A few weeks ago, I posted aboutGrandBox , a monthly subscription box.
GrandBox is the original monthly subscription box customized and curated specifically for seniors 65 and up. It’s the perfect gift to bring a smile to the older loved ones in your life.
Well, it was received by the kid’s paternal grandmother. And she liked it!
The box contained:
Holiday Wet-It
hand lotion,
d’anjou pear hard candy,
chocolate butter biscuit,
holiday patterned kleenex,
and a couple of candy canes!
And per my Mother in law, the TOPPER was the pics of the kids.
So if you are looking for a gift for the grandparent or other older relative in your life, check out Grandbox!
When I was a kid, my mom made apple crisp probably once a week, it’s a huge comfort food for me (and probably my brother too). It’s yummy, cheap to make, and very filling. And as far as desserts go, it’s not really too unhealthy.
This recipe makes a 9×13 inch pan. I use a pan like this one. It’s got a lid, so you can take it to potlucks or store any leftovers in the fridge. Halve the recipe to make smaller sized batch. Honestly, after having it, you won’t want to make a small batch.
Ingredients:
8-10 green apples (about 3-4 cups), peeled, cored and chopped (green apples work best- Granny Smith’s are nice).
1/2 stick of butter softened (don’t use oleo/spread- it makes the crumble topping watery)
1/2 c. packed brown sugar (light or dark, whatever you got!)
1T. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (whichever you prefer)
1 c. quick cook oats (raw!) (if you have a gluten intolerance, you can use gluten free oats)
1/4 c All purpose flour ( if you have a gluten intolerance, you can use nut meal- I like almond meal. Sometimes when I make this GF, I omit the oats and increase the amount of nut meal to 3/4 c)
Directions:
In the bottom of a greased baking dish, pour the apples in a even layer.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients with a pastry blender (Or a fork, if you don’t have a pastry blender), until ingredients are all combined and crumbly.
Pour crumbles over apples in an even layer.
Bake at 350 degrees until apples are all soft and mushy, usually 30 -45 minutes. THe topping gets toasty and crispy as it bakes!
Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream. Also great cold, lukewarm, or any temp in between.
It’s so freaking good!
You can use fresh peaches, apricots, or berries instead of apples. They do need to be fresh and ripe (no frozen or canned fruit).
Last Friday Lil’ Man and I had a great date night! We had dinner at Olive Garden and then sang and danced along with our friends, O, Daniel, Miss Elena, and Katerina Kittycat! Trolley is even in the show, helping our friends get all over town! Daniel Tiger LIVE was a fun night out.
It was a great show! Lots of fun music, dancing, and audience interaction!
There were lots of kids from little tiny to Kindergarteners.
If you missed the show, they’ll be back real soon! And don’t forget that you can check out episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on your local PBS station, and the PBS kids app too.
My Dad made this for us a lot when my mom worked late. I love it because it’s got chicken, onions, cheese, and pasta in it. Pretty much everything I like in life. AND when I was pregnant with Lil’ Man I had such horrible morning sickness round the clock, it was pretty much the only food I could eat. This is a great hot dish, perfect for a family dinner or make a bigger batch for a potluck. It’s a hit with kids and grown ups!
I try to make adaptations for many differing diets, but sadly, this recipe cannot be adapted for Vegans or be made gluten free (unless there is GF Cream of Mushroom soup I don’t know about).
Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1 t. butter
1-2 c cooked shredded or cubed chicken (I usually cook a batch of chicken breasts in the crock pot and then portion it up for later use)
1 can Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup (if you can’t find it, stick with Cream of Chicken)
I can of water
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
½ cup cheese (you favorite kind- I like sharp cheddar!) You can use more cheese if you like.
1 lb pasta, your choice
Directions
Start a large pot of water on the stove and cook pasta as directed.
While Pasta is cooking In a saucepan, saute the onion in butter, until the onions are clear, about 10 minutes.
