The Cycle of Life....

This is so true!

It is amazing what we learn as we get older!

 

Millionaire Pie-- There Are A Million Reasons To Love It!

Millionaire Pie-- There Are A Million Reasons To Love It!

For starters, not only is it delicious, but it is so quick and easy to make!

I came across this recipe I a recipe swap that I participated in last year. It was one of those recipes that intrigued me at first sight-- I knew it would be one of the recipes that I would either totally love or totally hate. Well, I finally made it and the verdict is in.... LOVE it! It is awesome, all of the flavors go together wonderfully and it has so many different textures, it really is a treat! Another great thing about this recipe is that it makes 2 pies, so you can make one to bring somewhere or to give someone and you can make another for yourself :)

 

Millionaire Pie

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 8oz Container of Cool Whip
1 20oz can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup of sweetened coconut

Pie Crust:

2 graham cracker crusts
 

Directions:

 
Gently combine all the filling ingredients and pour into 2 graham cracker crusts.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

 

What Is A Mom?

Love this :)

 

Lorax Craft

We made this cute little Lorax craft with our Dr. Seuss play date last week.

Isn't he too cute?

My favorite thing about this craft is that it uses your child's handprints to make his mustache, which makes it a keepsake as well!

 

Make Your Own Dinosaur Fossils!

 

My son and I had a lot of fun making dinosaur fossils for his DINO-mite dinosaur party. This was a great craft for us to do together because they are very easy and  inexpensive to make. You really can't mess them up! We hid some fossils in the plastic eggs for our dinosaur egg hunt and placed the others on the tables for added decoration. 

 

 

All you need to make these is a container of play sand, some plastic dinosaurs, and plaster of paris. 

 

 

The sand should be about an inch to an inch and a half deep.

Mix in a small amount of water to moisten the sand and make it hold the shape of whatever you push into it. Once your sand is prepared, prepare your plaster of paris by following the directions on the package.

Lightly push a plastic dinosaur into the sand and carefully remove it.

 

 

It should leave the imprint of the dinosaur behind, if it doesn't, mix a little more water into the sand and try it again.

 

 

Using a spoon, spoon enough plaster of paris to fill the indents I the sand.

 

 

Repeat each step for each fossil, moving quickly so that the plaster of paris doesn't start to dry out and thicken. If the plaster of paris in the bowl begins to thicken, you can add a little more water to thin it out. Once you are finished, let the plaster of paris dry completely, I let them sit for a few hours to be safe.

 

 

Remove the dried globs of plaster of paris from the sand.

 

Using a paint brush, brush off all of the excess sand.

 

 

Look at those fossils!

You could make these using anything you like to make the imprint and create fossils of all types of things! Think animals, footprints, sea shells, leaves, and more!

 

 

Cat in the Hat Crafts-- His Hat and His Whiskers!

 

I love Dr. Seuss so when his birthday rolls around in March we play it up big. We have a big Dr. Seuss play date with my play group as well as do crafts and activities at home on our own. This week we focused on the Cat in the Hat. We made a hat out of cardstock and construction paper. The parents did the cutting for the most part and the kids did all of the gluing. We used letter hole punches to put each kid's name in a stripe, this way, everyone would know who's hat was who's. The kids also made the whiskers and a nose to go along with the story.

 

 

For the whiskers, we cut one white pipe cleaner in half, crisscrossed them, and glued them to a popsicle stick. We then glued a pop pom on for the nose. Since I wanted them to dry fast and I wanted the kids to be able to make them, we used the craft sized glue dots. Stick one directly on the popsicle stick to stick the pipe cleaners to and then one on top of the pipe cleaners to attach the pom pom nose.

 

Simple and cute!

 

These crafts will make a cute addition to our Cat in the Hat literacy basket!

 

Cream of Potato Soup

This morning, my son had a run in with his sticker book and suffered his first ever paper cut. It was a traumatic experience for him because the little cut was a bleeder. My son does not do well with blood, he automatically assumes he is going to bleed to death when he sees a little blood. It is funny, but it is sad too. Thankfully, I have a full stock of Band-Aids, they work magic every time! 

 

 

Look at that face :(

Luckily, after a couple of kisses and some cuddle time with mommy, that frown finally turned upside down!

 

 

I never tried a potato soup before. Instead of trying a canned version, I decided that I would make it myself to try. I started out on a recipe hunt... My friend shared her husband's recipe with me an that was the one I decided to go with it. I'm not going to lie, it was a little labor intensive and time consuming to make, but it was so worth it! This soup is amazing! I tried to add a lot of veggies to offset all of the not so healthy ingredients in this soup. Me, being me, I always have to add ingredients and make some changes to the recipe-- I just can't help myself. I decided to add in spinach and garlic for added flavor and nutrients. I used beef broth instead of chicken because that's what I had on hand. I added the parmesan cheese into the soup because it added such a nice flavor. At this point, the soup was delish!  I decided to add bacon into the soup at the end so that I wouldn't have to hear my husband say "I'm not eating vegetable soup," plus, I figured it would help sell my kids on it. The bacon definitely did the trick :) You could easily make a vegetarian version of the soup by replacing the beef or chicken broth with vegetable broth and omitting the bacon. Below, is the recipe that I used, hope you enjoy it!!

 

 

Cream of Potato Soup

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
8 cups of Beef Broth (or you can use chicken broth)
3 Tablespoons flour
1cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning ( I use Emeril's Bayou Blast)
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
sour cream, bacon pieces, and grated parmesan cheese to top soup

Directions:

Cook bacon and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease to your pot and cook the onions, carrots, garlic, and celery in it for 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and Cajun spice. Add in your broth and bring to a boil. Add in the spinach. Cook until the potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and flour until combined, add to the soup and cook for 5 minutes. Remove 2/3 of the soup and blend it in a food processor until it is smooth and creamy. Pour blended soup back into the pot with the soup that is still chunky and combine. Heat it back up and season to taste. Stir in cream, parsley, parmesan cheese, and chopped bacon.
Serve topped with a dollop of sour cram, and bacon pieces and grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Enjoy!!