Posts by admin:
- Equip your child to be relationally rich in a digital world
- Replace mindless screen time with meaningful family time
- Establish simple boundaries that make a huge difference
- Discover what’s working for families that have become screen savvy
- Learn healthy ways to occupy your child while you get things done
- 8 slices whole wheat bread
- 3 bananas
- 3/4 cup almond milk or regular milk
- 6 Tablespoons flax seed meal
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese or regular cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- Mash the bananas in a large shallow dish until smooth. Mix in the flax seed meal, cinnamon, and almond milk. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.
- Heat some coconut oil on a griddle on medium heat.
- Dip both sides of each bread slice into the banana mixture. Place on the hot griddle and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side.
- Repeat the process for the rest of the bread.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 60-90 seconds in 30 second increments. Once it is melted, add the cream cheese and mix well until blended. You can hand mix or use a mixer to whip.
- Add about 2-3 Tablespoons of chocolate cream cheese spread to one slice of french toast and cover with another slice. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with more banana slices.
- Staying within budget
- Sending invitations on time
- Stress level
- Princess desserts and snacks
- I found a wonderful recipe or tutorial for creating wands out of pretzel rods, white chocolate, and sprinkles. It was a bigger hit than the actual birthday cupcakes! The cupcakes were my own creation, but I was able to top each cupcake with 16 pink mini crowns that I found in the dollar section of Target. The crowns could then be recycled to be actually used as crowns on a girl’s hair. My girls love it!
- Princess coloring pages
- The amount of princess coloring pages is massive. Since my daughter is currently into Cinderella, I pinned a 10-12 pages to print later.
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- Since I made my list, I was able to put together a quick craft that was Cinderella-themed using simple cardboard, stencil, glue sticks, and little jewels. It was the simplest craft but so entertaining to see toddler’s enjoying their creative side.
- A small tray of chicken nuggets with honey mustard
- A small tray of chicken wraps and chicken salad sandwiches
- A small bowl of fresh fruit salad
- ice tea and lemonade
- Lunch
- Dancing with waltzes, Cinderella movie soundtrack, Tangled movie soundtrack, etc.
- Crafts. The kids decorated a glass slipper and crown silhouette
- Story book time. Our library had a pamphlet on princess books available so we checked out a few and read at the party.
- Birthday cake eating.
- Opening gifts.
Thanksgiving with Whole Foods Market {Giveaway}
November 18th, 2014
We have a week left and then Thanksgiving will be upon us. As the holidays start rolling by, I continue to miss the opportunity of having family over for dinner, but I think each year it helps us focus even more on what to be thankful for. As everyone is busy putting Christmas decorations, (ALREADY!), we are working daily to keep a balanced schedule for our family. One of the things we decided this year is to keep Thanksgiving simple and to share the joy of the holidays with another family with no relatives in the area. We really look forward to it and what better way to do it than to share a spread?
When I started thinking of cooking and prepping food for this holiday, I was already thinking of choosing a turkey from a local farm. The next thing on my list was just choosing the RIGHT one! With so many choices I was growing a little overwhelmed with my choices and then found out that Whole Foods has a whole list of turkey options that made is a simpler choice. When I chatted with the folks at Whole Foods Devon, I was told that all their turkeys would be coming from Koch Turkey Farm, a local third-generation family farm and that they will be offering a variety of free-range turkeys. How exciting, because, all I was interested in was buying a turkey from a local place anyway!
Another great fact is that their organic turkeys are the cheapest around, coming in at $3.99 / lb. What a steal!
Does everyone know about the different types of turkeys available this season? I for sure had only recently heard of heritage turkeys but it baffled me knowing the options I had available to me. Check out the variety:
Are you convinced yet? Sounds like it is a perfect deal and there is sure to be a turkey for those with specific interests. Go online and order your turkey now and be surprised!
Not sure you are going to do a turkey this year? Well, I am on the fence as well. I might just hold off until family comes into town in December, (SO EXCITED!) and stick to making pies and ordering from Whole Foods. How about entering a nice giveaway?
One family will win a Whole Foods Turkey Dinner for Four (value $69.99) but the winner must pick up at the Whole Foods in Devon.
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Growing Up Social {Book Review + Giveaway}
November 17th, 2014Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
I usually do not have a lot of time for reading because my life is consumed with so many other things, like planning meals, cleaning the house, taking care of my girls, going on outings, posting on my website, reading emails, working from home, and more! Yes, I may have made you tired by just listing all my daily duties, but lately I have been trying to figure out what I could do without.
One of the things I asked myself was how much time was consumed being social on online. Keeping it up for the sake of my website is one thing but another is constantly checking for emails, checking my Facebook or Instagram, or just browsing the internet. My screen time is definitely very heightened and it gets tiring at times. I always wonder how all that distraction on the computer or smartphone might be affecting my daughters’ perspective of their mother and father.