To the onions, add chicken, soup, water, Italian seasoning. Cook until bubbly, stirring to combine ingredients.
Add cheese and stir until smooth.
Add pasta and stir to combine.
If you want to make this a one pot dish, add 1-2 cups steamed veggies, such as broccoli, peas, or asparagus.
Serves 4-6.
Options:
You can use the vegetarian “chicken” pieces in place of the chicken. You can also use leftover Turkey or rotisserie chicken!
You can also add 1 cup sliced mushrooms and/or 1/2 cup celery while you are sautéing the onion.
My dad likes the dish topped with butter bread crumbs or slivered almonds.
To make this dish a little richer, stir in 1/2 cup sour cream (the real stuff, no imitation sour cream) when you add the cooked pasta.
My kids love popsicles. If given the choice, they’d eat them all day. So I figured, why try to fight it? I’m turning into the skid and embracing their love of frozen food on a stick.
Recently, I was sent this awesome Lebice Popsicle mold kit. Right now it’s on sale for about $8.00. Remember Amazon prices change frequently!
It makes 6 good sized frozen nummies, a stand to keep them upright while they freeze, a collapsible funnel, and a small brush to clean out all the nooks and crannies.
After I washed them, I pulled out the blender and whipped up strawberry banana breakfast popsicles (if they are going to demand popsicles in the morning, might as well make them healthy, right?). I keep over ripe bananas sliced in the freezer in ziploc bags for morning smoothies and protein shakes, as well as whatever berries are in season. I buy them on sale, and freeze them before they go bad. It’s a great way to keep fruit on hand!
Strawberry Banana Popsicles
Makes 6 popsicles
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Vanilla Greek Yogurt (or use whatever you have onhand, it doesn’t have to be Greek)
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen banana slices
1/4 milk
Directions
Set up molds in stand.
Blend all of the ingredients together, until smooth.
Pour mixutre into mold, leaving about a 1/2 inch at the top.
Snap lids/sticks on, stash in freezer for 6-8 hours.
Remove from stand and run molds under warm water to loosen. Pop popsicles out of molds, and enjoy!
I also like making instant pudding (adding in frozen bananas or raspberries) and pouring that into popsicle molds too. That is a sweet and satisfying dessert!
I like that the stick and drip tray are attached and I’m not finding mystery popsicle sticks all over the house. The entire set is very sturdy and I know we’ll be using it for years to come.
Thanks to Lebice and Tomoson for providing the awesome popsicle mold! I received no financial compensation for this post, and all opinions are my own!
Overall, this mat is great for those who picnic or head to the beach frequently. I thought it was a little too small for all three of us and our stuff. For a park picnic is was great, but it’s def. not a good beach blanket, since we have a lot of stuff to keep sand-free.
I like the stakes- they came in REALLY handy!
With weighted corners, a place for your keys, and lopps to be staked down, what more could you ask for?
Monkey Mat, AS SEEN ON SHARK TANK, allows you to make your space, any place! Originally inspired by an unexpected six-hour layover at the airport (constant cringing while two babies crawled all over dirty floors!), and also by overall active lifestyles, this go-everywhere large mat in attached ultra-compact pouch gives you a clean space on the go – no more bulky blankets! Perfect for all ages, all places – park, beach, concerts, dirty airport/hotel floors, camping, hiking, sports events & more! http://www.monkeymat.com
Sigh.. I received this 12 pack of super cool clear glass bulbs to review about 2 weeks ago and now that Lil’ Man is back to school, I sat down yesterday to get crafty.
After surfing Pinterest and Google for ideas, I reached into my craft box and pulled out Sun Catcher Paint. My paln was to paint the glass ornaments with sun catcher paint so they’d look like stained glass. Cool, right? I would like to think that I am a creative person. I mean, I did create costumes for a living for 10 years. Well, these little glass ornaments failed me.
