Cooking With Kids--Potato Chip Cookies

When I saw this recipe in the Martha Stewart Living Magazine I knew I just had to try these!  My daughter LOVES chips and cookies!  If she had anything to do with it, all she would eat is chips!  My kids and I whipped these cookies up yesterday morning.  They love cooking/baking and had a lot of fun making these cookies. I think their favorite part was smashing the chips into crumbs!

Crafty Choas

Do you ever feel like you are living in Crafty Choas?  That is where I am right now.  I have several things started, but for some reason I just can't get anything completely finished.  I have all of these wonderful ideas and even have the materials to carry them out...but I am just not really all that interested in doing them. 

I have spent tons of time over my summer break organizing.  But for some reason I still have tons of piles and add those piles to the choas of the crafty projects lying around....Umm, I think I am just overwhelmed with STUFF!  

Today, I am going to set a couple of SMALL goals and get them finished!  I do SO much better when I have a list and can cross out things that I have finished.  So I am off to figure out what my goals for today are!

Please tell me that I am not the only one that gets to feeling this way?!?!

Hopefully, I will get SO much accomplished today that I will have an awesome project to share with you! 

 Thanks For Reading!

DIY Chia Pet

Want a cool activity that keeps on giving?  Check out these awesome cups of grass!  I made these fun plants this spring with my Kinder kiddos at school.  They loved having a turn to cut the "hair" on our creations!

All you needs is a: Styrofoam cup, potting soil, grass seeds (You can buy a small pkg. at Wal-Mart for a couple of dollars.)  and a permanent marker


Have your child design a face on the outside of the cup.  It is fun to make all sorts of funny and scary faces!  Next, fill your cup with potting soil.  You can fill your cup up to about and 1 inch to 1/2 inch from the top.  Next spread your grass seeds on top of the potting soil.  Mix them into the soil. (You will not want to bury the seeds deep into the soil.)  Water your grass when dry and in a week or so...you will have a funny looking character!  


The kids favorite part is getting to cut the hair!  Depending on the age of your child, you might want to assist them in "cutting" the grass.  I have seen some fun and crazy designs!  Let your child cut away and be as creative as they like!


The fun thing is that in a couple of days it will grow back and the plant is ready for a NEW hair design!

Who knew a cup of grass could be so entertaining!

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

I made this dessert for my husband on Father’s Day.  He loves cheesecake, so I thought this might be a quick alternative!  I am usually not big on cheesecake, but I still had to have a tiny sample of this one!  Hubby loved it!  Fast, easy and yummy…my kind of dessert!

Ingredients:

3 (8-ounce) pkg. cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 (16.5-ounce) rolls refrigerator chocolate chip cookie dough

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed.  Set aside.

3.) Spray a 9 x 13 inch glass dish with cooking spray.

4.) Use one roll of cookie dough, and press in to the bottom your glass dish.  You will then spoon your cream cheese mixture over the cookie dough.

5.) Slice the other roll into thin slices and place them on top of the cream cheese mixture.

6.) Bake 45-50 min. or until golden and center is slightly firm.

7.) Remove from oven, let it cool and then refrigerate.  Cut into slices when chilled.

 

You could even add toppings to this just before serving!

(Recipe from MrFood.com)

Gray Chevron!!

Look what I finally got yesterday!!!  Woo Hoo! 

I saw this gray Chevron fabric at Hobby Lobby about 4 weeks ago.  I was excited that HL had finally gotten some Chevron fabric.  I looked at it several times trying to decide if I really needed it.  (I have to have a project in mind before I buy fabric.)  SO…a week later I run to HL and guess what…NO CHEVRON Fabric!!!  I was so disappointed! 

So for 3 weeks, I have been calling the 3 close HL’s every Friday to see if they were shipped this gray Chevron Fabric.  Each week I was disappointed by the fact that they did not get it in…UNTIL I called YESTERDAY!!!!

I was super excited when they told me that YES….they got it IN!!!  YEA!  Needless to say, I ran over to HL immediately!

I know…who…. really….gets this excited about gray Chevron fabric?!?!?!  I have been really wanting to make something out of Chevron for months now.  I just did not want to order it online.  So now I am set!

SO what am I making?  

Of course, I am not going to tell you right now…that would ruin the fun! 

I will keep you posted!

Have a FUN & SAFE weekend!!

Daily Caloric Intake

 

                                                    (source)

I have been on a mission since January to find the right way to shed some pounds.  I started the year using Weight Watchers Online.  I figured that I could keep track using the I-Phone app and I could easily track my points.  With that said, I have lost about 20lbs using the old WW point system in the past.  This time, I did not feel that I was having the same success with the new system.  Plus, the WW app was not all that it cracked up to be.  So, with that I decided to cancel my membership in early March.

A teacher friend had been faithfully using the My Fitness Pal app. (The also are online.)  I had heard of it but I had also tried using other apps that counted calories.  So, I was not sure I wanted to go that route.  Anyway, I finally started using the My Fitness Pal app in mid-March.  I decided that I loved being able to scan all my foods and it totally did all of the calculations for me!  Yea!  Plus, I have ran across very few foods that would NOT scan.  That is a PLUS in my book! 

(source)

So fast forward to now.  I have been really good about tracking calories and watching what I eat.  The MFP app told me that my daily calories should be1200.  I am down 11 pounds…give or take….it depends on the day…

Anyway,  I currently do not feel that I am loosing what I should be loosing considering that I am really trying to stick to those calories.   So, last night I got to searching around on the web looking for suggested calorie intake.  I might add that I found a very wide variety of opinions.  I guess I am just trying to figure out if maybe 1200 is too few calories and thus resulting in very SLOOOOWWW weight loss.

I found this one and thought this was an interesting concept.  It also gives you the option to zig-zag your calories everyday so you keep loosing and will not plateau.  I might just run with it for a week or two and see how it goes.  I will let you know what I think about this one in a couple of weeks!

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Canned Cinnamon Roll Waffles

 

I have seen this recipe floating around blog land and thought my kids would think this was fun.

All you need is a can of Cinnamon Rolls.

Spray your waffle maker with oil before placing your rolls.  Place 1 roll in each section on your waffle maker.  (See I sprayed the bottom and forgot to spray the top!)

My waffle maker has a timer and beeps when it thinks it is finished.  I set the temp. on medium-low.  I did not want burnt waffles!

This is what they look like when they are finished!  I let the kids ice their own waffles!  I am positive that these would be great with syrup also!!

The kids and husband approved and it was a very quick and easy breakfast when you are short on time!  I think I will add this to my list of favorites!

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