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a Valentine’s Day Treat for Kids

January 25, 2018 by Rachel 13 Comments

I have to admit it — Valentine’s Day is generally not a holiday that gets me super excited. No, I’ve never had a bad Valentine’s Day experience; it just hasn’t been a holiday that holds much tradition in our family.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, KIDS CHANGE EVERYTHING, y’all. They even make some moms who are not crafty (::cough-cough:: me…) bring out their inner crafty.

And my kids constantly remind me about these little holidays that I mostly think are silly. So I’ve found ways to make even the smallest of holidays a teensy bit special for these two nuts!

A couple of years ago I started the tradition of making Valentine’s Day Puppy Chow!

Puppy chow has long been a favorite in my house — I mean, who wouldn’t want sugar-coated cereal as a snack!? So why not turn it around and splash a little pink on it, am I right!?

Here’s how we make our allergy/nut/gluten-friendly Valentine’s Day treat!

[gmc_recipe 5824]I added pink sprinkles for good measure this time 😉

These make a perfect classroom treat and I cannot wait to share them with Ari’s preschool this year! Just put them in a pretty little package and you’re good to go!

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! Is there any special thing you do or make with your kids to celebrate!?

The Perfect Date Night (Cook)Out // PLUS Party-Perfect Potato Salad RECIPE

June 20, 2017 by Rachel 30 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GrillNGear #CollectiveBias

Summer has officially arrived in Northeast Ohio, and one thing that my husband and I love to do in the summer, is use our grill and entertain friends. Well, since Remy was born (yes, 16.5 months ago…), we’ve fallen a tad bit short on the date nights and having friends over for barbecues. In fact, most Summer nights we find ourselves eating the kids leftovers and falling asleep before dark. It’s true!

But last week I decided to change that. Sure, our schedules are mostly determined by two small people; but we can still enjoy an impromptu cookout/date night at home, right!?

I was determined — determined, ya’ll! But I still had to remain optimistic. I mean, I was taking two kids with me to shop for this date night, so getting in, finding my items, and getting out were of top priority! So I stopped by Giant Eagle on my way home from work. It’s close, it’s convenient, and they always have exactly what I’m looking for.

And what I was looking for were their amazing Bacon Cheddar Patties. A friend from work turned me onto these bad boys and they do not disappoint!

Found in the butcher section, these patties are ground fresh daily, mixed with thick-cut bacon and chunks of sharp cheddar. Amazing!

I also picked up some Hellmann’s Mayonnaise for my delicious potato salad (keep reading for the recipe!), cookies for dessert, and some fizzy lemonade for a mocktail!

In and out in 15-minutes, flat! That’s what I like to call the perfect one-stop shopping trip! PS. Had I planned my date night cookout sooner, I would have just used the Giant Eagle Curbside Express to order online and pickup from my car! Silly me…

That was the easy part. The difficult part was actually getting our date night dinner together while wrangling two toddlers. Luckily, I kinda know my go-to potato salad recipe like the back of my hand. And I was able to chop and dice all the veggies while Remy was napping (thank goodness she takes long naps!).

Although I am no grill-master, I can actually operate a grill (I know, I know… it’s a surprise, right!?). Well my hidden ‘secret’ of grilling is to actually throw the burger toppings on the grill, too! That’s right — I throw those sliced mushrooms and onions into a foil packet and let them get all grilled before serving them right alongside my burger! No buns even necessary on a burger that’s this good! 🙂

And, since we were squeezing in this date night cookout just after the kids went to sleep, I figured a mocktail was in order. I made a delicious frozen blueberry sparkling lemonade with Nature’s Basket frozen blueberries and Lemon Lemon Sparkling Lemonade! It was perfect! It just so happened to be a 90+ degree night, so the chill from the frozen blueberries was honestly the perfect touch.

We rounded out our date night with a couple of Farmhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies and called it a night. Okay, we called it an 8:30PM 😛 😛 But seriously, it was much-needed, both the company of each other and the delicious meal. In fact, we even reminded ourselves to slow it down and chew our food! You know, because the kids weren’t there to distract us! 🙂

Okay, now for that Party-Perfect Potato Salad recipe!

[gmc_recipe 11447]All in all, I’m grateful that we did this. I’m grateful that we spent some time together and reconnected — even if this version of a ‘date night’ is a tad bit different than it used to be!

So tell me — what’s your favorite grilling tip!?

Kid-Friendly Kitchen Crafts!

