake courtesy of Hillbilly Housewife)

1-1/2 to 2 cups ice water
1-1/2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 1-1/2 trays of ice cubes, as much as you can spare
2 tablespoons corn oil plus a 5-second squirt of non-stick spray for emulsification purpose (I substitute the corn oil with canola oil & you can read her notes on why you need that non-stick spray)

Place all of the ingredients into the blender, including the oil and the non-stick spray. Use less water for thicker milk shakes and more water for shakes that are easy on your blender motor. The blender should be about 3/4’s full. Place the lid on. Process for a full 2 minutes. Pour into cups and serve. Makes 4 - 12oz servings.

Related Links:

Homemade Slushies

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

You know something is good if it can't even be photographed before being devoured. These Cinnamon Whole Wheat Waffles are a new favorite Sunday brunch for our family and I love that they incorporate a bit of healthy in them to balance out the mounds of pancake syrup.

The first batch we made of these, I found that they were extremely dense and a little too heavy for my liking. I remembered the tip from my Notebook Experiment where you whip the egg whites to a stiff peak and fold them in and decided to give that a shot. This little step added a bit of airiness to the waffles and balanced out the heaviness of that whole wheat flavor.


Really, there is just nothing more to say except that we love these as our Sunday treat. This batch is enough to make 5 waffles in my waffle iron. You can make a double batch of these for some delicious leftovers.


Whole Wheat Cinnamon Waffles

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (I substituted this with 1/4 cup rolled oats)
1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (separate the egg whites from the egg yolks)
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk (I used regular milk and then added 2 tablespoons of vinegar & let it stand for five minutes)

In a large bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, unbleached flour, dry milk, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, wheat germ, and salt; mix well. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. In a medium bowl, mix the yolks, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up). Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix. Coat your waffle iron with vegetable cooking spray and preheat. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter into the center of the hot waffle iron and cook until the batter stops steaming, about 6 minutes. Cooking time varies according to the they type of waffle iron you have. Repeat with remainder of the dough, applying the cooking spray between waffles. Serve warm with your favorite syrup.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Can I make homemade bunny (monkey) bread?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.05.09

Materials Needed: Please see Baking Bites for the original recipe. I took great liberties with the recipe though and made a bread machine version that came out beautifully. If you don't have a bread machine though, please visit Baking Bites for a version that can be prepared with a spoon or a stand mixer.

Results: When I see cake pans at the thrift store, I can't resist picking them up, even if I have nothing in mind to do with them. This bunny-shaped pan was $2 at Goodwill and has been gathering dust in my basement. I decided to break it out to make the kids a special Easter treat.

Our Easter tradition usually consists of my homemade cinnamon rolls, but I thought it would be fun to do something a little different this year. I remembered this great little recipe for homemade monkey bread and also know that it happens to be one of my husband's favorite childhood treats so I thought I would give this recipe a spin.

I opt for the lazy version though and prefer making things in my handy little bread machine, so I modified the recipe to put my little appliance to work and thought I would share my version here.


Bread Machine Monkey Bread/Bunny Bread (adapted from Baking Bites)

1/4 cup water, warm (100-110F)
2 tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, warm (100-110F)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg (beaten)
3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (.25-oz)

Sugar Mixture:
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 cup butter, melted

Lightly grease a standard 10-in bundt pan with vegetable oil or any cake-shaped pan. Set aside.
In a microwavable bowl, combine the water, milk, and butter and microwave it for one minute (or just until warm). Pour this into the bottom of your bread machine. Add the egg and vanilla next. Add the flour, salt, sugar, and then finally the yeast. Run the Dough cycle on your bread machine and let it run through the entire cycle until it beeps.

Turn dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and gently deflate so that dough is relatively flat (maybe 1/2-3/4 inch thick) Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut off small pieces of dough to form 1/2 to 1-inch balls. As you cut each piece of dough, roll it into a ball in the palms of your hands. Dunk each ball in butter, use the fork to remove it and transfer it to the sugar mixture to be thoroughly coated. Place all coated dough balls into prepared bundt pan.

Once all balls have been coated and places in the pan, cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap and let bread rise for 60 minutes, until almost doubled in size. I covered this with plastic wrap and then popped it in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F when you are ready to bake it. If it is in the refrigerator, pull it out a half hour before and let it rise on the kitchen counter before baking. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Bread will spring back when lightly pressed. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving platter. Eat immediately (or reheat leftovers), as the bread is best served warm and gooey.

Conclusion: The kids absolutely devoured this bunny bread and my husband thought it was the perfect balance of sweetness. I, unfortunately, was struck with the stomach flu this year and got to watch them eat all of this deliciousness while laying on the couch dying, but I will definitely be participating in the devouring next year. Best of all, I found a great new use for that bunny pan and I can't wait to make this a yearly Easter tradition.
**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

One of my kid's favorite treats in the world are mom's homemade slushies. I have been making these for years now and they never fail to be a hit with everyone in the family. My husband loves slushies even more than ice cream and he lights up just as much as the kids do when I break out the blender.

Slushies at our local ice cream joint really add up and we could easily spend about ten dollars getting everyone one of these. This recipe costs me about fifty cents for four and is just as good. Aldi offers Mixade variety packs that are even cheaper than the Kool-Aid brand and still make vibrant and delicious slushies.

I tried this with the no sugar varieties and they flopped and tasted more like a shaved ice than a slushie.

Go ahead, live a little! Bring on the sugar for a special family night treat!

