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Fun & Inexpensive Summer Activities for Kids

June 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Now that I have a very active 2-year-old I am always looking for fun activities for us to do, especially this summer.    I am sure we will be spending lots of time at the pool this summer but it is always good to have some other activities to mix in and back-ups for rainy days.   I searched the internet and found several ideas that I thought I would share with you.
1. Have movie day with the kids.  Choose a movie that everyone will love and make some popcorn or other movie theater snacks.  
2.  Make a lemonade stand and teach your kids the importance of making and saving money.
3.  Create a “Water” day with some other kids around the same age.   They can run through the sprinkler, throw water balloons, or play tag with the hose.  Let your kids paint the house.  Take a bucket of water with a paint brush and let them paint the house or deck.  When it dries, they can start over.  
4. Check out story time at the library or become part of the summer reading program at your library if your kids are old enough.
5. Find somewhere to volunteer with your kids.  Check out local charities or social groups that would like a little help and you can teach your kids the importance of helping others.  You could even make a meal for a family in need and have your kids join you to deliver it.
6. Write a letter to family or friends telling them what you are doing for the summer.  The kids can help write it or draw a picture to go with it.
7. Have a picnic at a park you haven’t been to before.   I recently noticed as I was driving around that there are so many great parks around that we haven’t been to and now that Jackson is older he will have more fun at the bigger parks.
8.  Take a walk before breakfast to enjoy a beautiful, summer morning.
9. Create your own summer t-shirt.  There are a lot of options out there for iron on transfer, t-shirt paint or tye-dye.  Have fun and let your kids make their own shirt to be proud of.   You can purchase inexpensive, plain t-shirts at Target or Walmart.
10.  Get moving.   Find an activity each day that keeps your family activity.  Maybe a bike ride, a swimming lesson or create your own race in your backyard.
What is your favorite summer activity?  Share it with us!
Enjoy your summer!!!
Filed Under: Emily, Ways to Control Your Chaos

Summer Time Grilling!

July 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The other day, while watching a cooking show on public television, the guest was talking about meals she remembered her mother and grandmother making her. The smells bring about such memories that she would never forget! She also made a great point that really made an impact on me. She said that what you feed your kids shows just as much love as words and actions! What an amazing truth! When you spend time and/or energy preparing food for your family, they notice! Even if they don’t always say so! And even more so, when you feed them foods that teach the habit of cooking and making meals that are good for their bodies.

For dinner the other night, we fired up the grill and made a wonderful summer meal! We made turkey burgers and grilled corn on the cob. I got the idea for the corn from Bobby Flay on The Food Network. It was wonderful with the burgers and served with fresh berries and chips!

TO MAKE THE GRILLED CORN ON THE COB:

After cleaning the husk and silk off of the ear of corn, I washed them and wrapped each one in foil. I placed them on the grill for about 25 minutes, rotating periodically.

While they cook, I place a stick of softened butter in the food processor with a bunch of chives, and 3 cloves of garlic. Process until smooth.

Once the corn in finished grilling, I rubbed it with garlic butter, squirted it with fresh lime juice, and sprinkled it with Cotija Cheese.

It is a great meal for the summer months while the weather is warm and the corn is in season!
Filed Under: Dinner, Megan Tagged With: ,

Summertime Fun at Home #SummertoRemember

July 20, 2012 By 1 Comment



As much as I love to explore and go out in public be out and about, having 4 kids doesn’t always make that easy or enjoyable.  When I was asked to partner with Walmart and Coca Cola to share my idea of a Summer to Remember, my first thought was I want to be able to enjoy the summer without having to leave the house.  There are so many ways to do it and when you want to cool off (or not have to drag all of your kids away from the fun to make a bathroom trip!) – you just walk right in the door.






I’ve pinned some things you will need to make it a summer to remember on my Pinterest board – Summertime Fun at Home.  While you’re at Walmart picking up what you need to have fun at home, make sure you grab one of their exclusive summer themed 28 packs of Coca Cola.  With it, you will receive 28 free 4×6 prints at Walmart’s Photo Center - suh-weet! Plus, you can unlock exclusive rewards when you enter the code on the pack at MCR.com/Walmart.


