Random Fun Stuff for The Family

Happy Thursday to everyone. Didn't get to do my park review yesterday because I was out doing wedding stuff with my bestie, so I was in wedding mode all day. Today I just wanted to share some random thoughts I thought everyone might enjoy.

Over the weekend I made a fabulous cake that I found from a fellow blogger. I didn't have a chance to take a picture but you can visit Lindsey's Kitchen to view it. I substituted the icing for Cool Whip and the m&m's for Reeses Pieces. Intrigued yet?? Check out her blog and try it for yourself. It was so easy to make and it definitely passed the husband/child test.



I also made an ice cream pie the other night. Very very easy, and also delicious. You simply mix vanilla ice cream with lemonade concentrate. Add the lemonade to the ice cream and stir until smooth. Keep testing the mixture until it's "lemony" enough for you. Once mixed, poor mixture into grahm cracker pie crust then freeze until solid. Then slice and serve. So yummy!

For all of you who love candles please visit KDC Events to enter a Gold Canyone Candle giveaway. I love my gold canyon candles, I usually burn mine about everyday and it keeps my house smelling wonderful for hours. Please check out this giveaway, you won't regret it!

Last but not least. Calling all locals, the Upland Lemon Festival starts tomorrow 4/23/10. If you've never been I recommend going. They have carnival rides, games, boutiques, great food and entertainment. We went last year and had a blast. My hubby won a gold fish for us, which died a week later =( If you're interested, the event is held in Downtown Upland and will last all weekend.


Happy Earth day Everyone!

Valentine's Family Day

Valentine's has never been a very big deal to me. It's a sweet thought, though I am lucky enough to have a husband who treats me wonderfully all year round. I don't need one particular day for him to show me because she shows me 365 days each year. So yesterday, being Valentines, we played it very low key and just spent the day with family.

I woke up craving something good to eat(that did not consist of me cleaning, cooking, then cleaning again). So we went out to our favorite place to eat breakfast, Molly's Souper. I have not eaten there since I was pregnant, almost two years ago, so it tasted EXTRA good yesterday morning.

After we had some time to work off our breakfast, we went to Fullerton to hang with my aunt. The weather in Fullerton was sooo nice yesterday. I could have soaked that up forever. We all went out to lunch, which is always a good time when you have a tired toddler with you. Although, I can't complain, he's usually pretty well behaved at restaurants. We had Chili's for lunch, and trust me when I say that their child portion's are HUGE! Thank God my kid loves his food. But that was only the beginning.

After we lunch we went to Aunt Debbie's, where he got to watch T.V., but also got to munch of gold fishes. Later, Aunt Debbie took us to get frozen yogurt. Logan had never had frozen yogurt before so this was a special treat for him. Aunt Debbie fixed him a bowl of the good stuff. I don't know if any of you have ever been to Yogurtland before but wow, the options. I've never seen anything like that before. They had every kind of yogurt you could think of, plus every topping you could think of, and then some. Logan had peanut butter yogurt, chocolate yogurt, with strawberries, kiwis, and chocolate chips on top. He was such a happy camper. I was surprised at how much of that he actually ate. I would have had some, but I was sippin on something else I had been craving all day.

After we left Aunt Debbie's house we went home and it was boring from then on out. So that was our Valentine's day. Nothing over the top, but definitely fun. It turned out to be a very nice family day.

Now just two weeks until our anniversary. I think I'd like to be without child for that occasion.

Photo Credit: http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00882/northamerica.html

A Love for Peanut Butter

I love peanut butter. I mean I really love peanut butter. I love it by itself, I love it in pastries, and I love it for dipping. I think I've only met one person, in my entire life, who does not like peanut butter. Lately, I've been asking my friends, which snack foods their kids like. Most snacks had something to do with peanut butter. So it got me thinking, and I found some cute, creative ways to turn peanut butter into a kid snack.

There are the basic ones, such as peanut butter and celery and peanut butter and apples. Those are both great ways to get your kids to eat a healthy snack, they are both easy to do, and are both affordable.

While reading my latest magazine from Taste of Home, I saw some cute ways in which to use peanut butter. Peanut Butter Balls was the first to catch my eye. So I made some for my son to test it out. This was extremely easy to make, and it did taste good. It was sord of hard for me to stop at just one, but my son had a couple. This is really easy to make, you simply mix some peanut butter with some crushed cornflakes, once mixed, form them into little balls and roll them around in crushed graham crackers. YUMM-0!

Also in the magazine was Waffle PB&J. This is something that I have made for my son in the past and it's awesome. I've even had this for breakfast a couple of times. You simply toast your Eggo's(for a healthier choice, use multi grain Eggo's), then put peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other. I like to cut it into halves or quarters for my son.

Now, I know that Nutella isn't considered peanut butter, but I thought I'd throw this one in there as well. It's called a Nutella and banana graham cracker sandwich. I believe the name speaks for itself, but I'll explain it anyways. You get two graham crackers, spread some Nutella on a single side of one cracker, place banana slices on the Nutella cracker, then top with second graham cracker. I have not yet tried this one, although I've bought all the stuff. See I am currently dieting(again), and can't try too many of these. But I am looking forward to trying it out.

The last item is something that's been around for generations. It is a family favorite of ours, and another great way to get your kids to eat bananas. Peanut butter & banana sandwiches. Mmmm-mmm! Try mixing your peanut butter with a touch of honey though. It's really good. For those of you who have never tried this, you would put peanut butter(mixed with honey)on two slices of bread, and in between the two of them you'd add banana slices. Simple enough!

I know there are so many more great ways to use peanut butter for snacking out there. But these were some of my faves. They are all affordable, easy to do and easy to take with you on lets say, a picnic or a long car ride.

Be cautious though, you don't want to over do it on the peanut butter. Although peanut butter does offer great nutrition for you young ones, it's also high in calories.