5/23 Meal Plan

We had such a lovely time on our camping trip last weekend! It has been tough to get back into the rhythm of things since we got back though. We all came back with a cold😭(not covid so no need to worry). So that has made it extra hard! Asher is a trooper, he hasn’t been all that bothered by it. Because it has been an off week, I never managed to get lunches made and we just had sandwiches. I will re-share my favorite salad we’ve had recently. Hopefully you week was more fun than ours, and I hope you enjoy the yummy meals we had!

A quick recap on how this meal plan works. There will be 1 meal prepped lunch for grown ups, 3 dinners with leftovers every other night. One of the dinners will be vegetarian/ vegan. This is a tiny step we are taking to try and lower our impact on the planet.

Whats on the menu….

  • Moroccan Farro Grain Bowl(Lunch)
  • Sticky Sausage Tray Bake
  • Tuscan White Bean Skillet
  • Baked Honey Garlic Chicken

Shopping list…..

Bellow you will find a complete shopping list for everything on the menu. I have separated everything by recipe, so there are a few duplicates of pantry staples.

5_23-meal-plan-sheet1Download

Moroccan Farro Grain Bowl

Double recipe to make 8 meals https://mealpreponfleek.com/moroccan-farro-grain-bowl/

The first time I made this I had never had farro before but I will 100% be making this again. The farro has a really nice chew and is very filling. This grain bowl has a delicious herby dressing, and a salty crunch from the pistachios. The store was out of dried apricots, so I substituted with dried mango which I totally recommend doing. Those sweet chewy bites are such a treat! One of my favorite lunches I’ve made recently.

Sticky Sausage Tray Bake

4 adult meals. 2 toddler meals https://lostinfood.co.uk/sticky-sausage-tray-bake/

I thought this meal was so interesting with all the different kinds of root vegetables. This dinner was a high in prep, but low in cooking effort. It has you cook the veggies for about an hour, but it definitely took longer. I would probably try cooking at 400 degrees instead of 350 and checking every 20 minutes. I cooked half hot sausages, and half bratwurst. Asher LOVED the bratwurst. He is so funny, and such a toddler. He will try any meat as long as you call it a “burger”. He ate almost a whole “burger” with each dinner. 😂

Tuscan White Bean Skillet

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://www.nourish-and-fete.com/tuscan-white-bean-skillet/

This was my favorite meal of the week! It seriously took 30 minutes or less to make, prep time included!!! It was super flavorful and I can’t get over how easy it was. I wasn’t on my game, so we bought a yummy artisan bread from whole foods to go with it. If you are feeling up to it my unbelievably easy bread would also be yummy! You can find the link to that recipe bellow. https://turtlelion.com/2021/03/20/unbelievably-easy-homemade-bread/

Baked Honey Garlic Chicken

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://www.killingthyme.net/2021/05/07/baked-honey-garlic-chicken-thighs/

This dinner was also super easy! You simply mix up the sauce coat the chicken and toss it in the oven. I intended to buy broccoli to go with this but I either forgot or it didn’t make it with my grocery delivery. So I resorted to whatever frozen veggies I had. Asher’s was served with his favorite peas, and I threw some edamame on mine. I really liked the Montreal steak seasoning the sauce used. It is pretty pepper-y, and will be useful for other meals later. Asher was super into this meal, he started asking for more when he was only half way through his first plate.

I hope these meals hit the spot for you like they did for us! I’d love to hear from you if you try them out. Please like, share and enjoy!!!

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Campfire Pizza Log

It is camping season again, which means EPIC meal planning! This has quickly become our favorite camping meal, because honestly who doesn’t like pizza! The best thing about this meal is your prep it ahead of time, and freeze it. So it will help keep everything in your freezer cold. I hope you love it as much as we do!

Lets start with the dough! I made my own using this recipe… https://veronikaskitchen.com/homemade-pizza-dough/ . I find I do need to add more flour to that recipe. Up to 1/4 cup adding a little bit at a time until it is not to sticky. You could also buy a store bought dough, or even use the Rhodes frozen rolls. To start you roll out the dough to a large rectangle, about 1/4″-3/8″ thick.

