Potato & Egg Salad: Cooking with kids!

Hi-ya!  As you read this, my family is off camping for one last summer hurrah before school starts {this Thursday!}  We tried to make meals very easy, so we prepared as much ahead of time as we could.  The day before we left, my girls and I made potato salad.  Since many people seemed interested in ways to incorporate kids in cooking, I thought I’d share some more ideas!

We’ll start with the ingredients:

Beachy Hostess Gift

Hi Friends!

Wow, here we are full-fledge into summer. I’ve missed you! I almost forgot I had a blog for a while. Does anyone else feel like summer is the most challenging busiest time of the year as a mom? {It’s camp mom around here!}  A good friend of mine recently said,

“Summer vacation was clearly not created by a mother of 3.”

Cheers to that! I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been having TONS of fun with my kids…we’re in between road trips right now…we’ve celebrated the 4th of July:

visited The Happiest Place on Earth:

hit Southern California beaches:

celebrated turning 4:

Look who came to our party!

put the dog in a cone:

Had our obligatory trip to the ER {that’s a must with a 7 year old boy…but no cast this year, only a splint, whew!}
And celebrated 8 blissful years of marriage, topping the evening off with
 Robin Williams doing stand-up live at our local theater! 
What a summer it's been so far!

Next we head up to Oregon and will spend a week sight-seeing and then another week at a friend’s beach house…Ahhhhhhh.

I have been thinking for a while about an appropriate hostess gift to bring along with us to the beach house and it finally came to me:

My latest favorite Trader Joe’s find: Salt Water Taffy, in these gorgeous pastel colors {all colored with natural ingredients, like beet juice…no red dye #574 here}

Cute huh?  Little pink/white swirls, pint dot inside yellow, solid pink {dark and light}, solid white…does it get any sweeter? {pun intended!}   Oh and did I mention, they are NOT sweetened with high fructose corn syrup…2 more points for TJ’s.

Do you wanna make one? Super easy and pretty inexpensive, all things considered.

~1 gallon container {I got mine at Cost Plus…and like it ‘cause it has a rubber gasket under the lid so it doesn’t slam shut…a plus when you have little fingers reaching in all the time!} $10 with my coupon

~6 packages of Trader Joe’s Taffy, $1.99/package…$12 total

~homemade tag and ribbon {I had on hand}

I thought about adding some chalkboard paint on the side…would be super cute…but just ran out of time. Click here to see my chalkboard painted jars.

So off to the beach we head…with enough taffy to share!

Are you peeking at those hydrangeas in the background? Aren’t they amazing? The previous owners of our house planted them years ago and we enjoy them so much!

And if you are curious about my blue mason jars…be sure to check out my tutorial here! They are simply spaghetti sauce jars that I’ve painted!

I also used the hydrangeas to decorate for my little girls’ birthday party! {Notice the bowl of TJ’s taffy, too!}

You’re also getting a sneak peek of my {unfinished} gallery wall in the background.  All my frames are painted white and now just awaiting the perfect picture!

Well my friends, that’s all for today…the kids are screaming calling for me. Time to get back to summer!  Smile!!

A few things in our Easter Baskets {kitchen utensils for kids}

Hi there, and happy almost Easter! 

In thinking about Easter baskets for my kids this year, I want to include things that are cute and practical.

 

Since my kids all enjoy helping me in the kitchen, I found a few items that will hopefully inspire more culinary creativity...or at the least help make healthy food more "fun" to prepare and eat!

First up is this adorable set of "Buddy Learner's Chopsticks". 

Funny thing is, I didn't even know my son had any interest in chopsticks until last week.  When asked by my mother and sister-in-law what he'd like for his 7th-birthday dinner, I thought for SURE he'd request macaroni and cheese.  So I was shocked {and a little worried about the possible disappointment} to watch the dinner spread coming out and not seeing mac-n-cheese anywhere on the table. To my surprise, my dear son had requested "Chinese noodles I can eat with chopsticks".  Well, that's what he got!  But the trouble was, he had never used chopsticks before and hadn't a clue as to how to work them. So my husband secured one end together with a rubber band and he took it from there. But then when I saw these at Cost Plus World Market, it was a no-brainer! Guess mom'll be making more Chinese noodles in the near future.