Of course, what fun is summer without friends and food?!?  Don’t forget to nosh on some of our favorites – Turkey Burgers, Grilled Pork Chops w/Lime, Garlic & Cilantro Sauce, Marinated Tomato Salad, Cheesy Ranch Potatoes, Mini S’mores Stackers, PB&J Ice Cream Sandwiches, Rhubarb Crisp


Enjoy making this a summer to remember!

FINE PRINT: 
Go to mycokerewards.com/summer for complete details. Enter you my Coke Rewards code from the 28 pack to redeem free prints, the code is located right inside the shrink wrap! See package bottom for code and more info. Open to My Coke rewards members who are legal residents of the 50 US States and DC age 13 or older. Keyword expires 9/30/12. Limit one per My Coke Rewards member. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer, and is only while supplies last. This offer is only available with your Coke 28 pack MCR code. Additionally, the free prints from Walmart will be available online through 9/30/12.
Disclosure:  Compensation was provided by The Coca-Cola Company.  The Coca-Cola Company is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way. All opinions expressed in the post are my own and not those of The Coca-Cola Company.
Filed Under: Becca

Caramel Vanilla Coffee Shake

June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
You could most certainly label me as a COFFEE LOVER…I’ll drink it hot, cold, flavored or not, any dessert with coffee in the title always catches my eye.  Being able to open the fridge and pour myself a glass of iced coffee…a total treat and a moment for me in my often chaotic day.
Summer is the perfect time to enjoy this smooth and creamy drink.  Summer is also the time to enjoy special treats like shakes that taste like your favorite coffee house drink (caramel and vanilla is one of my favorites) made in the comfort of your own home.
Megan and I made this incredible shake and enjoyed it with Pie Fries.  If you can’t find the dulce de leche ice cream, you can use vanilla and add more caramel syrup.  Sweet and dreamy, cold and creamy…you definitely need this in your life!
Caramel Vanilla Coffee Shake
by Becca {Crumbs and Chaos}
 
6027530
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cup DULCE DE LECHE CARAMEL ICE CREAM
  • 1/2 -3/4 cup INTERNATIONAL DELIGHT VANILLA ICED COFFEE (more or less to taste)
  • 1 Tablespoon CARAMEL SYRUP, plus more for drizzling
  • WHIPPED CREAM
Instructions
Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth, pour into glasses and serve immediately.
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International Delight is celebrating summer by giving away 1,000 half gallons of Iced Coffee each day! Grab your free drinks here!
Now, it’s your turn to celebrate! Enter to win $500 toward your ideal Summer Party by completing these two simple steps:

1. Pin my Iced Coffee Recipe photo on Pinterest.
2. Come back! In the comment field below, tell me you pinned and share your favorite taste of summer!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine. International Delight Iced Coffee Sweepstakes and Rules.

 