April 14, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

When I found out I was going to be a mom, I had visions of what Motherhood would be. You know, not just rainbows and butterflies. Or even meltdowns and panic attacks. Honestly, I had visions and dreams of coloring, painting, and other crafts! You know, typical kid stuff, right??

Wrong. Oh-so-wrong! It turns out boys are … different, to say the least! OK, OK. Before you want to punch me, hear me out. I totally was all about the “it’s nurture, not nature” side of the debate. Buuuut, try as I might to have a gender-neutral child, the rough and tumble is totally built into this kids’ DNA.

But my rough and tumbly kid still likes to do ‘craffffs.’ Yep. He’s definitely a crafty kid! However, I have to carefully plan our crafty projects because he’s still a boy. He has a fairly short attention span, so I keep him ‘tied down’ for the absolute shortest period of time possible. And the way that I do that is by choosing to do Kid-Friendly Kitchen Crafts!

Why? Because they not only produce delicious results, but they can also be prepped ahead of time and are done on a surface that can be cleaned easily — the kitchen counter! 😛

Ari’s Mimi (my mom) recently bought Ari a Star Wars apron for when we do crafts and he was so excited to put it to good use!

Our first adventure in kitchen crafts was the ever-so-popular Unicorn Bark! I saw this on Facebook a while back and I knew Ari would love to try his hand at making it!

Like so many kids activities, there was a lot of Mommy prep for a fairly short kitchen craft! I purchased four different colors of pastel colored melting chocolates from the local craft store (I prefer Pat Catan’s!) and a 6-flavor pack of brightly-colored sprinkles. That’s it.

I melted the chocolates according to the directions on the bag (which means slowly and steadily). And I had Ari waiting patiently to do his part. He had his mini-baking sheet ready for the melted chocolates! I greased the baking sheets (besides Ari’s mini-baking sheet, I had a regular sized baking sheet) with coconut oil. As soon as the chocolates were melted, I hurried and dropped dollops of color randomly and sporadically on the baking sheet. Once the baking sheet was covered, Ari used a spoon to drag the colors and swirl them together.

Once the colors were swirled together to his liking, we went crazy with the sprinkles! Post-sprinkles we shoved the baking sheets into the freezer for about an hour to harden the chocolate. The result? This glamorous looking gem!

Totally cute and totally fun! Ari absolutely loved doing this kitchen craft and we are still reaping the deliciously edible benefits!

Another one of our favorite, easy, and slightly more messy kitchen crafts is homemade pizza. For this kitchen craft I purchase some ready-made pizza dough. My personal favorite is from Corbo’s Bakery in Little Italy. I picked up a couple of them recently and then let Ari play around with one.

I spread some flour on the kitchen counter and told Ari to just spread it out. He did a great job and, most importantly, he had SO much fun! I was impressed at how quickly he learned to pound on the dough and roll it out! It was awesome!

Our pizza was lopsided and delicious! We topped it with some Trader Joe’s Pizza Sauce, Basil, and Organic Mozzarella Cheese! Yum, yum, yum! It was so delicious that I somehow forgot to snap a picture of that lopsided monstrosity. Ha!

Of all the different types of crafts we have available, kitchen crafts will always be my favorite. Next week I have a ‘slow’ week at work and I plan on getting Ari in the kitchen with me every single day. I’ll be sure to update you with our future kitchen endeavors! 🙂

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

March 2, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Well, friends, it’s been a few months since I received my awesome electric pressure cooker Christmas present from Chad. I’ll admit — there are only a few things that I’ve perfected. But that’s just it — I’ve perfected them. Albeit, one of those things is rice; but we’ve always eaten a lot of rice. So it’s useful!

Another recipe I’ve perfected? Macaroni and cheese. But not just any macaroni and cheese. It’s THE BEST macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had! Seriously, I’m not even joking. [PS. I wouldn’t joke about macaroni and cheese! Ha!]

To explain further, I’m the kind of person who despises leftovers — I really dislike eating the same meal over and over again, reheated and all. I think it’s gross.

But this mac and cheese? Makes a hugely generous portion. Last week we ate it for three days straight — lunch and dinner — and I wasn’t tired of it. It’s that good.

So it’s safe to say it’s officially on our regular dinner rotation! 🙂

[gmc_recipe 9428]PS. If you don’t yet have a pressure cooker, the Instant Pot is the way to go! It’s electric, so no scary ‘OMG it’s going to blow up on my stovetop!’ moments. And that means that everything is digital — no guessing with heat/time/etc. I absolutely love it and it’s made my life a thousand times easier.