Next up, also from World Market, is this pink piggy egg mold (which I will also use for pancakes and zucchini latkes and the like). 

 Both my daughters love pink {& one especially loves pigs!}  And they certainly enjoy pancakes and eggs as well. 

Finally, does it get any cuter? Check out this adorable mini whisk!   It's the perfect size for toddler hands.

I found it at Mollie Stones {a local market} but you can buy them on line from Amazon.

Both of my girls love making breakfast with me and especially love using the whisk for some reason.  When they use the big whisk, egg batter inevitably ends up on the counter, the floor, in the gap between the stove and counter, etc.  So this just might be the perfect solution {well, that and using a bowl 3 times bigger than we need}.

Ok, well that's all for now, folks.  Just wanted to share a few cute finds for the chefs in the family.

Happy Weekend!!

Cooking with Kids {ways to include them in meal prep}

Howdy friends! Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve chatted…probably cause it has been!  I spent an extended weekend in the Sierras for some much needed R&R vacation time {read: time away from my painting insanity} with my family.

And then last night I attended this amazing cooking class with Shane {& Chantal} Valentine, author of The Baby Cuisine Cookbook: Internationally Inspired Organic Recipes for Babies 6-18 months and fellow blogger: Alina’s Cucina.

In addition to sharing some wonderful recipes, chopping advice, and frying pan suggestions, Shane provided inspiration for including children in all aspects of meal prep: from shopping/washing/cooking to family/community meals.  I left with that old cliché in my head:

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” 

 

Positive Discipline Incentive Jars

A little post for the moms {and dads} out there!

I want to share with you our family’s positive discipline approach and how it’s working for us.  I got this idea from a friend who saw it on one of the Nanny shows!  She told me about it a while ago, but honestly I kept holding off until I found just the right jars…I didn’t wanna sacrifice cuteness just for good behavior.  Smile!

Ok, so here are the jars (I got the jars from Ikea and used chalkboard paint for the labels:

Aren’t they cute?!  I painted them with chalkboard paint to give me a place to write each child’s name on them. I’ll post the tutorial soon!

Here are the details….

Snow and an Island

Hello friends!

Sorry, I’ve been MIA this week….here in CA we have this crazy phenomenon called Ski Week! Unlike the rest of the country that seems to be buried in snow, we’re snow deprived and need to take a week off just to get out and experience winter.  Since they’re telling us to go….

It snowed for a week straight, so we headed up on the first dry day…and what a gorgeous day it was!

Pretty good pic from the driver’s seat, huh?

Enjoying this place we call home

California is finally drying out after almost floating away with all the rains we've gotten!
However, rains leave some of the most beautiful gifts...a few of which we got to enjoy the other day. 
After school I decided to mix it up a bit and be spontaneous!
{I think a bit of it was guilt for all the time I've been spending on the computer lately.}

So I bundled everyone up and we headed out for a late afternoon hike.

Brrrrr, not to be a wimp or anything, but it was 48 during the DAY,
we aren't used to that!

It was a gorgeous day!

We crossed a creek.

Made a new friend.

Crossed another creek.

Whoa!

Helped an "old" friend.

Talked a lot about moss and spores and fungus.

Needed a little fuel.

And were finally treated to lots of "ooohs" and "ahhhhs".

I'm still learning my new camera. Wish the pics had come out a bit better.

But I didn't get to keep playing around with the settings 'cause my battery died.

Oh well, it let me enjoy the moment a bit more.

And enjoy it I did.

I think we'll be spontaneous a little more often.

Maybe that's a good New Year's resolution? You know, I haven't made one yet. I know a lot of people are "simplifying" or "finding balance"...maybe I'll take a few more detours from the script.

In loving memory of my dear father-in-law. We'll miss you.