When I read Growing Up Social, it gave me a different perspective about the society we live in now and its effects on our young generation. Gary Chapman and Arelene Pellicane team up to write a book that empowers parents to make positive changes within their own homes in order to bring back the close knit family. The true question at hand, that these authors challenged me with:
Is technology bringing your family together or driving you farther apart?
I know a lot of our moms constantly talk about how much is too much when letting kids watch T.V. and while many do not even turn it on, or even admit at the amount of time their kids are watching, it is obvious that it is a great help in many homes. When I started reading this book I was nervous that I had already scarred my children by the amount of screen time they have had, but the authors stated that a max of 2 hours of screen time is usually the healthy limit for children without causing any issues.
In our home, we made rules early on about watching movies or even touching mommy and daddy’s phones. Our kids do not play on our smart phones or touch any computers in the house. One of the things that we were told early on was the reality of letting little children play with really expensive equipment. Why risk it? It was primarily for that fact only until I really started reading this book.
How do smart phones, computers, television all affect how our children relate to one another? Are they our babysitters and crutches for those busy times in our day? The real question is how is it going to affect our children socially. While technology has its potential to add value to families, it can slowly bring family apart and even hinder a child’s emotional and social development. How scary!
In the book, the authors use their own personal stories in addition examples to weave in the realities of technology in every day life. It was very easy to read every chapter and in no way had a judgmental tone. The tone was informative and loving, with desire to capture the attention of ALL parents even myself about raising our kids in a screen-driven world.
I like the books format because it works on different issues for each family at where they are in their lives. I also learned, through specific chapters, the five A+ skills that every healthy child needs to master: affection, appreciation, anger management, apology, and attention.
You might be a parent that might be thinking that there is no way out not that a child is hooked or consumed on their video games, computer or phone, but there is hope according to the authors. They share the healthy way to recognize our faults as parents for not taking control. They share the obvious difficulty of reclaiming your child’s attention by taking away screen time, but it is encouraging to know that in any stage in life, it is possible to work and bring back the art of togetherness.
Please take time to read this book. It was very eye-opening for me as a parent and even more, it encouraged me how to teach my children from a different perspective that focuses on love. Screen time does not have to be eradicated, it just needs to be limited. We all just need to learn how to live with screen time and not to live for screen time.
Want a chance to win your own copy? All US and Canadian readers have a chance to win a copy of this excellent book.
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Noah {Book Review +Giveaway}
November 12th, 2014
What if there was a book club for children where every week a new book or two was introduced and questions were asked about the book? Or perhaps the kids would take the new book home, read it and come back for discussion? I think it would be definitely something different than the normal story time at libraries and bookstores. Families would concentrate on that one book or two for kids and then discussion of it would be a good technique for helping kids concentrate and partake in discussion.
As we go to the library weekly, I remind myself the importance of reading and coming into contact with new books. If anything, I want my children to be exposed to all kinds of stories in order for their imaginations to be further developed. Since I have little ones that cannot read, picture books are great so that the girls can just flip through looking at pictures. Of course my 3- year old thinks that there are words and asks me to read, but then I explain to her that the book just contains pictures sharing a story for her.
One of the newest picture books available is Noah, the story of a man who was faithful to God and built an ark in anticipation of the world’s destruction by a flood. This book is definitely unique in that it contains 64 pages of colorful and uniquely-illustrated pictures and scenes of the story. Each page has amazing detail and facial features allowing the viewer or reader to imagine what they are saying.
Since we are familiar with the story it was great going through the second half of the book and noticing the animals going into the ark. The facial expressions from the characters allowed my daughter to even ask for the events happening on the page. I really enjoyed watching her eyes look through the pages.
Whether you are familiar with the Biblical story or not, Mark Ludy creates such amazing world-class illustrations that keep very close to the biblical narrative. What a great book for families to sit and talk about such an epic story! The beauty of it is that a new story can be created every time the book is opened, told from different perspectives. There is just so much detail in each page. What a great Christmas book for someone in your family!
Want a chance to win a copy? Enter the form below. Giveaway is open to US & Canadian Readers.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”
This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small percantage if you make a purchase using this link.
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Vegan Stuffed Chocolate Banana French Toast #ChiquitaCookingLab
November 10th, 2014I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions the product.
When I married my husband I knew he liked eating bananas, but not just any kind. They had to be perfectly ripe, with no black dots, a tiny hint of green and almost firm. For me, that tasted a little unripe for me which is why I always have enjoyed eating bananas with lots of black dots. Once my daughters came into the scene, they enjoyed eating bananas like no one’s business.
While I traditionally like baking and using bananas for bread, I was intrigued with The Chiquita Cooking Lab Recipe Contest. They are currently holding a series of eight weekly recipe contests that ends on November 24, 2104. Every week, three featured ingredients have been revealed and participants are asked to create a unique recipe that incorporates those three ingredients. We are even encouraged to use our own ingredients in addition to the three to develop even more of a unique recipe. The consistent part of the contest is that bananas will always be one of the ingredients.