Next step is to sauce and top your pizza! Spread the sauce leaving at least 1/2″ around the edges. Add your toppings being careful not to go to crazy. If it is to full you will have a hard time rolling it. I filled ours with pepperoni, Italian sausage, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, and cheese.

Next you roll up your pizza like a cinnamon roll. Starting at one side and carefully rolling it up. Coat the whole thing in some butter or olive oil and sprinkle some parsley on top. Wrap the whole thing in tinfoil and toss it in the freezer until you are ready to go. Pull it out of your cooler a few hours ahead of dinner to let it thaw. When you are ready to cook get some nice coals going in your fire. The fire is an unpredictable cooking method so you’ll see mine got a little crispy. You’ll want to cook it 10-15 minutes on each side. Unwrap, slice, and enjoy!

Campfire Pizza Log

Serves 4

Ingredients….

  • Pizza dough (store bought, homemade, or Rhodes frozen rolls)
  • Tomato sauce
  • Pizza toppings
  • Olive oil/melted butter
  • Dried parsley(optional)

Toppings we enjoy….

  • Pepperoni
  • Italian sausage
  • Bell peppers
  • Artichoke hearts
  • Onions
  • Cheese

Step 1: Roll out your dough into a large rectangle, about 1/4″-3/8″ thick.

Step 2: Spread the sauce over the dough leaving about 1/2″ around the edges. Next add your topping, being careful not to go overboard or it will be hard to roll up.

Step 3: Roll up your pizza like a cinnamon roll. Starting on one side carefully rolling to the other side. Coat it in olive oil or melted butter, and sprinkle with parsley. Wrap the whole thing tinfoil and toss it in the freezer.

Step 4: Pull the log out of the freezer/cooler a few hours before cooking to thaw.

Step 5: Build a fire and get some good coals going. Cook the log 10-15 minutes on each side. I cooked mine for 15 minutes and it got a little crispy so you may want to try to check it around 10.

Step 6: Slice and enjoy!!!

I hope you enjoy this campfire meal! It is one of our favorites. I’d love to hear from you if you try it out. Please like, share, and enjoy!

5/9 Meal Plan

Happy Mothers Day all! This week has been another whirlwind… I feel that might just be life now. Now that Kyle and I are vaccinated, we are beginning to go back into the world and interact with other vaccinated people. It is so refreshing(and a little scary). It is such a strange feeling to be told that all of the sudden it is safe to visit with people again, but I am ready to do it. On that note I’d like to mention that there will NOT be a new meal plan next week, as we are going to have some family fun! There are now quite a few to choose from so hopefully there are some meals you would like to revisit! All that being said lets get to this weeks meals!

A quick recap on how this meal plan works. There will be 1 meal prepped lunch for grown ups, 3 dinners with leftovers every other night. One of the dinners will be vegetarian/ vegan. This is a tiny step we are taking to try and lower our impact on the planet.

What’s on the menu…..

  • Pinwheel wraps (lunch)
  • Za’atar Pan Roasted Chicken
  • Slow Cooker Pot Roast
  • Chickpea Tikka Masala

Shopping list….

Bellow you will find a complete shopping list for everything on the menu. I have separated everything by recipe, so there are a few duplicates of pantry staples.

5_9-meal-plan-sheet1Download

Pinwheel Wraps

So these are really simple to put together. You just put whatever you might like in a sandwich inside a wrap, and then slice it into little rolls. I also served these with grapes and baby rainbow carrots with hummus. It is totally a grown up school lunch. The nice thing about these is you could switch up the flavors for each wrap. Maybe put in different meats, veggies, or sauces. I’ll share bellow the things we used.

  1. Sun dried tomato/ spinach wraps
  2. Baby spinach
  3. Mayonaise
  4. Onions
  5. Cheese
  6. Sweet peppers
  7. Ham/ turkey
  8. Hummus

Za’atar Pan Roasted Chicken

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://www.thefeastlocal.com/entrees/zaatar-pan-roasted-chicken/

This recipe was really simple to put together. It suggests thighs or breasts, I went for the breasts. I served it with a pan roasted cauliflower rice. This meal was definitely a little light. Somewhere in the recipes post it mentions adding more veggies and making it more of a stew. I would do this if I made it again. It also has two unique spices; za’atar and sumac. Sumac is easy to replace with lemon zest. I will post a za’atar replacement recipe bellow if you can’t find it.