World's Greatest Homemade Slushies (Courtesy of Hillbilly Housewife)

2 cups ice water
1 packet fruit-flavored drink mix (use your favorite flavor)
2/3 cup sugar
4 cups or 1 full tray of ice cubes

You need a blender to prepare this recipe. Put all of the ingredients into your blender. It will be about 2/3 to 3/4's full. Put the lid on. Process the mixture on high for a full minute. Stop the blender, use a spoon to stir it a bit. Look for unchopped ice chunks. If all the chunks are grated up, then go ahead and serve it. You may need to process it for another full minute though. Serve immediately. I usually have to spoon this out of the blender with a measuring cup because the mixture is so thick. Makes 4 - 8oz servings.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Experiment: Can I make a wheat pizza crust that the whole family will love?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 02.12.09

Materials Needed: Please see Day by Day for specific directions on how to make this pizza crust. I actually used my bread machine for this instead of using the stand mixer and just dumped the ingredients in like I would normally (wet ingredients, dry ingredients, yeast on top) and it came together great.

Results:


I ran my bread machine on the dough cycle and did have to add just a little bit of water to make the dough a little bit looser. I let it run through the entire cycle and then floured my counters and rolled it out for my lightly greased cookie sheet.

I baked as instructed and the results were great. The crust has a chewy texture and puffs up beautifully. I usually have to bake my crust first to get it to be nice and chewy, but I was able to top this crust and bake it right with the toppings and still have a nice firm crust.

The kids ate it and my husband really liked it too. It was a little bit healthier than our previous versions which made me feel less guilty about the slushie factor that I added in for our fun family night. It all balances out in the end, right?



Conclusion: I will definitely be making this crust again, but play around a little bit with the spices. I think it would be great with regular salt and garlic powder and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese instead, but it is a very versatile recipe that is a little healthier than our normal pizza crust. Thanks to Day by Day for sharing their family recipe!

Related Links:

Can I Make a Deep Dish Pizza?

Dinner is in the Bag

Freezer Worthy Pizza Sauce

Pizza Hut Pizza Dough Crust

**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

Experiment: Can I make a delicious oatmeal cookie that the kids will love?

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Recipes

I admitted to you that we had a problem eating out too much and one of the places that I have felt we spent far too many dollars over the years is McDonald's. It is just down the road, it is inexpensive, and it is quick. I will say that it is also not good for me, not always warm, and I never feel that great after eating it.

I wanted to show you the cost difference on a store-bought Happy Meal versus the cost on a homemade Happy Meal. I do use the term "homemade" quite loosely because I am purchasing the chicken nuggets so if you wanted to save even more, you could definitely make a batch instead.

McDonald's Happy Meal

4-Piece Chicken Nuggets
Apples
Reduced Fat Milk
Small Toy

Total Cost of Store-Bought Happy Meal- $3.19 plus tax (this is in Indiana, costs may vary depending on location)

Here is my homemade version for my children that I made for them. I have included exactly what would be included in the meal, but made at home.

Tyson 100% All Natural Chicken Nuggets- 45 per package, cost $6.55 (at our local supermarket, price may vary- I had a great coupon that I will not include in the total!)
4 Piece Nugget Equivalent- .15 each x 4= $.60

1 Gallon of Milk- 16 cups in 1 gallon, cost $1.99 (current price at our local Aldi)
1 Cup of Milk Equivalent- $.12

Apple Slices- 3 pounds for $2.99 (current price at our local Aldi)
Apple Slices- $.25 (generous amount considering how few are in the package)

Total Cost of Homemade Happy Meal- $.97


While $2.22 difference might not seem like much, if you times that by the amount of children that you have in your family plus the amount that you spend on your own meals, there is a huge cost savings to making even your own fast food at home. We try to stick to the $1 Double Cheeseburgers, but Trent, at The Simple Dollar, breaks down the cost of making those double cheeseburgers at home and found that even that price could be beat.

For me, it is hard to get out of the mindset that I shouldn't have prepackaged foods in my house. We keep our grocery budget low by making things at home. If I am out of commission or we have had a hectic night, I am often wishing that we had a few more convenience foods in our house.

A couple of bags of chicken nuggets in the freezer for these nights would still be more cost-effective than running out to McDonald's.

And to my poor math teacher that had to tutor me every single day after math class, I would like to thank you for believing in me and working with me over those difficult years in high school. Who would have ever dreamed that I would be putting together a story problem daily that makes my husband shake his head and roll his eyes at me? I have become obsessed with the subject I hated the most so thank you, Mr. Rossi, for never giving up on me! Thanks to your thoughtful tutoring, I have become a human calculator and can crunch numbers on diapers, price per ounces on cans, and dare I say it...even Happy Meals that would make you so proud.

Related Posts:

Boo to McDonald's
Cracking the McDonald's Coffee Code

Is anyone else plagued with the human calculator syndrome? What has surprised that is more cost-effective to your household budget?

Labels: Frugal, Kid Recipes, Shopping

I wasn't able to get to any experimenting this week so I wanted to share one of my favorite experiments with you that I have completed so far. If you haven't tried this recipe, I swear it is worth those little moments of effort!

Experiment: Can homemade bubbles trump our dollar store variety?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 05.29.08

Materials Needed: Please see Sparkle Power for specific directions on how to complete this experiment. I was able to find the glycerin behind the pharmacist counter at Super Target. The container of glycerin was $2.69 for four ounces. I also mixed my bubble solution up in an old milk jug (inspired by Frugal Dad's uses for milk jugs) which made it easier to pour and store our homemade bubble solution. The bubble wands were found at the Dollar Spot at Target.

Results: Is it just me or are the dollar store bubbles horrible? My son is able to blow bubbles with these, but my daughter really got frustrated because she couldn't seem to blow any bubbles before her wand would need to be dipped again.

I was really excited to try this recipe for bubbles and couldn't wait to mix up a batch of these for the kids.

I followed Candace's suggestions and actually mixed these up the night before so the ingredients had plenty of time to incorporate. I had some pink dish soap in my pantry so I used that- your bubbles will be whatever color of dish soap you choose.