Here is how the ingredients are revealed. Simple use your mouse to reveal the three ingredients for the week.
Each week there will be one winner who will be chosen to win a $4,000 cash prize and will have their recipe turned into a stop motion video and promoted on Chiquita’s digital and social channels. Four random winners will also be chosen weekly to receive a Chiquita gift bag. Contest entry is easy! Simply submit your recipe on the contest website (Chiquitabananas.com/cookinglab) or through the official Chiquita FanFun app. You can enter a new recipe every week, if desired!
So what were MY three ingredients? I had bananas, chocolate chips and cream cheese. Immediately I thought of the recipe my mother would make for us as we were growing up. She would mix peanut butter with bananas, cream cheese and raisins and spread it on bread and we would eat it all nice and warm. I decided to make a nice breakfast option for a fancy brunch that can be made over the holidays. It is super fast and VEGAN! The kids will like it too.
French toast does not really need eggs. I used bananas, flax seed meal, and almond milk to substitute for the egg mixture. I dipped the bread into the pan and cooked on the griddle with coconut oil for about 3-5 minutes on each side on medium high heat. I then melted bittersweet chocolate and mixed in some cream cheese. I spread 3 Tablespoons of the chocolate cream cheese spread in between two slices of french toast, cut it in half and sprinkled with powdered sugar. So good!
Make sure YOU go and enter for a chance to win something even the $4000. Good luck!
Ingredients
Instructions
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How to Throw a Stress-Free Princess Birthday Party
November 6th, 2014
Since having kids I never realized that planning a little person’s party requires a lot of planning and mental strength. I’ve hosted parties before for friends but somehow, holding parties for toddlers is a whole different plain. Do not get me wrong, I love my kids, it is just a whole different experience, making sure little kids are having a good time.
As a work-at-home mother, I knew that my party planning was going to be personally challenging in the following categories:
Now that we have been keeping a successful budget for a whole year, I knew that overspending for my daughter’s party would be a big challenge. As I visited several stores, I kept on seeing princess gifts and accessories that I wanted to purchase left and right, but I made sure to restrain myself. I made lists and prioritized what was most important for my daughter’s birthday. Here is how I managed to keep my stress-level at a healthy state:
1. Send Evites instead of mailing invitations. Since I hardly ever get to the post office, the easiest way for me to send invites was through email. I asked for everyone’s email addresses and it allowed me to send reminders for guests. It was so easy. I even decided to print out ONE invitation to keep as a memory of my daughter’s third birthday party.
2. Buy secondhand party decorations. This might sound really cheap, but I am part of a great group of women on Facebook, who sell all kinds of items. All I have to do is ask if anyone is selling specific products and it is amazing the responses I received. I was able to buy $20 of Hallmark Princess decorations for several rooms and even tablecloths and table decorations that was probably worth $50 of not a little more. What a savings.
3. Look to Pinterest for pinspiration or inspiration. While we all know that Pinterest can be a worm hole for sucking time, I made sure I had a few ideas in mind before I scrolled through hours of ideas. I tend to get overwhelmed with options. I looked for the following:
Princess crafts
4. Have the food catered or buy prepared food. This might not sound ideal, but for a busy working mother, the last thing I want to do is cook in large quantities. I rather concentrate on the dessert and a side and order from a place I know I can trust. Since my daughter loves Chick-fil-A, we ordered the following for a 6 adults and 6 kids:
It was the perfect amount of food for everyone and the kids were excited that it was Chick-fil-A too! It is hard to prepare foods that perhaps kids won’t eat, so it was definitely SO MUCH easier ordering and just picking up food. The food was warm, fresh, and enjoyed by both the parents and kids alike. The only thing I prepared was a pumpkin mac n’ cheese and the double chocolate cupcakes along with the chocolate dipped pretzel wands.
5. Have other people take photos. I tend to micromanage everything, but I finally decided to hand over the camera to several friends and it was nice, because I was not stressing on poses or on missing on a photo opportunity. I actually have different angles and photos I would have never thought of taking.
6. Have a schedule for the party activities and festivities. I LOVED knowing what I was going to be doing throughout the party. Toddlers only have so much attention span before things can get a little harried so keeping a schedule of activities keeps the party going. Here is what I did for our princess party:
Of course there are many other things that I could have done to keep the stress-level at a minimum, but the biggest thing for me was to relax, pray, and to keep it simple because I know that too much could be overwhelming for the kids and too little could be a recipe for disaster. All in all, we all had a great time and I know it was MY most relaxed party planning I have ever done.
What are things that keep your stress-level at a minimum when it comes to party planning?
Follow Opera Singer in the Kitchen’s board Princess Party Ideas and Crafts on Pinterest.