Za’atar Substitute

Mix together equal quantities of:

  1. Thyme
  2. Oregano
  3. Lemon Zest

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://keviniscooking.com/moms-slow-cooker-guest-pot-roast/#wprm-recipe-container-28529

This is by far the winner meal of the week! This pot roast is so flavorful you won’t regret making it. It wants to sit in the marinade for at least an hour, but you could do it the night before. The recipe says it can be cooked on high in 4 hours, but I always want to get it in first thing in the morning, so I put it on low for 8 hours. I threw in a quartered onion in for a little something extra. It can be shredded or sliced. I served it with smashed potatoes and oven roasted broccoli. I coated the broccoli in olive oil, salt, and pepper and put them on the bottom rack in the oven at the same time as the potatoes. Bellow you’ll find a great recipe for the smashed potatoes. http://www.kimshealthyeats.com/smashed-potatoes/

Chickpea Tikka Masala

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://www.watchwhatueat.com/healthy-chickpea-tikka-masala/

This is one of my favorite tikka masala’s I’ve ever made! Asher usually loves curry, but I made this one a little bit to spicy. I thought it was pretty mild, but he was bothered by it. I think I maybe but into much chili powder or garam masala. All that being said the flavor is awesome, and I love the baked garbanzo beans! I threw some spinach in the sauce at the last minute for something green, and served it on brown rice.

I hope you enjoy this weeks set of meals! Remember that there will not be a new meal plan next week. I hope you revisit some of the meals from weeks past! If you enjoyed this weeks meals I’d love to hear from you. Please like, share and enjoy!

3 Warm Weather Ice Cube Activities

The sun is out, and playing outside has quickly become Asher’s favorite activity. Playing with water is always a hit, but you can easily spice it up with these ice activities. The best thing about doing this outside.. no cleanup!

Ice Cube Tansfer

Lets start with the easiest. Simply get one bowl of ice cubes, and a bowl of water. Asher loves to scoop the ice from one bowl to the other. He usually ends up pretty wet, but this will keep his attention for at least 30 minutes.

Pom-pom Ice Cubes

Similar to the first activity, this one involves transferring the ice cubes from one bowl to the other. It is made extra fun by freezing pom-pom’s inside, and using warm water to help them melt. I used a few sizes of silicone molds to make these, with a variety of pom-pom sizes. The pop of color and the different textures of the cubes makes this really fun. We obviously did this inside, but could easily be done outside too!

Ice Cube Painting

For this I just added a few drops of food coloring to the water, and a popsicle stick to each ice cube mold. Then when the sun is out lay out some paper and get to painting. It works best if you let the ice cubes get a little melty first. The effect reminds me of watercolor. You also could paint right onto the concrete, but beware it might stain. It should eventually wash away, but it is something to keep in mind.

I hope these simple activities bring a little extra fun to your outside time! I’d love to hear from you if you try them out. Please like, share and enjoy!

5/2 Meal Plan

This was a wild week. Our schedule was so weird but we made it through. This weeks meals were quick and easy for the most part. Sometimes, I really like to go all out for dinner, use every dish in the kitchen, and make a super fancy meal. When the pandemic hit, I like a lot of people, turned to the kitchen as my escape from reality. I baked everything I could think of, mastered macarons. I also cooked gourmet meals all week. Now that Asher is a toddler that is just not a possibility. So quick and easy is often where it’s at! That being said, there is no reason a quick and easy meal can’t be delicious.

A recap on what my meal plan includes. 1 adult meal prepped lunch for the week, 3 planned dinners with the intention of having leftovers every other night. On the 7th night we either have family dinner, extra leftovers, or get take out. One dinner a week will be vegetarian, this is our small effort to help save the planet. Check out the menu bellow!

What’s on the menu…..

  • Lentil and butternut squash buddha bowl (lunch)
  • Creamy bacon chicken
  • Grilled pizza
  • Honey garlic baked cauliflower

Shopping list…..