The next night, we spent an entire evening blowing bubbles and everyone had to take a turn waving the wands through the air to make the giant bubbles. These bubbles were so amazing that our neighbors came over to ask where we had gotten the bubbles from. I couldn't wait to share the recipe with them and pass it on! After seeing our bubble pictures, my mother-in-law is even going to make some of these for her own house so the kids can blow these bubbles over there too.

Conclusion: Homemade bubbles rocked the socks off of the dollar store bubbles. Thanks to Sparkle Power for such a fun recipe. I will never buy those bubbles again and I hope it is a recipe that we can pass down through generations!


**********************


I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Wednesday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original craftster's blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can't wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

Labels: Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments, Things To Do

Labels: Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes

We had a birthday party to attend last week for my sweet friend Michelle's daughter. I had recently bookmarked a chocolate play dough recipe, from A Foothill Home Companion, in my notebook entry that I thought would make a fun birthday gift.

I love to make play dough for my kids and usually use my Fruity Play Dough recipe, but I wanted to try something different for this party. Although this play dough wasn't as pretty as my usual colors, the fact that it smelled like a little bit of heaven seemed to trump it's, less than appealing, shade of brown.


This play dough smells divine. In fact, both the kids came upstairs and begged for some of the chocolate cake I was making. It was quite disappointing to see that it was only play dough that I was cooking and a batch that wasn't even for them.


We packaged this up with a set of pretty cookie cutters and a copy of the recipe so that their family could replicate the recipe in their own kitchen.

I love to make gifts like this for birthday gifts because it is affordable and a gift that they can use more than once. Ethan drew his own birthday card for the birthday girl complete with a princess tiara and money... because that is apparently two items that princesses possess. Having him make the birthday card added a special touch and saved on the cost of a store-bought card.

Here are some other fun play dough recipes:

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough (@ Like Merchant Ships)
Homemade Play Dough (@ Skip to My Lou)
Play Dough Tips & Tricks (@ Organizing Connection)
Edible Play Dough (scroll down a bit)
Perfect Play Dough (@ Family Fun)
Natural Play Dough Recipes (@ Nature Moms)
Gingerbread Play Dough (@ Recipezaar)


What is your favorite birthday gift to give or a favorite gift that your child received for their birthday?

Labels: Gifts, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments

Our famous birthday banner was hung high this weekend for Emily's 3rd birthday. Sprinkled all over the house were purple birthday balloons and pretty purple ribbons tied on anything and everything that I could tie to. In the background was playing a slide show of our sweet Emily (thanks to my friend Rachel for that great idea!) with a collection of photos of our sweet girl growing up.

Just before her party, Emily and Ethan bonked heads so hard that they both were crying uncontrollably leaving Ethan with a goose egg on his forehead and Emily with what appears will soon be a black eye. That is always good for those birthday photos!

The anticipation of waiting for our guests was almost too much to bear. The roads were sheets of ice and accidents were witnessed by many of our party guests on their way to Emily's party. We were so thankful to everyone that came and drove on the treacherous roads for our celebration.


I decided to do a brunch this year because I could prepare all of the food the day before and brunch is an economical dish to serve for a crowd. I made an Overnight Breakfast Casserole, a French Toast Souffle, Holiday Punch, and purchased (at a 40% discount on the marked down items in the bakery) croissant pinwheels, coffee with flavored creamers/syrups, and our birthday cake. All in all, I spent about $30 on all the food & decorating supplies to serve sixteen people. We kept it simple by just inviting family this year and opting for some playgroup fun around the holidays instead of a friend party.

Emily opened her presents which were filled with more princess stuff than you could shake a wand at. The hit of the party, a very special pair of princess shoes of which I am quite sure she will be toppling over and getting a matching black eye as she traipses along her imaginary runway.

Happy 3rd birthday, Miss Emily! You are loved and adored by all who have the pleasure of knowing you!

French Toast Souffle

10 cups white bread cubes (I used a loaf of French Bread)
2 Tablespoons each of sugar and cinnamon
1 (8 ounce) package low fat cream cheese, softened
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2/3 cup half-and-half cream
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
Maple Syrup for topping

Place bread cubes in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour sugar and cinnamon on the bread and lightly toss with your hands. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in milk, half and half, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over the bread; cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, remove souffle from refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Immediately after removing from the oven, drizzle maple syrup over the top (it will melt into the souffle). Using a sifter, shake the powdered sugar all over the top.

Side Note: I had some trouble with the cream cheese mixing in & not making it look curdled so I followed another recipe that suggested leaving the cream cheese as a block and cutting small cubes of cream cheese to dollop between the layers of bread. You can do whichever you prefer!

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sliced ham (lunch meat)
2 teaspoons mustard
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
6 slices white bread, toasted & cut into cubes
8 ounces mild cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, mix together mustard, salt, eggs, and milk. Add the ham (cut into cubes), bread cubes, and cheese, and stir to cat evenly. Pour into a greased 9x13" baking dish. Cover & chill in the refrigerator for eight hours, or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover and bake 45-60 minutes. Uncover and reduce temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until set.

Amy's Holiday Punch

1 (2 liter) bottle cherry 7-Up soda
1 liter (half a bottle) raspberry flavored soda (I found this at Walmart)
1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (12 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 (1 liter) can pineapple juice

Mix all the ingredients together for the punch. This will fill one large punch bowl or two smaller ones. Rum can be added for a spiked punch, but that would be super inappropriate for a princess party! This will convert the non-punch lovers in the group, I promise!

Labels: Entertainment, Holidays, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Ever since my son was a little boy, he would curl up with me and watch a marathon of Food Network on Sunday afternoons. It has been our little thing for years. He will bury his head into the crook of my arm, snuggle under the blanket, and talk food with me. Will these days end? I hope not for a long time!

One day as we watched episode after episode of Everyday Italian he looked at me and said, "Mommy, can we make that?" The dish was relatively healthy and could be adjusted with ingredients in our pantry so our version of Giada's dish was recreated in our kitchen together. I can think of no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than cooking with my son.

