Thirsty Thursday (A Day Late): Chocolate Chip Cookie Shake

Hope everyone is ready for a great weekend!!  Since I did not get to post this recipe yesterday, I thought I would today.  It will be close to 100 degrees this weekend so why not feature a drink with some ice  cream in it?!  Plus, Chief's birthday is tomorrow.  He likes cookies.  He likes shakes.  He likes ice cream.  Why not combine his favorites?

I found a recipe online but decided to change it up a little.  If you don't have a blender, don't substitute your kitchenaid mixer for it.  Just go buy a blender.  Trust me...that's why there is not a picture of a sweet little hazel-eyed boy sipping away on his shake.  But I will get my blender this weekend so I can make a good thick shake for the birthday boy.

You need:
3-4 scoops of vanilla ice cream-homemade vanilla, classic vanilla, vanilla bean (whatever your preference is)

1-2 chocolate chip cookies, crumbled (homemade or store bought; your preference)

1 cup of almond milk

A Handful of chocolate chips for topping

In a blender, combine the ice cream, crumbled cookies, and almond milk.  For a thicker shake, use 4 scoops.  I liked 3 scoops in mine.  If you add too much ice cream, just add a little more milk to thin it out.  Blender until semi-smooth.  Then pour into your glass and top with chocolate chips.  Perfect!!

Family Friday- Movie Night!!

If I can keep from taking my kids to the movies, I do.  I hate sitting in a movie theater.  Like seriously HATE it!!   Why do I want to over pay to sit in a seat that 1,000 other people have sat in?  God knows what they did in that seat!! (I might be a slight germophobe.)  I can't sit still for that long and worst of all- I HATE LISTENING TO PEOPLE EAT!!  Especially popcorn. It seems like any movie I go to has the guy that just won the "Loudest Eater Award."  So there's really no point in going to the movies with me. 
But I do enjoy a good family movie night.  My favorite time is around the holidays.  We have the fire place roaring, surround sound is booming and we have no where to be the next day.  With the kids getting older, our movie night doesn't have to be a cartoon.  It can actually be something we all might enjoy.  I think the kids get more excited about a movie at home than they do if we take them to the theatre.  It doesn't take much to make us happy.  Here's some tips to make your family movie night a great one!

1.  Break the Rules!  Cook dinner just as you usually would.  But instead of eating at the table, create a nice little dining area on the coffee table where you will be watching the movie.  Make sure your dinner is movie night friendly.  We do soups if it is cold.  If the weather is warmer, we do nachos, quesadillas, hamburgers.  Usually something that does not require silverware.  Bring plenty of napkins or paper towels.  Then you can either pause the movie or wait until the end to put away the dishes.

2.  Close the curtains and lower the lights to give that movie theater feel.  We usually leave a couple of small lamps on if we are having dinner and a movie.  The kids love when I turn off all the lights and close the curtains.

3.  If you have surround sound, use it!  Don't just utilize it during sporting events.  That will achieve the movie theatre feel even more.

4.  Keep candy and snacks close by.  Just recently I moved a cabinet (that used to be our old kitchen island) into our living room.  My next trip to Costco will include buying candy bars and other movie snacks to stock that cabinet.  Keeping snacks in close reach will allow us to not miss a moment of the movie.  Buy a small popcorn machine to stash in the corner for quick refills of the popcorn bucket.

Most of these seem pretty obvious but I am sure I am missing something too.  The point of movie night is to keep it casual and comfortable.  You've all had a long week and deserve some family time.

Hugs y'all,
Melissa

Grilled Cheese Heaven

                  

  

I am just gonna put this out there:  if you don't like grilled cheese sandwiches, we can't be friends.  Seriously, what's not to love?  Bread-good.  Cheese-good.  Butter-good.

Grilled cheese sandwiches used to be just that; bread toasted with cheese in the middle and grilled to a gooey mess.  Now there's all these different ways to change it up.  I make my kids grilled cheese pizzas and they love them.  The simple grilled cheese has come a long way.  Today, I am bringing you a few of my new favorites that will be repeats on our family menu.  

Lasagna Grilled Cheese

Adult Grilled Cheese

Breakfast Grilled "Cheese"

I can't wait to try out some of these this weekend.  Red has basketball games on Saturday so the breakfast sandwich will be perfect as we head out the door!

Peace, Love and Grilled Cheese!

Hugs y'all,

Melissa

Mom Monday- Lucky One

St. Patrick's Day is a great time to talk about being lucky with your kids.  With shamrocks everywhere, it's an easy topic to bring up.  Today, I am bringing you a fun idea to do with the kids.  Talk about ways you feel lucky.  Things like great kids, roof over your head, food on the table,etc are good starting points.  These are ideas that will get the kiddos thinking.  Cut out a shamrock from a sheet of green construction paper for each of your kiddos (and yourself!).  Write "I Am Lucky Because" at the top.  Then have your kiddos write all the reasons they are lucky.  When they are finished, tape the shamrocks to the fridge!

Hugs y'all!!

Melissa

Wonder Woman Wednesday: Operation Fridge Clean Up

Have ever you opened the fridge and a herd of eggs came flying at you?  Splat!!  On the floor are your freshly bought eggs...  You get mad.  You may yell.  Then you start purging anything that might even be close to expiring!  Oh, this only happens to me?