Bellow you will find a downloadable shopping list for this weeks menu. I’ve separated everything by meal, so there are some duplicates of pantry staples.

5_3-meal-plan-sheet1Download

Lentil and Butternut Squash Buddha Bowl

10 Lunches https://foodbyjonister.com/recipe/lentil-and-butternut-squash-buddha-bowl/

I really enjoyed this weeks lunch! The lentils are kinda earthy, the squash is sweet, and there is a nice acidic note from the pickled onions. The recipe has a little button to scale up or down how many servings you want to make, which I LOVE. If I were to make this again, I would cut the onions differently. I cut them in rings, and would probably slice them next time. The rings were to much for one bite. The recipes for the dressing and the onions was a little tricky to find, so I will link them bellow.

Creamy tahini dressing… https://foodbyjonister.com/recipe/creamy-tahini-dressing/

Pickled onions….. https://foodbyjonister.com/recipe/pickled-red-onion/

Creamy Bacon Chicken

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://40aprons.com/creamy-whole30-bacon-mushroom-chicken-thighs-paleo/

This photo is misleading…. I didn’t get the chance to take the picture the first night and we must have gotten carried away with the sauce. The sauce is so creamy and delicious, it’s a shame you can’t see it in this photo. The recipe calls for chicken thighs, which are DELICIOUS! I often opt for bite size chicken breast to save time. I just quickly pan sear it, and then make the sauce. That way I can skip the baking. I served it on roasted sweet potatoes, but this would also be yummy on rice. I added some peas to the sauce for something green, but sometime I do steamed broccoli. I also leave out the mushrooms because no one likes them in my house. I have obviously changed this quite a bit, but rest assured the original recipe is great!

Grilled Pizza

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://turtlelion.com/2021/04/30/grilled-pizza/

Everybody loves pizza! This is a great easy meal, and is always a crowd pleaser. We have been making this in my family my whole life! So fun for everyone to get to make their own pizza. When I do this for dinner, I prep all the toppings, and grill the pizza’s fresh each night. It is super easy to thaw and roll out the dough. Cooking time the second night is 15 minutes or less, minus thawing time.

Honey Garlic Baked Cauliflower

4 adult meals, 2 toddler meals https://kirbiecravings.com/honey-garlic-baked-cauliflower/#wprm-recipe-container-41972

This was our meatless meal. It can be so hard to find a veggie meal that isn’t some kind of pasta! There are so many things people do with cauliflower these days, I thought it was time to try a crispy version. This definitely took some effort, but it was easy to do. You’ll want to utilize the wet hand dry hand technique when coating the cauliflower. I served them over farro, and with some pan fried brussel sprouts that I got in my basket. Rice and whatever your veggie of choice would also be great! I doubled the sauce just to be safe and it was more than enough. I did put in about a TBSP of Sriracha and it was a tiny bit spicy. You could 100% leave it out. I found this surprisingly filling, and Asher ate two bowls!

Another week down! I hope you enjoy this weeks meals. If you try them out I’d love to hear from you. Please like, share, and enjoy!

Grilled Pizza

We have been making these grilled pizza’s my whole life, so I am not really sure where the recipe came from! They are so easy and customizable, the whole family will be happy! These are also great for a party, whenever we get to have those again. 😝

Ingredients…

  • Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
  • Flour
  • Olive oil
  • Tomato sauce
  • Cheese
  • Pizza toppings

Toppings we enjoy…..

  • Pepperoni
  • Italian sausage
  • Bell peppers
  • Artichoke hearts
  • Pineapple
  • Jalapeno
  • Onions
  • Bacon
  • Goat cheese
  • Mozzarella

These frozen rolls make great pizza dough! I like to pull them out around lunch time to let them thaw. I usually do 3-4 for an adult pizza and I used 2-3 for Asher’s pizza. I set them on a plate and cover them with a piece of plastic wrap and leave them on the counter. By dinner time they are thawed and have risen. If you are in a rush you can also thaw these in the microwave, they just won’t have time to rise.