This is our version of Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs- our new family favorite that is gobbled up by all!


Rotini With Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs:
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano (or Parmesan)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound Italian turkey sausages (remove the casings)

Pasta & Sauce:
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 pound rotini pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the turkey and gently stir to combine. Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure), form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs.

In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat the pasta, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta. Add the meatball mixture. Gently toss to combine.

Alternative to Pan-Frying Meatballs: Make your meatballs the standard size and put them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes. Heat chicken stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Let them cook as directed and then drop in the baked meatballs for a few minutes. This is less mess and less calories!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

I am still working my way through my month's worth of meals, and we finally got to try this really yummy & quick recipe from "The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook."

My family is not really into Mexican food and I have to ease them into new dishes, thus why the enchiladas are not smothered in sauce and cheese. Instead, I provided the sauce and cheese on the side so everyone could smother them (or not smother them as they like).

I really loved this homemade enchilada sauce because it was made from pantry ingredients. I also could adjust the spiciness to our own tastes (hold the cumin, 1 teaspoon of chili powder versus 3 tablespoons). That is truly the beauty in making your own mixes & convenience foods.

The entire family gobbled these up and the enchilada sauce on the side appealed to my children's urge to dip everything. These were absolutely delicious and we had just enough leftover to take in my husband's lunch this week.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas (Courtesy of "The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook")

3 cups shredded cooked chicken (1.5 pounds)
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)
2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce (use provided recipe or 20 ounces in the can)
1-2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chiles, drained
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to four hundred degrees. Combine the chicken, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, the chiles and cilantro. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Stack the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high until warm & pliable (approximately 1 minute). Spread the warm tortillas out over a clean counter. Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each tortilla. Tightly roll the tortilla around the filling, then lay seam-side down in a 9x13" baking dish lightly coated with vegetable oil spray. Lightly spray the enchiladas with vegetable oil spray. Pour 1 cup of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup cheddar down the center of the enchiladas. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheddar browns, about five minutes longer. Serve, passing the remaining 1 cup of sauce.

Fast Enchilada Sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chili powder (we adjusted to 1 teaspoon)
3 garlic cloves,minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
Pepper

Heat the oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat until shimmering. add the onion and salt and cook until softened, about five minutes. Stir in the chili powder, garlic, cumin, and sugar. Cook until fragrant, about fifteen seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about five minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Just in time for the busy school year, here is a snack that is healthy and can be used for breakfast or for snacks. Watch out though, this stuff is highly addictive!

I am easing my family into eating granola and I found this recipe that I thought would fit the bill perfectly. The only item that they could consider "weird" are the slivered almonds. No dried fruits, no coconut, no weird foods...no reason to complain!

I will gradually be adding some other elements into this recipe, but if you have a picky family, this granola recipe might be a great place to start. I bought a large container of vanilla yogurt and made little yogurt cups for the kids with this homemade granola sprinkled on top. They gobbled it up and I found them both licking their bowls. I would say this one was a hit!

Vanilla Scented Granola Courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine

Cooking spray
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

• <>
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Low Sodium Granola & Porridge
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Grains Granola & Porridge
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Position rack to middle of oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Lightly spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Mix next 5 ingredients in large bowl. Combine oil, honey and sugar in small saucepan; bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour hot liquid over oat mixture; stir well. Using hands, toss mixture until thoroughly mixed. Spread granola on prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes (but check after 20). Transfer sheet to rack; cool granola completely. (Can be made two weeks ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.) Makes approximately 8 cups.

Side Note: If you prefer granola clumps, do not stir during baking and allow the granola to cool. You can then break the granola apart into pieces.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

I made piggy pancakes for the kids and they were a huge hit! I wasn't sure if they would be able to figure out what they were so I let them guess. They decided these were cow pancakes instead so who knows what animal your own kids might pick?

I made a batch of this pancake batter. It is my absolute favorite because it doesn't require any fancy ingredients and can be made out of everything in your pantry. The pancakes remind me of the McDonald's pancakes and I absolutely could devour a few stacks of those in one sitting.

To save a little bit more money, I make a batch of powdered milk to mix into the pancakes. It isn't a huge savings, but it saves me from making multiple trips for milk throughout the week.

You will want to make one large pancake and two silver dollar sized pancakes. When you see the bubbles bubbling up on top, give them a flip and cook until they are cooked through.

I used kitchen scissors and cut one of the small pancakes in half and slipped it under the large pancake, to make the ears. Plop a small pancake on top for the snout and use blueberries or chocolate chips for the eyes.

For preschoolers, you could tie in any good barnyard book or my personal favorite..."If You Give a Pig a Pancake."

Labels: Kid Recipes, Parenting, Recipes

What a busy holiday weekend this was for us! We celebrated Ethan's sixth birthday with his dream party- a LEGO birthday party. I must say that I tried to put a lot of effort into this one and he was the happiest little boy I had ever seen!

What's a LEGO party without a LEGO cake though? I had bookmarked a recipe in my notebook entry for a LEGO cake, but we were entertaining a lot of people and the cake would not cover the amount of people that I needed it to. I also did not want to try and cut and make shapes out of a sheet cake. I opted to prepare two cake mixes in loaf pans to create this cake. One cake mix per loaf pan, cooked as directed, but cooked for at least an hour (mine took approximately one hour and ten minutes to cook these cakes at the same time). I then froze the cake overnight which helped keep the crumbs at bay and made it easier to decorate. I did use the marshmallows, but opted for blue and yellow for colors. This cake was extremely difficult to frost around and on top of the marshmallows, but I think the results turned out great, even though it was not as smooth as I had aimed for. The cost to make these two cakes was $5.50.