                    

Chaos in my house drives me crazy.  A messy fridge has become a new pet peeve of mine.  Water bottles everywhere...applesauce forgotten about...10 bags of grated cheese because I forget I what I have so I buy a new bag every time...  Now everything has a place.  

Everyone has a different way of setting up their fridge so I won't go through all my shelves.  But, here's some helpful hints-dollar store plastic bins!  The big red one holds at least 14 small water bottles.  When my daughter's basketball team comes over, I can take the whole bin out and place on the table with a little ice over them.  In one of my crisper drawers, there are 2 small bins (not pictured).  One holds all my cheeses, grated or sliced.  Now I know what I have and what I need.  The other small bin holds my garlic cloves and onion.  Cokes go on the drink rack and tada!

Having the bins also makes it easier to know when things are out.  I can glance in the fridge and know what needs to go on the grocery list.  Life instantly made easier!!!

Remember March is the kitchen organization challenge.  So your task for this week is your fridge!  Clean it, empty it, stock and organize it!  Make it smell purdy and (in my case) replace the light bulb!

Happy Organizing!

Hugs y'all!

Melissa 

 

Fun Friday- Spring Break Fun

 

Snow's on the ground here but spring break is just around the corner.  Kids will be out for a week.  Most are sure to utter the words "I'm bored" by Tuesday afternoon.  Video games and TV can only keep them entertained for so long.  I don't know about you but, I am not too crazy about my kids playing video games all day.  I also know my son is not someone who is known for his cleaning and organizing skills.  He's 8 and a pack rat!  No mom I know wants to spend all week cleaning and organizing with her kids home.  I've come up with a few ideas to keep your little ones busy during their spring break.

1.  Petting zoos: Perfect for getting kiddos out of the house.  Educational and fun is a great mix.  Last spring break we took our kids to the East Texas Gator Farm.  Obviously, not all of it is a petting zoo.  They have lizards and snakes inside that the visitors can handle.  There was even a young alligator people could hold.  

2.  Movies:  I know they are pricey by the time you buy tickets and food.  But you could have same experience at home.  Buy movie theater candy and popcorn at the dollar store, shut the curtains & kick back on the couch.  Boom!  Instant movie experience.  My kids love to do that.  If you are feeling retro, check a drive-in movie theater.  

3.  Board Game Day:  Pull those old games that are collecting dust.  Have each child pick their favorite game.  Everyone gets to choose a game which cuts down on the arguing.  Or teach your kids how to play game.  Maybe your little one have never played memory or go fish.  Maybe the big kids have never played Monopoly or Scrabble.  

4.  Themed Days: Give each day a theme.  For example, have an ocean day.  Have fish sticks for lunch or goldfish crackers for a snack.  Read a book about ocean animals.  Make an ocean craft.  Another fun idea is make your theme a book like "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."  Eat bear shaped cookies for snack; make a craft.  Talk about where each of the animal might live.  For older kids, use countries as your theme.  If you chose Italy, eat Italian food for lunch/dinner.  Learn some simple words or saying in Italian.  Have your kids do a mini research project and find one fun fact about the country so they can teach the family over dinner.

5.  Parks, libraries or museums:  Some are free; some are not.  But it gets the kids out of the house!

Most importantly, make memories with your little ones.  They won't be little for long!

Hugs y'all,

Melissa- The Lone Star Ginger

Wonder Woman Wednesday-Countdown to 2015!

Happy New Year's Eve!!!  Can you believe how fast the year has went by?  It seems like just yesterday I was planning our NYE 2013...slighly depressing isn't it? The good thing is if 2014 wasn't your year, then 2015 has to be!!!!

Do you have any plans yet for the big night?  I am simple when it comes to ending a year.  I prefer to be home (in my pjs), hanging out with the kids and hubs, and maybe watching a little college footlball or  a movie.  Last year, I came up with activities for us to do every hour.  I had a white paper sack for each hour with things needed for the activity.  Some were big ones like making homemade pretzels (prep work was done earlier in the day), some were small like wearing mustaches or glow necklaces for the hour to take silly pictures.  We ended the night at midnight with a toast. The kids had sparkling cider in their wine glasses.  They thought that was fun. The  pictures we took at each hour I made into a short video using an app on my phone.  This year I plan to do the same but I am working on different activities.

Here's a sample of what our night looked like  1 year ago today:

           

To keep it low key and simple, keep these tips in mind:

1. Include things you will already be doing.  For example, make 7pm a sit down family dinner and talk about your year as a family.

2.  If you do crafts, keep them simple.  I bought 2 of those peel and stick penguin foam craft packets in the dollar bin at Target last year.

3.  Do things your family will enjoy.  Little man got new board games this year for Christmas so we are having a game time at some point in our evening.  The kids like to help me in the kitchen decorate cookies so that is another activity for us.   Plus we will need dessert after the homemade chili that is on the menu!

4.  Don't make it stressful.  I sat our sacks on the bar so we could see them.  The time was marked on each one.  Set an alarm on your phone if you are afraid you will forget.  Don't worry, the kids did not forget!

Lots of people think that just because you stay home on NYE that it has to be boring.  You could a similar countdown even if it is all adults!  Gear your activities toward who will be with you that night.  Most importantly, be safe if you do leave the house.  Wishing everyone a great nght and an even better 2015!!!!