Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

11/29/10

Road Trip Travel Trays

Pin It
We went out of town for Thanksgiving, and we have another road trip planned for Christmas. Normally we just let the kids watch movies while we drive, but I wanted to have something else for them to do this time, especially since my kids are only 3 and 1 1/2 years old, and don't quite play most road trip games yet AND our Christmas drive will be 18 hours...SOOO...I made some Road Trip Trays!


I picked up two cookies sheets at the dollar store and spray painted them with Krylon Chalk Board paint that I FINALLY found at Ace Hardware. Super simple! I love these trays because they are fun and multi-functional!

Option 1 is A COLORING TRAY. I got some clamp magnets at the dollar store. The crayon holder is actually a note card holder I picked up on clearance at Walmart for .75¢ Traditional coloring pages don't fit, so I trimmed some down and brought some plain white paper to color on.

I just hot glued some magnets onto the back of the "crayon case" to help it stay put.

Option 2, A RACE TRACK FOR CARS! My little boy is in LOVE with cars, so this was a good option for him, I just colored the track on with chalk and brought along a few of his favorite cars to use.

Option 3, A TRADITIONAL CHALK BOARD. I did the same thing with the chalk as I did with the crayons and hot glued magnets on the back to help them stay on the tray. I just brought some soft rags to wipe them clean.

Option 4 is A MAGNET BOARD, bring along number and letter magnets, paper doll magnets, laminated shapes to match, you name it! My kids are always playing with the magnets on the fridge, this just made it portable!

No picture of Option 5, but you can use these as SNACK AND DRINK TRAYS! It helps keep SOME of the mess off the floor!

The best part about these is that when you are done using them, you can just stack them up and slide them right under the seats! Happy Holidays and sane safe travels!

To have your ideas featured on Crazy Domestic, click HERE

8/30/10

Neapolitan and Candy Corn Cupcakes

Pin It
I've been inspired by this month's cupcake love workshop! I first had this idea when I was making my daughters rainbow layered birthday cake. It was so simple, just layer chocolate, vanilla and then strawberry cake mix! I'll be honest, I was hoping for a more uniform layered look, I even used a piping bag to make sure there were definite layers, but I kinda like the marbley affect these turned out having. I'm still baffled at how the chocolate batter made its way up to the top all the way from the bottom, if anyone knows how to get a good layered look, fill me in!

I topped them off with my favorite buttercream frosting recipe, adapted from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 8 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract
  • 6-8 fluid ounces heavy whipping cream

Directions

  1. Cream butter and shortening until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
  2. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.




I have a jar of candy corn on my counter (yes...already) and so while I was making the neapolitan ones, I got the idea to do some candy corn cupcakes, I just dyed some of the vanilla batter yellow and orange. Too bad Halloween it still 2 months away! Oh well, they still tasted good!



To have your ideas featured on Crazy Domestic, click HERE

8/19/10

Blueberry Season

Pin It
Blueberries are one of my favorite things to snack on. I love how you never know if the one you pop in your mouth is going to be super sweet or tart and tangy! If you haven't noticed, blueberry season is in full swing, I picked up a huge case of them at a local grocery store for $2.99!!! Even though I could probably eat the whole thing as is, it's always fun to create something with them. Check out these yummy ideas, then go out and pick up some blueberries for yourself! Happy baking!

GET ALL THE SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPES HERE:

1. Blueberry Cobbler Cookie Bars @ Dinner With Julie
2. Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake @ Whimsical Creations
3. Blueberry Scones with Lemony Glaze @ Laura's Best Recipes
4. Zesty Lemon Blueberry Cake @ Singing With Birds
5. Blueberry Ginger Jam with BONUS printable labels @ Making It My Own
6. Berry Trifle @ Organize and Decorate Everything
7. Quick Warm Blueberry Pancake Sauce @ Gluesticks
8. Blueberry Lemon Muffins @ The Girl Who Ate Everything

To have your ideas featured on Crazy Domestic, click HERE

8/17/10

Project Camping- with Echoes of Laughter

Pin It
Today's feature is good enough to be split up into several posts and made into a workshop! When Angie emailed us her ideas last week, it was like a mad dash to rearrange our blog schedule to fit her in before the camping season is done and over for most people around the US. (Our family has a campout planned for the Fall, but that's 'cause we are in Arizona and it doesn't get cold here!)

Angie has a whole series of posts all camping food related, including awesome recipes and ideas for make ahead preparation. If you don't have any campouts planned anytime soon, bookmark this page and come back to it next year. And if you're like my husband and prefer to camp at the Holiday Inn, maybe these ideas will change your mind and you'll find yourself longing to become one with your tent and sleeping bag just to experience the yumminess of the following posts! If nothing else, it could spark your creativity to plan an outdoor BBQ, picnic or Bon Fire with some friends. Take a look at this:

Camping Cuisine {Preparations}
Before I get to the recipe portion of this post, I want to mention how food prep for camping is a girl's best friend. I start with a menu plan for each meal that will be required for our stay. And I create a grocery list based on my meal plan. Pretty basic planning...but it helps the trip go smoothly.
 I make sure to wash and prep all the vegetables and store in ziploc bags.
On the left are vegetables for dipping for snacks. On the right are vegetables for chicken kebabs.
Here are onions and mushrooms prepped for our steak night.
I also take containers of other meal ingredients that we will need.
Fruit washed and cut up for quick camping snacks.
I don't waste money buying small sizes of condiments from the grocery store.
I just scoop out different things from the big sizes already in our fridge and store in small containers to put in the cooler.
And I am sure to label, label, label!!
And here are two of my favorite things in our camping kitchen...
A handy, dandy screen to keep those pesky flies off of the salads.
And our cutlery caddy to keep everything handy at the table, so I don't have to get up a million times searching for things.