We had the party outside so I kept the decorating simple. I made pinwheels out of my scrapbook paper. To make these, just fold your paper accordion-style. Then fold your accordion in half and fan these out. You can then staple these to one another (along the back side) to make your pinwheel. Each of these pinwheels had three pieces of paper on them each. You just want to make sure that the paper is very sturdy so it will hold the shape. I gave them a hole with a hole punch and then tied them on the underside of the umbrella with green raffia. They looked really lovely under the patio umbrella.

For the indoor food table, I did a big basket of LEGOS and I framed a letter that I wrote to Ethan about how special he was to us. This is the first year I have done this, and we read this to him as a bedtime story before bed the night before. He loved hearing about how much we loved him and how proud we were of him. The grandparents loved reading it too and seeing what cool things happened this year. Total spent on decorations and party supplies- $0

I did serve food at the party and opted for some take-and-bake pizzas to help save me some time. Our Papa Murphy's is just down the road and I signed up for their e-club so that I could get a new batch of coupons. We printed these out and used these on four family size pizzas. Total cost for pizza for twenty $34 (with plenty of leftovers). We also served some fresh melon, spinach dip with carrot sticks, & tortilla chips with salsa, and soda. Overall, I spent about $50 on food (which includes the cost of the cake), but we also have a couple of dinners and plenty of snacks leftover to eat!

Entertainment consisted of dragging out every outdoor game and toy we could imagine to keep the kiddos busy. The kids also spent lots of time coloring on free LEGO coloring pages that I printed up from the LEGO website. They could take these pages home with them to color too so that filled in for those goody bags. Total cost spent on entertainment and goody bags- $0


All of that effort for this perfect moment right here. Ethan wished for a hundred kisses from his mom & dad. I think we can do that! How I wish he was always this innocent and that I could freeze this perfect moment forever. Perfect moment...oh, you know it... PRICELESS!

Total Amount Spent on LEGO Party for Twenty: $50

Labels: Birthday Party, Entertainment, Frugal, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Labels: Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes

Experiment: Can homemade bubbles trump our dollar store variety?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 05.29.08

Materials Needed: Please see Sparkle Power for specific directions on how to complete this experiment. I was able to find the glycerin behind the pharmacist counter at Super Target. The container of glycerin was $2.69 for four ounces. I also mixed my bubble solution up in an old milk jug (inspired by Frugal Dad's uses for milk jugs) which made it easier to pour and store our homemade bubble solution. The bubble wands were found at the Dollar Spot at Target.

Results: Is it just me or are the dollar store bubbles horrible? My son is able to blow bubbles with these, but my daughter really got frustrated because she couldn't seem to blow any bubbles before her wand would need to be dipped again.

I was really excited to try this recipe for bubbles and couldn't wait to mix up a batch of these for the kids.

I followed Candace's suggestions and actually mixed these up the night before so the ingredients had plenty of time to incorporate. I had some pink dish soap in my pantry so I used that- your bubbles will be whatever color of dish soap you choose.

The next night, we spent an entire evening blowing bubbles and everyone had to take a turn waving the wands through the air to make the giant bubbles. These bubbles were so amazing that our neighbors came over to ask where we had gotten the bubbles from. I couldn't wait to share the recipe with them and pass it on! After seeing our bubble pictures, my mother-in-law is even going to make some of these for her own house so the kids can blow these bubbles over there too.

Conclusion: Homemade bubbles rocked the socks off of the dollar store bubbles. Thanks to Sparkle Power for such a fun recipe. I will never buy those bubbles again and I hope it is a recipe that we can pass down through generations!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Notebook Experiments

My sweet little bread machine kicked the can last week after two years of hard work in our family. I used my bread machine two to three times a week so it does a lot of work for us and I am missing it terribly. I got mine at a garage sale and I just can't see paying for it retail, but my husband is insisting that we just buy one new this time. I don't know though... I think I might check the thrift store a few times before buying one.

In the meantime, we are using our trusty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook to do the bread. It has been so long since I have made bread this way that I feared that my attempt might fail miserably.

Ethan happened to watch Sesame Street though and they showed the process of making bread so he asked me if we could do this together. Since we were having sandwiches that night, I told him he could help me make the hamburger buns for our dinner.

We let the stand mixer do the mixing for us and then we pulled the dough out to do the kneading. This dough reminds me of play dough so it is the perfect dough to use with kids. It is not sticky and doesn't even require a floured surface. Ethan mastered the art of kneading and enjoyed working his frustrations out on the dough. Pound, pound, pound, knead, knead, knead...

I cut the dough into nine pieces and then Ethan shaped them and put them on the stone. We talked about how the bread needs to rise and rest while we tidied the house up before dinner. After a little rising, I slid the stone into the oven for fifteen minutes of cooking.


Despite being really out of practice, the rolls turned out beautifully. Ethan pronounced the dinner, "The best dinner in the entire world."

A successful mission completed!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Parenting

With my grocery dollars screaming for mercy right now, I am trying to focus more on eating more budget-friendly fare. My grocery lists have shifted from what we want to eat to what is on sale and what is going to give us the best bang for our buck. A manager's special on a meatloaf mix of meat dictated what we would be dining on this week...a good old fashioned plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

I really love my spaghetti and meatballs recipe, but I saw a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs in an AllRecipes Dinner Tonight Cookbook (picked up at our local thrift store for $2) and knew that I had to try this recipe.

I followed all of the directions except that I prefer to bake my meatballs rather than fry them. It is easier clean-up for me and healthier for our family. You can bake the meatballs in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes and then I gave them a little dip in the sauce to take on some of those flavors.

This dish is perfection. I still prefer my meatball recipe over this one, but the sauce recipe wins hands down. This made a large batch of sauce (enough for approximately six to eight servings) and cost about $2.33 to make the sauce. The meatloaf mix was on sale for $2.09 and I used a box of pasta that I had purchased on sale for $.89. Total cost of the meal $5.31 or approximately $.89 per serving (if serving six generous portions).

