Recipes, Crafts, Cooking, and Activities for Moms and Kids

Celebrating the 4th with Muffins

This Independence Day, we invited friends, neighbors and the local Boy Scouts of America troop to our home to help raise our flag for the first time. We then celebrated with 100+ muffins. This is what 100 muffins and hours of labor look like.

Chewy Cookie Bars

Last week, we wanted to make cookies, but were too impatient to scoop cookies out and bake them in batches. So instead, we poured all the dough in one pan and called them cookie bars. They were FABULOUS!

S’more Truffle Pie

This week, I made a pie called, “S’more Truffle Pie.” Yes, you heard me right, “S’more Truffle Pie.”

Homemade Granola Bars

Lately, I’ve taken a closer look at the nutrition facts on the food I feed my children. I always just assumed granola bars were “healthy.” As I looked at the label the other day, not only were there too many ingredients I couldn’t pronounce, but there were way too many forms of sugar, including several forms of high fructose corn syrup. I decided to make my own granola bars which were very well received by my children (particularly my picky one).

Tips for a Summer Schedule

This week I planned our “summer schedule.” I like to make a schedule every summer to keep the kids from lying around all day, watching too much TV, fighting, etc. I like the idea of a schedule, but this year, I decided to include some rules in my schedule. Though it’s only been a week, following the schedule plus the rules has been wonderful in our house.

Pantry Essentials

We’re big fans of food storage in our house for many reasons. One, it’s good to be prepared in case of an emergency. Two, it’s good to have options for dinner if I can’t make it to the store. Three, I’m a big fan of buying things on sale, and when a sale is good enough, I stock up. Here are the food staples we keep in our house.

Canning: Homemade Strawberry Jam

Toward the end of last year, I made Strawberry Freezer Jam. While I love strawberry freezer jam, my lack of a huge freezer makes it hard to make large batches for food storage. This year, I decided to can my strawberry jam instead. I was a bit terrified, not being an expert canner, but I…

Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cookies

As much as I love a chocolate chip cookie, last week I was in the mood to make a new cookie. With a lot of help from my kids, we came up with a kid-friendly, chocolate salted-caramel cookie.

Mother’s Day Craft: Customized Planting Pots

This week, the kids and I made Mother’s Day presents for Grandma. Because I lack the gene that carries on it the ability to sew, knit, or cut on a strait line, I needed something that didn’t require a lot of crafting ability. We decided to paint terracotta pots and fill them with seeds and gardening tools for Grandma.

How to ripen bananas… FAST!

A few weeks ago, I made banana cupcakes for a friend’s event. That morning, I started gathering supplies only to realize, I had forgotten to buy extra bananas the week before so they would be over-ripe for my cupcakes. I did some research and discovered how to make my bananas over-ripe.