 Camping Cuisine {Recipes}
To be clear, we do have hamburgers sometimes....everyone in our family likes them. I just make sure that I make the burgers before we leave home so that my husband just has to put them on the grill.

And we take hotdogs for snacks because, afterall, what is a camping trip without roasting weenies on a campfire? But here is a list of a few other favorites:

Picnic Sandwich
 Not only is this a fabulous sandwich, but it is the ultimate in 'make ahead'  food.
It tastes better the day after it's made....after the flavours have had time to mingle.
This sandwich is the perfect lunch for the first day of camping. After arriving at the campsite and spending a few hours putting up tents, inflating mattresses and getting things in order, everyone is usuallly tired and hungry. That's when I am so happy to pull out the picnic sandwich for an instant lunch. It makes 8 sandwich wedges and each piece is very filling and satisfying.
This sandwich requires a filling, some meat & cheeses and a round loaf of bread. To see how to make it, click HERE.

Chicks on Sticks
(Seriously. That is the name of the recipe.)
 Simply gather your ingredients and do the preparations listed HERE and your meal is ready to go into the cooler for your camping trip.
When preparing this meal, simply thaw the chicken by placing it on the top of the cooler.
Thread the chicken pieces with the washed and ready-to-go-veggies on skewers.
Grill each side about 5-6 minutes or until chicken looks cooked and juices run clear.

Blueberry and Cream Cheese Dessert
This is SUPER easy to make and you only need 4 ingredients and a fire iron or camp cooker.
Get the recipe and step by step instructions  HERE
It's a pocket of warm, yummy & creamy goodness!

You don't have to limit yourself to blueberry jam. Here are some other suggestions: Strawberry jam & cream cheese, marmalade & cream cheese, peanut butter and banana slices, nutella & banana slices or any combination you like. For some meal suggestions for fire irons or camp cookers, try: pizza sauce, mozarella and pepperoni. Or how about smoked salmon and cream cheese? The possibilities are many!

For Goodness Steak
This recipe requires you to mix up a quick & easy marinade to toss on steak in a ziploc bag to freeze for later use on the camping trip.
Recipe and prep instructions HERE.

 Don't Forget Your Veggies
On our last camping trip, I took along a bean salad which included lots of veggies.
I chose this recipe because it's a marinated salad and it only gets better with age, therefore, it makes a great camping recipe.  I modified the original recipe a bit because my husband is not crazy about too many beans. {And everyone has to sleep in a tent together...so enough said about that.}The recipe made so much that it actually fed 3 families and we still had some leftover! I served the salad as a side to our hamburgers one night for dinner. It was so good.  This salad travels really well. I highly recommend it!

Recipe HERE


Camping Cuisine {Wrap Up} 
Of course, the whole reason for camping....the happy pink glow in the childrens' cheeks.
Here is my 'sous chef' enjoying his morning fried egg sandwich with bacon....made by Dad.
Did I mention that while I do all the food prep for camping, my husband then takes over and does all of the actual cooking while we are camping?
Yes. I love him.

Food eaten in the fresh air is so very good!
 I like to think that I have inspired some campers to mix it up a little. I hope so.
I hope on your next camping trip you feel inspired to try something new and fun!
•••
Ok, who is hungry?!? Aren't those ideas Fan.Tas.Tic?!? 
To see what else Angie is up to when she's not around the camp fire, check out her blog Echoes of Laughter.
Thanks Angie for sharing! Next time, take me with you!

To have your ideas featured on Crazy Domestic, click HERE

7/12/10

Popsicle Brownies

Pin It
Here's a super fun and easy idea for kids or for a summer party! My daughter's eyes were as big as saucers when she saw these!



WHAT YOU NEED:
•1 box brownie mix or your favorite homemade recipe
•almond bark
•food coloring
•popsicle sticks
•sprinkles

HOW TO DO IT:
1. Make the brownies according to the directions and let them cool completely.
2. Cut brownies down the middle horizontally. Then cut them into 12 equal bars.
3. Gently push popsicle sticks into one end of the brownie, being careful not to push through the top surface. Lay brownies onto wax paper.
4. Melt almond bark in microwave safe bowl stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Add food coloring to almond bark and mix until well blended.
5. Spoon colored almond bark on top of brownie and spread over the top and sides. (You could also dip the brownies, I just didn't want my entire brownie covered in white chocolate). Shake on some sprinkles and let the almond bark harden and your done!



To have your ideas featured on Crazy Domestic, click HERE

6/24/10

Fourth of July Favorites

Pin It
I love the Fourth of July, the weather is warm, the friends and food are great and the feelings of unity and patriotism are everywhere! I have so many fun childhood memories of our neighborhood get-togethers with bbq's and backyard parties followed by fireworks out in the street with all of our friends! I can't wait for the 4th to get here! I've seen so many outstanding ideas lately, here are a few of my favorites!


See how to assemble this gorgeous American Flag Carnation Crate with Michelle @ Sweet Something Design



Candace @ CraftySisters-NC teaches us how to make this lovely Star Puzzle Wall Art with MDF and scrapbook paper!



This cute and easy recipe for Pretzel Sparklers is found @ Taste of Home



Create this elegant Fourth of July Wreath with A Little Lovely


Alison @ How Does She? shares how to make these fantastic 2X4 Flags



I can't wait to make these shirts with my kids! Find out how to make your own Bald Eagle Tee with Family Fun


I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July!