I made a double batch of the meatballs and we will be having meatball subs on homemade sub rolls this week and leftovers another day. I just love food that can be served over and over again!

Italian Spaghetti Sauce With Meatballs

1# lean ground beef (ground turkey, meatloaf mix, or turkey sausage)
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil (omit if you are baking these)
3/4 cup chopped onion (we omitted because we don't like onions)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 bay leaf (I omitted because we didn't have any)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder, and egg. Mix well and form into 30 balls. In a large skillet, cook meatballs in two tablespoons hot oil over medium-high heat seven minutes or until browned; remove from skillet and drain.

To make sauce, saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar, and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and meatballs and simmer thirty more minutes. Discard bay leaf. Serve over spaghetti.

Spaghetti and meatballs is a family favorite in our house. Now let us show you how to eat it properly and our sweet little Emily will demonstrate.

Emily just loves to eat this, but she likes to have the long noodles for slurping, not short and stumpy noodles. I can understand this, but... She usually ends up looking like this.

Then we have to hold our noodles and balance them at the very top of our head in our hair. Is it sufficiently rubbed into our forehead and hair yet? If you can complete this trick, you can move on to the next step.

Be sure to get your entire face in there so it looks like this.
And don't let the face outshine your toes. After all, eating like a monkey is the Clark way.

Dinner and a show! Two for the price of one!

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

We had pitas leftover from our dinner,but they didn't last long. Most of them got turned into little personal pan pizzas for lunches this week.

I topped them with some of my homemade sauce, a little cheese, and some pepperoni. The kids gobbled them up and ever since we ate these, Emily keeps pointing to the stove and saying, "Pizza? Pizza?"

These might be a fun variation on our pizza nights at home especially since everyone can pick their own favorite toppings!

Sound Off: What do you do with leftover pitas? Do you have a favorite topping or way to stuff them that is a hit with your family?

Labels: Frugal, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Surprise! A snow day! It truly was a surprise for me because I didn't see our school listed and so I got my son ready for his day and took him there. An empty school and a completely full day of nothing to do today. What's a mom to do?

Instead of sitting in front of the television, we worked on making finger paints and enjoyed a day of painting and then a day of bathing because we were so sticky and messy from our painting. The kids really loved these, although I think Emily ended up eating more of the paint then she did actually painting with it.

I spread out a plastic tablecloth that I had gotten with some promotional materials from a company. I would recommend using a plastic shower curtain or tablecloth (both can be purchased from a dollar store) and keeping this with your craft supplies. We also have old shirts from daddy or do the all natural look (as Emily has displayed) for the really messy stuff.

We had little finger sponges that had come with a finger paint set that I had bought from Target last year. The kids started out with these and then just begin slapping their hands in the paint. The sponges were fun for awhile, but bare fingers dipped in pudding taste much better!

Please ignore the horrible colors we made. We found green and red made mud. The yellow of the pudding mix made for some interesting colors, but my little artists didn't care!

This recipe is great because I always have pudding mixes in my cupboard. Next time I make this though, I will probably use 1 1/2 cups of water instead of two cups to help make it a little less drippy.

This is one of those fun activities for a snowy day or a rainy day that will only cost you one pudding mix!

Pudding Paint

1 package of instant pudding (3.4 oz)
2 cups ice-cold water
Food coloring

Whisk water and instant pudding together in a bowl for two minutes. Refrigerate for five minutes. Divide pudding into several small bowls or muffin tins. Add five to seven drops of food coloring to each bowl or tin and mix.

Labels: Family, Frugal, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes

We had to bring a snack to the Halloween Party that we attended and I was so excited to make Scribbit's witch hats to bring with us. What an easy and fun idea...this SHOULD have been.

I didn't realize it, but after visiting three grocery stores, I was unable to find the chocolate cookies that I needed to complete the project.

I had to get a little more creative than usual so I used Christina's Chocolate Crinkles recipe and patted the cookies into a very flat shape. To insure that they stayed flat, I patted them when I removed them from the oven.

The shapes were still not even so I used my great-grandma's biscuit cutter (a favorite piece in my kitchen) to cut out perfect circles.

I found Hershey Kisses filled with caramel and used these to rest on top. A frosting bow did complete the look.

The kitchen was short of a disaster and this turned into a little more work than I had intended to put into the snack.

I must say that the results were great and I was proud of how they turned out. The cookies probably tasted better than the store-bought version and who couldn't appreciate how festive they looked?

Thanks to Michelle for the great treat idea!! I just thought I would share my substitute in case you have as much trouble as me finding these cookies!

Labels: Holidays, Kid Recipes, Recipes

Well, we have made it halfway through the series and I have really been loving your comments and hints. You all teach me so much and I really appreciated the coffee talk from yesterday. The tips are invaluable and the comments are what make this so much fun for me, so thanks!

My sister became a mom before me and I remember the first time that we came to her apartment and saw my nephew. Every corner of their apartment was stuffed to the brim with toys from family and friends. Her first words to us were, "Welcome to Toy Land!" Since my nephew has so many health problems and is in and out of the hospital, the natural thing that people want to do for him is buy him little toys and treats. What happened was that my sister's home was overrun with toys and they had lost their grown-up space.

She was the one who introduced me to the process of alternating toys and we did a lot of this when our son was born. She had several totes that she would alternate for him. When he became bored with his toys, she would haul those up into the tote and bring a new tote out. She is such a smart mom and I have learned so much from her!

We now have two children and the toys are overflowing out of our bins. We had lots of boy toys and now that we have a little girl, we need to get girl toys too. I often wish that I would have bought more gender neutral toys in the beginning because there would have been such a huge savings there.

You don't have to buy toys though to keep the kids entertained and there are lots of fun crafts and activities that you can do for free. I just want to share some ideas that you can do with your children that will hopefully inspire you to get more creative, instead of just opening your wallet.