Share your favorite weeknight recipe below!!

A Betty Tradition // GIVEAWAY!

November 29, 2015 by Rachel 16 Comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!! — the holidays!! I seriously don’t even know who I’ve become over these last few months. I’ve never been this pumped up about the holiday season!

Well, due to the recent concerns surrounding my health and the health of Baby Girl, Chad + I decided to cancel our plans to travel to Columbus Thanksgiving Day. That meant that we didn’t spend the holidays surrounded by tons of family. But that’s okay. Because Chad & I are creating our own traditions, complete with turkey and a mashed potato side dish! Cause that’s really all that matters for Thanksgiving, right!?

Between doctor appointments and work schedules, it was a busy week. So we are planned on keeping the holiday super low-key. Easy was the name of the game! Chad made a smoked turkey and I was in charge of the side dishes! Most important? Mashed potatoes. Obviously. The only problem is, I had other things to cook, too. So instead of laboring over potatoes, I used Betty Crocker Potatoes!

Not only does it save time, but Betty Crocker Potatoes are 100% real potatoes, farmed right here in the United States! I keep a packet or box on hand just in case of dinner emergencies (AKA nearly every night), but this time I planned on mixing a pouch with some green onions and bacon!

They turned out amazing. A wonderful addition to our Thanksgiving feast — even if this child did only allow me to eat a tablespoon of each item! You can use this coupon to save $.50 off two packages of Betty Crocker potatoes!

In addition, one lucky reader will win a Betty Crocker Pototoes prize pack valued at $50!! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Winners will be notified by email and will need to respond with mailing address within 24 hours (prize pack shipped directly from Betty Crocker).

life lately //

November 22, 2015 by Rachel 2 Comments

I swear even when we have “nothing going on,” we have nonstop stuff to do! Does anyone else feel that way!? Well, it’s clear we’ve definitely been plenty busy with doctor appointments and hospital visits, etc. Blah! We’ve had our fill of all of that.

But besides that, we have had a little bit of other stuff going on, too!

Playing outside. We’ve had an unusually warm November. Sure, we’ve had spurts of ‘normal,’ cold weather; but we’ve also had several 70+ degree days… in a row… in November… in OHIO. Amazing! So we’ve been hitting up the local parks and playgrounds. And Ari has been begging to ride his new bicycle! So we’ve done plenty of that, too! [I was totally afraid that he wouldn’t be able to use it until next Spring!]

Cooking class. Chad gave me the gift of cooking for my birthday! And it took me a little while to get a class scheduled at the Western Reserve School of Cooking, but when I finally did, it was awesome! I rarely cook (mostly because my husband is such an awesome cook, so I feel intimidated), so pending my upcoming maternity leave, I decided “quick dinners” would be a good match!

The Quick Dinners class almost got off to a rocky start… the owner of WRSOC seemed a bit pushy and not-at-all welcoming, which was very off-putting for someone who: a.) isn’t feeling well; and b.) is there by themselves. However, I pushed through and had a super enjoyable experience with the chef and other students! Plus? I learned a TON and ate lots of amazing food!

Watching lots of movies in “mommies bed.” It’s seriously the only place that Ari wants to watch movies. And, honestly? It’s totally fine with me. It’s much more comfortable for me to lie in bed and watch a movie than to sit on the couch. And Ari can be such a snuggle-bunny, so it’s super nice to get this time in with him.

The LEGO store. Want to keep a kid entertained by simply going to the mall? Visit the LEGO Store. It will be impossible to get your kid to leave. Luckily, we’ve had a couple of gift cards to use [from Ari’s birthday], so we’ve actually left with items, too! Ha! But mostly he just likes to play with all of the cool LEGO stuff he doesn’t have at home! Why is it that toys, even toys that are much like the ones you have at home, at the store, are WAY more fun!? But seriously. The Lego store is awesome.

Chick-fil-a craft night. Our local Chick-fil-a partners with Michael’s Stores to host Tuesday night family craft nights! I’m not sure if every Chick-fil-a does this, or if just some do, but it’s wonderful! Ari loves doing crafts and he loves Chick-fayyy, so this is a win-win for us!

Lots “Spring Cleaning” and organizing. I wouldn’t call it ‘nesting,’ because, truly, I am not at all energized. But I have been knocking some semi-major things off my house/chores to-do list. Like washing the carpets. Or moving things around.

Sure, things aren’t exactly ‘glamorous,’ but it’s real life! 🙂 And I wouldn’t change it for the world!