This post is linked to Ingredient Spotlight

Filed Under: Becca, Beverages Tagged With: ,

S’mores Brownies and a Kraft Backyard BBQ giveaway

June 20, 2012 By 76 Comments
It’s summer…the days are wonderfully warm and long…the grill is begging to be fired up.  Weekends are about enjoying time and good eats with your favorite people.  The best way to do this…host a backyard BBQ with a little help from Kraft Foods.
Kraft Foods recently invited me to try out a few of their new products (and some other fun stuff!).  Here’s what I thought…
Country Time Half & Half Mix- A refreshing mix-up-anytime-you-want summer drink, you can’t go wrong with this lemonade/tea mix
Kool Aid – Peach Mango and Strawberry Kiwi flavors – Yum!  This was fun to drink and also fun to serve over crushed ice (almost like a sno cone)
Kraft Sizzling Salads Southwest Dinner Kit – One word…convenient, you have the sauce to cook the chicken and the dressing for the salad in one neat little package.  Add the ingredients for a salad and dinner is served!
Velveeta Queso Blanco Cheese – tastes just like the white cheese dip from your favorite Mexican restaurant.  This was a great addition to our favorite Guacamole Burgers.  I also used it in a stuffed chicken breast with fresh salsa.
Honey Maid Lil’ Squares Graham Crackers – our family’s new favorite cracker!  These are great for snacking on, they don’t make as many crumbs as a regular size graham cracker.  I also used them to make dessert.
Don’t get me started on the Chilled Salad Bowl, Rubbermaid Carafe and lovely Serving Tray - absolute essential for any summer backyard party.  I plan on putting these to work all summer long.
No summer party is complete without a little S’mores action going on.  This time a brownie version – fudgy brownies sandwiched between a graham cracker layer and gooey marshmallows and milk chocolate.  (Don’t want to make the brownies from scratch?  Use your favorite box mix.)  Total summer bliss!
Print
S’mores Brownies

Ingredients

  • HONEY MAID LIL' SQUARES GRAHAM CRACKERS
  • 2 cups SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS
  • 1/2 cup BUTTER
  • 3/4 cup WHITE SUGAR
  • 3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR
  • 4 EGGS
  • 1 teaspoon VANILLA
  • 1 cup FLOUR
  • 1/2 teaspoon SALT
  • 1 cup MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS
  • 2 cups MINI MARSHMALLOWS

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and grease with cooking spray.
  2. Line bottom of the pan with 1 layer of graham cracker squares. Set aside.
  3. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt together semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter. Stir well, remove from heat. Add in sugars and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, and then add vanilla. Gently stir in flour and salt. Spread in pan over graham cracker layer.
  4. Bake for 35 minutes, remove from oven. Sprinkle with milk chocolate chips and marshmallows. Return to oven for 10 more minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.
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http://www.crumbsandchaos.net/2012/06/smores-brownies-and-kraft-backyard-bbq/
Recipe Source:  Adapted from Food Network’s March 2012 booklet of 50 Brownies
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1. Leave a comment telling us your favorite thing to make/take to a Backyard BBQ? (required entry)
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4. Tell us how you get our daily posts (RSS, subscribe by email or have us show up in your Facebook feed).
*This giveaway will end at 9 pm CST on Sunday, June 24th.  The winner will be announced and has 48 hours to claim their prize.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNER HAS BEEN CONTACTED.
 

Disclosure: Kraft Foods is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me and has provided me with a gift of equal value for review.  This program is not administered or sponsored by Kraft Foods or its affiliates, but solely by Crumbs and Chaos.

You can find us linking up HERE!
Filed Under: Becca, Brownies, Dessert, Giveaway Tagged With:

5 on Friday: Perfect Summer Snacks

June 8, 2012 By 1 Comment
Since the kids are hungry each and every day and variety is the spice of life, I’ve found a few more snack ideas for you to put on your idea list to answer all the “I’m hungry” that you will hear this summer.
Baked Cinnamon Apple Crisps from Six Sister’s Stuff

 Frozen Bananas from Pint Sized Baker
 Cake Batter Granola Bites from Chef In Training
 Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins from Alli-n-Son
Taco Snack Mix from Shugary Sweets
Filed Under: 5 on Friday

Summer Squash Casserole

June 22, 2010 By 1 Comment
I love trying new recipes and I love even more trying recipes from a friend. They usually end up being my favorites because I can get perspective on the recipe as well as how it tastes and any changes they suggest! I got this recipe last summer from a good friend, Megan Smith, and it was an instant hit. Even for people who don’t like tons of veggies, this is so delicious you forget it is a veggie casserole. We paired it with ribs and grilled asparagus for Father’s Day, as it was requested by my husband, Jason.

Here is the recipe:
2 medium yellow squash
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. carrots, shredded
1 small onion chopped
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 box Chicken stuffing mix, uncooked (I have also used a corn bread stuffing mix)
1+ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cut squash, cook, drain.
Melt butter and add to stuffing mix.
In a separate bowl, mix soup, sour cream, squash, carrots, celery, onion, salt & pepper (to taste).
In greased 2 qt dish, put 1/2 of stuffing mixture, then add all the squash mix.
Add cheese to cover top and then the remaining stuffing mixture.
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.