Ok, it wasn’t the ornaments. It was the medium. Sun catcher paint works on sun catchers because they have little wells or cavities for the paint to sit in and dry, the glass bulbs.. do not.
The ornaments themselves are pretty sturdy for being glass. The silver bale is easily removed and reinserted.
So here is my tale of woe in a photo collage….
I still have 10 left, so here is my Pinterest Board with a few ideas I’ll be trying this weekend!
Thanks to Tomsoson for the chance to try out these little ornaments for free in exchange for my opinions. I received no financial compensation.
So, if you are a mom, specifically a mom of little boys, you should probably own stock in a bandage company.
I was pretty excited when I was offered a First Aid Kit from Patch-Up. I am CONSTANTLY re-stocking our family first Aid kit. Between Lil’ Man’s damn near constant desire for bandages, and other household injuries (we’re all pretty accident prone), The ladies at the check-in desk at Urgent know several of us by name!
This kit has EVERYTHING I could need!
I love how small the case zips down. It’s tri-fold, and really contains everything I might ever need to use! The best part is that it’s really affordable. There is no way I’d be able to put together this kit on my own for less than what this kit costs! This first aid kit would make a great baby shower gift, or even a housewarming gift.
There are all kinds of sites on the web that tout tons of free samples and full size products, but once you read the fine print, you discover that you have to sign up for monthly subscription services, pay a crazy shipping/handling free, or some other crazy thing.
Here are some sites that I like that have hooked me up with free samples and free full sized stuff in the past that I recommend.
Sample Sized Products
Pinchme– They put samples out about once a month. Answer a bunch of demographic questions and they’ll email you when they have samples available. In exchange, they ask you questions about how you liked the samples.
MySavings Free Samples– MySavings has a great database of free sample offers that changes daily. I check it at least once a week!
Full Size Products
Tomoson– Tomoson helps brands get their products out into he hands of social media influencers. If you have a large social media following, check out Tomoson! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen some of the amazing stuff I’ve gotten!
Discounts and sometimes free full size stuff– These next website I am signed up with, but I have yet to find anything I am excited about signing up for. They offer deep discounts and sometimes free stuff in exchange for Amazon reviews.
If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that Lil’ Man and I hit up the town on Thursday- The Legoland Mini-town that is.
On June 30th, Freedom Tower, the Miniland version of the One World Trade Center was revealed! It’s pretty amazing! It’s built with 250,000 Lego Bricks! It weighs over 1000 pounds, stands over 26 feet tall (that’s the tallest lego structure in the US!), and it took 8 Master Builders 1200 hours to complete. It’s breath taking!
In addition to the Freedom Tower, there are replicas of the 9/11 Memorial’s twin reflecting pools, the grove of memorial trees, and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.
Here are some views from the Coast Cruise ride:
Little Man’s hand at the bottom- practicing his Vanna moves.Awesome panoramic photo of MiniLand!
If you don’t have plans for the 4th tomorrow, Check out the Legoland Red, White, and Boom!
Don’t miss Fireworks set to a patriotic musical tribute with great viewing in designated locations throughout the Park. Throughout the day, kids of all ages can enjoy performances, meet their favorite LEGO® Friends and Characters, and participate in all-American family picnic games, like water-balloon tosses, burlap sack races, the Family Build Challenge and LEGO Hamburger relay.
The celebration lasts from 1:00pm to 9:00pm with fireworks at 8:30pm. All Red, White and BOOM! activities are included in the cost of admission to LEGOLAND California.
Speaking of Admission, here is the deal I alluded to earlier… When you buy one Legoland Play pass at regular price, you can come back to play the rest of 2016 FREE! Enjoy unlimited admission now through December 25, 2016 to LEGOLAND California. For details and to purchase, click here.
, a monthly subscription box.
great show! Lots of fun music, dancing, and audience interaction!
Sigh.. I received this 
in a photo collage….
Everyone loves free stuff, right? 
Hewes Family Fun 