Now it’s time to make you pizza’s, the fun part is that everyone gets to make their own! Asher loves to help make his pizza. Heat your grill up to a medium-low heat. Dust your clean counter with some flour, and start to stretch your dough. The dough is very elastic and wants to spring back, so it may take a bit of effort to get it as big as you want. You can use your hands or a rolling pin. Once you have it stretched out coat the side that is going on the grill first with olive oil so it doesn’t stick to the grill. Put the oil side down on the grill and let the dough cook. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. It usually takes a couple minutes. Take the dough off the grill and coat the other side with oil.

On the grilled side of the pizza, add your toppings. Start with the sauce and then add whatever you want! When it’s ready, put the pizza back on the grill. Let the bottom of the dough cook, and the cheese melt. Remove from the grill, cut and enjoy!

Grilled Pizza

Ingredients….

  • Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
  • Flour
  • Olive oil
  • Tomato sauce
  • Cheese
  • Pizza toppings

Toppings we enjoy…..

  • Pepperoni
  • Italian sausage
  • Bell peppers
  • Artichoke hearts
  • Pineapple
  • Jalapeno
  • Onions
  • Bacon
  • Goat cheese
  • Mozzarella
  1. 4-5 hours before you want to make the pizza’s, pull the dough out of the freezer. You want 3-4 rolls per adult pizza, 2-3 for a child size. Place the dough onto a plate and cover with plastic wrap and leave on the counter. They will thaw and rise by dinner time! If you are in a time crunch you can thaw these in the microwave, they just wont rise. They still make a good pizza!
  2. Heat your BBQ to a medium low heat. Then dust your counter with flour and begin to stretch your dough. You can use your hands or roll them out with a rolling pin. The dough springs back so it might take a little effort to stretch it out. Coat one side in olive oil and place the pizza oil side down on the grill. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn. Pull it off when it seems about half cooked.
  3. Coat the raw side with olive oil, and begin putting toppings on the cooked side of the pizza. (raw side down, cooked side up) Add your sauce and whatever toppings you enjoy!
  4. Once you are satisfied with your toppings, place the raw side of the pizza back onto the grill. Allow the dough to finish cooking, and the cheese to melt. Once it’s done cut and serve!

I hope you enjoy this Barnes family classic! It is always a hit at our house. I’d love to hear from you if you try it out! Please like, share, and enjoy.

4 Shaving Cream Activities

Shaving cream is a fun, messy, inexpensive, sensory thing to play with! It is so light and fluffy, and hides things great. It is fun to squish in your hands, scoop, and mix it all up. If your child has sensitive skin, these activities might not be for you. That being said, shaving cream is great for all kinds of things! Here are 4 activities to try!

Shaving Cream Squish Bag

Lets start with the only mess free option. Simply fill a ziplock with shaving cream and few drops of food coloring, squish all the air out and zip it up. Tape it to a window, the floor, a wall, or the table and have at it! It is so fun to squish all the colors around and watch them move and blend.

Color Mix

This is a great activity for talking about colors! For this activity I took 6 little cups and filled them with shaving cream. To each bowl I added a few drops of food coloring. 1st-red, 2nd- red and yellow, 3rd- yellow, 4th-green (or yellow and blue), 5th- blue, 6th- blue and red. Then I let Asher mix them with a spoon and see each color blend. He soon began to mix the colors from bowl to bowl, and eventually all over himself. I sat him up on top of our kitchen island to do this, but I would probably put him in the bathtub to do it again.

Shaving Cream Search and Find

This is the messiest activity in the bunch! In the bottom of the box I put little plastic animals, then covered them with shaving cream. I gave Asher a large paintbrush and a little bucket of water. Asher really enjoyed squishing his hands around in the shaving cream and he was SO EXCITED when he found animals in there. He washed them off and threw them back in the shaving cream. As you can see eventually he ended up completely covered in shaving cream. I would definitely do this in the bathtub next time for easy cleanup.