Scratch & Sniff Watercolors

1 Tbs. unsweetened powdered drink mix
1 Tbs. warm water
Several small containers (muffin tins work really well!)

Mix water and unsweetened drink mix together in a small bowl. Repeat this step several times, using various flavors of drink mix to create different colors of paint. Allow finished works to dry overnight before scratching and sniffing.

Silly Putty

1 Tbs. liquid starch
Food coloring
2 Tbs. white glue
Plastic Easter egg or zip bag

Mix white glue and food coloring together in a small bowl. Pour liquid starch into a second small bowl. Slowly pour the glue mixture on top of the liquid starch. Allow the concoction to stand for 5 minutes or until the glue absorbs the liquid starch. Remove putty from bowl and knead. At first this mixture may look as if it's a mistake, but it isn't. The more you knead the putty, the better the consistency will be. Store in a plastic Easter egg or zip bag. You can roil this on newspaper comics or pictures printed with an ink jet printer. Slowly pull the putty off of the paper. The picture will transfer magically.

Fun Sidewalk Paint

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
6-8 drops food coloring

Mix cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl. Add food coloring and stir. Repeat the process to create different colors of paint. This paint can easily be washed away with water. You can use it to make hopscotch grids, cakewalks, even make believe roads and highways for toy cars.

Pudding Paint

1 large package of instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)
2 cups ice-cold water
Food coloring

Whisk water and instant pudding together in a bowl for two minutes. Refrigerate for five minutes. Divide into several small bowls or muffin tins. Add 5-7 drops of food coloring to each bowl or tin and mix. You can paint with a brush or use them as finger paints.

Edible Play Dough

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup dry milk
1/2 Tbs. honey
Plastic zip bag

Pour peanut butter, dry milk, and honey into a plastic zip bag. Close bag and knead until mixture turns to dough. Do not reuse or store this dough. You can use raisins and assorted candies to add eyes, mouths, and other features to your edible creations.

Invisible Ink

2 Tbs. pure lemon juice
Cotton swab

Pour lemon juice into a small glass or plastic dish. Soak one end of the cotton swab to write a secret message or draw a picture on a sheet of paper. When you are ready to view your secret message have an adult hold the sheet of paper near a light bulb. The heat will slowly turn the lemon juice dark brown and reveal a hidden message.

Amazing Bubbles

2.5 quarts water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup liquid dish detergent

Mix water and corn syrup together until completely blended. Gently stir in the liquid detergent. These will store for several weeks in an airtight container. You can create bubbles in different sizes using items like a plastic strawberry basket or a wire whisk.

Tornado in a Bottle

1- 16 oz clear plastic soda bottle with a cap (the rounder the bottom the better the tornado)
2 drops clear liquid dish detergent
1 tsp. glitter

Fill the bottle with cold water. Add liquid dish detergent and glitter to the bottle. Screw on the cap tightly. Holding the bottle by the neck, turn it upside down. Quickly rotate your wrist several times in a clockwise motion. When you stop rotating, a min-tornado will form inside the bottle. Using permanent markers, you can draw a picture of a city or landscape around the bottom of the plastic bottle. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the bottle to create a sky effect.

There are lots of great sites out there that help promote fun and free activities to do with your children. DLTK's sites are excellent for finding coloring pages, cool crafts and fun activities that you can do with your child. Family Fun offers a whole a bunch of activities that you can do with your child. I love their magazine because they offer crafts for every age group. The Nick Jr and Noggin websites are a big hit with our son.

Whatever you do, your kids will love just spending time with you more than any new toy that you could give them. Try to savor these moments while they last!

Potential Monthly Savings: $5 or more

Sound Off: Do you have any great kid's recipes that are a hit in your home or a favorite kid's craft? Do you have any tips for toy clutter control?

Labels: Budget, Frugal, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Month of Savings

I had never had a frozen banana before so I had no idea what we had been missing out on. I had seen frozen banana pops on an old episode of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals and thought that looked like a really weird snack. What could possibly taste good about frozen bananas? Boy, was I wrong!

When frozen, bananas actually taste like ice cream. They are cold and creamy and have none of the texture that they have when they are in their normal state. Rolled in chocolate and sprinkles, they make heavenly treats that are pretty figure friendly versus the ice cream variety.

Best of all, these treats are easy on the pockets and are a great way to use up some of the bananas that are sitting on your counter. They are quick to make and a fun treat to eat.

My husband ended up working late yesterday and I was having a hard day with the kids. I told them that we were going on a picnic and at the end of our picnic dinner, we would all get a fun treat to eat. I packed up summer sausage, cheese, crackers, pasta salad, and grapes. While I made the pasta salad, I put together our banana treats and popped them in the freezer to harden.

There was a lot of grumbling from my son about not wanting to go on a picnic, but I finally got him convinced. He was pretty surprised when the picnic was in our yard and not at the playground. I threw out a blanket on the lawn and we ate our dinner out there. It made for a quick clean up and it was a nice surprise when Ryan got home from work.

The kids played on the swing set while I cleaned up from our dinner and then I brought out the snack. My son, who is a huge banana fan, thought it was the coolest thing ever and he ended up eating two of them. After he finished, he was covered in chocolate so I let him take the hose and rinse himself off. He was soaked, but had a huge grin on his face. That is what summer is all about!

We are approaching his fifth birthday so I have started thinking about themes for his day recently. I noticed that Martha Stewart's new line over at Michael's has a really cute monkey birthday party set. Wouldn't these be a cute treat to serve along with other fun monkey snacks (monkey bread & banana pancakes)? I am thinking of using this idea for Ethan's birthday this July. Having the kids help make these with you for the party would be a fun way to involve them in the party process. Not only that, but what a cheap party snack they will make!

I highly recommend adding these sweet treats to your snack rotation. You can also make them a healthy breakfast snack, by incorporating other ingredients into them. Here are a few recipes to try. Feel free to share some of your own favorite banana popsicle ideas!