Enjoy!

Filed Under: Emily, Summer Tagged With:

Summer Strawberry Salad

June 8, 2010 By 1 Comment


Strawberry season is in full swing around here, there are so many things you can do with them. Here’s a great way to turn this beautiful, delicious berry into a main course dish.


This is an easy meal to put together, especially if you already have the chicken cooked from a previous meal. There’s no measurements here, just the list of ingredients. You can pile up as much (or as little) as you like.

Mixed Salad Greens (spinach is really great here too)
Chicken, cooked and chopped
Fresh Strawberries, halved or quartered
Feta Cheese Crumbles
Pecans or Walnuts
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Layer these items on each plate and enjoy.


This post is linked to Eat At Home Cooks

Filed Under: Becca, Quick and Easy, Summer Tagged With:

Fresh Green Beans

July 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The freshness of summer truly arrives with fresh green beans. Our family loves to enjoy green beans with our summer grill favorites. This is an easy way to add veggies to your meal and enjoy a summertime classic. Almost every Saturday morning, our family heads downtown to the Des Moines Farmer’s Market. This is a must-see if you live in the area. We used to go just to walk around and enjoy the beautiful summer mornings but as our family is moving towards eating more organic food this is a fun way to buy organic and meet the people who take part in growing our meals. Buying local has many advantages and as we learn more about eating organic and living green, I know we will enjoy the farmer’s market even more.


Here is the simple recipe for these delicious green beans:
1 pound fresh green beans
1 T. olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Snap or trim ends off green beans.
Heat oil in pan on medium heat.
Add beans and garlic to pan.
Saute until tender.

Enjoy!
Filed Under: Emily, Quick and Easy, Sides Tagged With:

{No Bake} Golden Graham S’mores

January 10, 2011 By 5 Comments
  
Winter, spring, summer, fall.
Four seasons and I love them all!
I’m glad to live where we experience all of them.  But there are times, I just have a longing for a certain food from a season we aren’t in.  Take strawberries for instance…you can’t compare fresh summer berries to those you can find in the store year round.  How ’bout s’mores? Well, it’s hard to enjoy a camp fire s’more year round, but this is a great stand-in that is easy and best of all, no bake!

I have a nice, little stack of recipes that I want to try and I aim to make something new every week.  I was looking through a cookbook I received as a wedding gift and found this recipe (it was written on a piece of paper – I’m not really sure where it came from).  I remember having these as a kid and loving them.  So this recipe got moved to the top of the stack, I made them, shared them and the vote was unanimous – DELICIOUS!

So next time you have the urge for an out-of-season s’more, give these a try, crunchy graham cracker-y cereal, gooey marshmallows and milk chocolate – they’re phenomenal!
{No Bake} Golden Grahams S’mores

6 cups (or 10 oz.) MINIATURE MARSHMALLOWS
6 single serving size CHOCOLATE BARS (I found a 6 pack of regular Hershey’s bars)
5 Tablespoons BUTTER
1 teaspoon VANILLA
8 cups GOLDEN GRAHAMS CEREAL

Place chocolate bars in freezer and chill well.  Once the bars are very chilled, mash them with a rolling pin or meat mallet and then unwrap them.  Place the broken candy bars back into the freezer.

Butter a 9 x 13 pan.

Melt 5 cups of marshmallows and butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Stir occasionally.  Once the marshmallows have melted, remove from heat.

Add vanilla, stir well.  Add cereal and mix well.  Add in remaining marshmallows and chocolate bar pieces.

Press mixture into prepared pan.  Let cool (place in fridge if you really can’t wait!) and cut into squares.


This post is linked to Jam Hands – Summer Cookout Food
Filed Under: Becca, Dessert, Sweet Snacks Tagged With:
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