Shaving Cream Art

This activity is for older kids, I’d say 3+. You’ll need shaving cream, food coloring, paper, and toothpicks. Start by spreading shaving cream on a piece of paper. Then drop food coloring around the shaving cream where ever you’d like. Take a toothpick and gently swirl the colors together. Next, place another piece of paper on top and gently rub it so all the colors transfer. Remove the top paper and scrape off the remaining shaving cream. You’ll be left with a really cool piece of art! Let the paper dry and admire your work.

There you have it! 4 super fun shaving cream activities. I’d love to hear from you if you try these out. Please like, share, and enjoy!

4/25 Meal Plan

As I was getting all the meal images together this week, I noticed every meal was served in a bowl. What can I say I enjoy a big comforting bowl of something delicious! This week was very international. We had Mexican, Italian, Mongolian, and American. Mixing up the flavors really excites me for a new dinner! I hope you enjoy them too.

A reminder of how this works. There will be 1- meal prepped lunch for grown ups, 3- dinners with the intention of leftovers every other night. On the 7th night we either have a family dinner, eat extra leftovers, or get takeout. One of the dinners will be vegetarian. It is one small way we are trying to improve our imprint on the world.

What’s on the menu….

  1. Mexican Buddha Bowl (lunch)
  2. Mongolian Beef and Broccoli Bowls
  3. Chicken Pot Pie Soup
  4. Tomato, Pesto and Gnocchi Traybake

Shopping List

Bellow you will find a complete shopping list with everything you’ll need to make all these meals. I have separated them by meal, so there will be duplicates of pantry staples with each meal.

4_25-mealplan-sheet1Download

Mexican Buddha Bowl

10 lunches

https://plantbasedjess.com/mexican-buddha-bowl/#wprm-recipe-container-13013

Here we have another photo ready salad! I love a good burrito, so a bowl like this is right up my alley. The recipe above says it only makes TWO salads, but their ingredient quantities are kinda crazy. Like it calls for TWO red bell peppers…a whole pepper per salad seems a kinda bonkers. I will post bellow the quantities of the ingredients that I used to make 10 lunches. I also made the vegan chipotle mayo they have linked in the recipe, totally worth it! One batch was enough for all the salads. If you don’t want to bother making the cashew cream you could totally substitute it for regular mayo. As usual I also substituted quinoa for the rice.

  • 2-cups uncooked rice/ quinoa
  • 2- red bell peppers
  • 1- can corn
  • 1-15 oz can of black beans
  • 1- small onion
  • 1/2- cup cilantro
  • 1- lime

Mongolian Beef and Broccoli

4- adult dinners, 2- toddler meals https://www.cottercrunch.com/paleo-mongolian-beef-broccoli-rice-bowls/#tasty-recipes-42996

We love this dinner, I have been cooking it for years! It is really quick to put together so that is always nice! Instead of making the broccoli rice, I make a cauliflower rice and quickly steam the broccoli so the meal is more satisfying. I roasted the cauliflower rice this time. I just put the rice in the oven at 400 degrees with some olive oil, salt, and pepper until it was golden. You can also cook your broccoli this way if you want. Asher loved this meal so much he had three bowls the first night.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

4-adult meals, 2- toddler meals https://40aprons.com/instant-pot-healthy-chicken-pot-pie-soup/

This is also a family favorite! I make this all the time so you are likely to see it again! This is an instant-pot dinner, but if you don’t have one they do have stovetop instructions. The ingredients are simple, and it comes together quickly. Pressure cooking for only 10 minutes! This recipe has another cashew cream, which makes it so creamy and delicious! I also made my unbelievably easy homemade bread to go with this. You can skip it, or buy a store bought bread. You can find the recipe here…https://turtlelion.com/2021/03/20/unbelievably-easy-homemade-bread/

Tomato, Pesto, and Gnocchi Traybake

2 adult meals, 1 toddler meal https://nourishingamy.com/2021/03/22/tomato-pesto-and-gnocchi-traybake-vegan-gluten-free/

I did not realize the recipe above was only for two meals. It was plenty for the 3 of us, but would need to be doubled for leftovers. I loved the gnocchi traybake I made the other week so much I wanted to try another one! This one was not as magical since it has you boil the gnocchi first, but I thought the addition of the pesto really took this up a notch. I also added asparagus because I got it in my produce basket this week. I recommend adding some sort of veggie, otherwise it is just tomatoes and pasta.