Chocolate Covered Bananas

6 ripe bananas
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Peel bananas and cut in half crosswise. Insert a wooden stick into the flat end of each banana half. Lay bananas on a shallow pan (I used a small cookie sheet) and freeze for approximately three hours. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or over hot water. With a spatula, quickly spread melted chocolate over banana, coating well. Then roll in sprinkles, crushed nuts, or rice cereal. Wrap each banana in foil and store in your freezer.

Breakfast Banana Pops

4 large bananas
2 cups fruit-flavored yogurt, Nutella or peanut butter (For easiest spreading, dilute nut butters with enough vanilla or plain yogurt so it’s the consistency of thick cake batter)
1 cup combination of chopped dried fruit, granola, crushed cereal, crushed cookies or crushed candy

Peel the bananas, cut in half crosswise, and dip them in the yogurt. Roll them in the toppings to coat. Freeze until firm. Serve when firm.

Crispy Banana Pops

2 medium bananas
1/4 cup crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Cut bananas in half and insert a wooden popsicle stick into the cut end of each half. Freeze until firm (about ten minutes). Combine cereal, chocolate chips and peanuts in a shallow bowl, mix well. Uncover frozen bananas and brush with corn syrup. Roll bananas in cereal mixture to cat. Loosely wrap each coated banana with plastic wrap. Store in freezer for about ten minutes or until serving time. Serve frozen.

Labels: Kid Recipes, Recipes

Welcome to the Thursday Thirteen over at the good old MotherLoad. I thought it might be fun to come up with a few ideas for saving money at bath time in your house and also share a few frugal recipes that you can use to make bath time special for your little ones. Please remember to take this week’s poll & click our comments box at the bottom of the post to share about you & your family. I love to hear from you and there really is nothing more exciting (well, maybe a FEW things!) than seeing that people have left comments on my posts.

Thirteen Frugal Momma Bath Tips

1. Here is a recipe for homemade bathtub crayons. These can also double as a great stocking stuffer for Christmas or another fun item in your child’s Easter Basket.

Bathtub Crayons

1 Cup grated Ivory soap
¼ cup warm water
Food Coloring Plastic cookie cutters or hard candy molds

Directions: Mix water, soap and food coloring together in bowl. Remove the mixture from bowl and knead it until it’s the consistency of thick dough. Spoon mixture into plastic cookie cutters or candy molds. Place the cookie cutters or molds in the freezer for 10 minutes or longer. Pop the crayons out of the cookie cutters and allow them to dry overnight.

2. Don't buy expensive bath toys. My favorite bath toys, as a child, were my mother’s Tupperware collection. The bath toys that she bought were not as much fun as pretending to cook or collecting water to dump.

3. When you wash your shower curtain liner you can just toss the bath toys in with the liner to be washed. This periodic washing will cut down on germs.

4. Use a child’s sand pail to put all of your bathing supplies in for your baby. When they get older, they can then use this as a toy. This will save you from running back and forth to get all of the items that you need for bath time.

5. Yet another recipe for fun in the tub…

Bubble Bath Finger Paints
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt,
Food coloring
Bubble bath (not the foamy type)
Water

Directions: Mix water with the flour until you get a paste. Add food coloring and bubble bath until you get the thickness you like. This works well in the bath tub. They can paint themselves or the walls and it washes right off. It may turn the water the color of the food coloring but it won't stain the child.

6. If you use the foamy hand soaps, save your pump and reuse it for your child’s bodywash. Simply refill the pump with a third of your child’s favorite bodywash and then top it off with water. Give it a little shake and you have fun foamy soap for a fraction of the price!

7. Make your own hair detangler by combining one part conditioner with ten parts water. Mix well and pour into a spray bottle.

8. Reuse an old mesh laundry bag for all storing all of your bath toys. The mesh will allow all of the water to drain from the toys and the bag can easily be hung from the string or handles.

9. Use the bubble bath finger paints as a teaching tool for your children. You can write letters and numbers for smaller children, and as they get older, work on addition and subtraction. It can make learning time fun without the investment of those foam letters and numbers.

10. Skip buying a baby tub (unless you receive one as a gift) and use your sink instead. We love bathing our little one in the sink and it is easier on my back because I am not leaning down into a tub. When they get bigger (but are still not big enough for a regular tub), use a plastic laundry basket to bathe them in.

11. Don’t buy special baby towels- these are a waste of money. You can just use the towels that you already have on hand to wrap baby in. If you really like the hood on the baby bath towels, you can easily make your own. Look here for these simple instructions.

12. Make a frugal bathtime gift for a family member. When I was in college, I made these as a Mother’s Day gift for the moms in my life. I purchased inexpensive bottles at Walmart and tied a bow at the top of the bottle. This is a very simple craft that you could do with your children and makes a lovely gift for any occasion. One warning- GO EASY on the food coloring. Don’t ask me why I know this, but just trust me! Grandma won’t think this is such a great gift if she is a dark shade of blue…

Homemade Bath Salts

1-4 lb. bag Epsom salt (this can be purchased at any drugstore)
Food Coloring or Powdered Cake coloring (Powdered Cake coloring can be purchased at a cake decorating store or craft store)
Perfume or soap safe scents

Directions: Take a 4 lb. bag of Epsom salt and dump pour it into a bowl. Then add your food coloring to the salts and mix gently with a large spoon. You can add any essential oil or perfume that you would like to the mixture (or leave this out if your family member has sensitive skin). Pour the salts into a pretty bottle or a jar and tie a ribbon at the top. For foaming bath salts, add two tablespoons of glycerin to the mixture and toss this in gently.

13. Last but not least, save yourself some water and double the kids up in the bathtub or take a bath with your baby. This will save yourself some time so that you can do a little something for yourself, and you cut down on water usage at the same time!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Labels: Frugal, Kid Crafts, Kid Recipes, Thursday Thirteen