I hope you enjoy this weeks international menu. I would love to hear from you if you try it out! Please like, share, and enjoy!!!

Snack Pack

This week I ordered a produce basket and had lots of food to process. The trick to getting produce boxes like this is to get creative so no food goes to waste. I often turn extra fruits and veggies into snacks. Here is what is in our snack pack for the week!

Healthy Apple Oatmeal Cookies

https://pastryandbeyond.com/healthy-apple-oatmeal-cookies/#wprm-recipe-container-9375

These apple cookies were so easy, and are totally guilt free. The recipe only makes 9 cookies so I doubled it because I had A LOT of apples to go through. They are soft and a little chewy. Right after they’d cooled out of the oven were also slightly crisp on the bottom. Asher has really enjoyed these, he’s so excited to get a cookie. 😂

Roasted Pineapple Salsa

https://borrowedbites.com/roasted-pineapple-habanero-salsa/#wprm-recipe-container-772

I have made this salsa a few times because there are often pineapples in my produce baskets. One time I got TWO!!! This recipe calls for 4 jalapeños AND 2 habanero’s! I honestly don’t even mess with the habanero’s. I roast 3 jalapeños and add them one at a time, and it is plenty spicy for me. It is slightly sweet slightly spicy, delicious!

Cooked Apples and Pears

This weeks box had so many apples and pears in it! Neither Kyle or I are big fruit eaters, so it is up to Asher to go through these. He is not a big fan of raw apples or pears though. So I usually just peel and chop up a big batch and cook them. Then I put these glass baby food jars in the freezer. I’ll pull a couple out at a time and they are great for a quick snack, added to pancake batter or just as part of his lunch.

I hope you enjoy these snack ideas! If you do please like, share, and enjoy!

Three Oobleck Activities

Oobleck is such a fun and MESSY activity! So easy to put together only needing 2 ingredients, you are bound to have some messy fun! Why I say yes to mess…. Creating a space to be messy allows your child to have a full sensory experience, and explore their creativity. If Asher wants to smear it all over his belly, I say have at it! Also messy activities help teach your child that cleanup is a part of play. With the oobleck you’ll see I often put Asher in the bathtub. Easy cleanup, and after he’s done playing there is no running through the house before a bath. That being said I try to dump most of the mixture into the garbage and not down the drain. In small quantities I’m sure it is fine but I wouldn’t want to dump it all. I hope you enjoy these activities and give them a try!

Oobleck Ingredients

  • Corn starch
  • Water
  • Food coloring (optional)

Simply combine the ingredients in a 2:1 ratio. So if you do 1 cup of corn starch, then add 1/2 a cup of water.

Science fact!!!

A quick little science fact about the oobleck! It is what is called a non-Newtonian liquid. Which means that it’s viscosity changes as it is put under “stress” So you will see when you play with it that as you run your hand through it you can scoop it up and create what seems to be a solid ball, then once it can rest, it will melt through your fingers as a liquid! If you had a big pool of it, you could literally run across the top. Pretty cool huh?!

The first one is pretty simple… just put it together and let your child go wild! Here I gave Asher a couple cups to play with, but he mostly flung it all over. Look how happy that little face is 😍

Animal Washing Station

For this activity I made a oobleck “mud” Using 1 cup corn starch, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup of water. I then used a few bath toys and coated them in the mud. I also got Asher some warm soapy water and a couple brushes for scrubbing. This is great sensory and fine motor skill work, but is also some good practice for grooming.

Oobleck Search and Find

For this activity I chose a deeper bowl so that it would more easily cover the things I put in the bowl. Asher loved using this slotted spoon to reveal the animals I hid in the oobleck. He really was looking for somewhere to put them once he’d found them, so I got him a little container with water to dump them into. He loved finding them, dumping them in the water, and then putting them back in to be found again. I mostly hid these little plastic animals, but I also put in some other random things like a blender bottle ball, an old binky, a spoon. You can use whatever you want, you just want it to be easily washable.

I hope you enjoy these messy fun activities! If you give them a try I’d love to hear about it! Please like, share, and play!