My mother used to make these frozen pudding cups for us when my siblings and I were kids, calling it “poor man’s icecream”. We loved it and as the Texas heat is climbing in the tripple digits, I thought today would be a great time to pass on my mother’s tradition to my kids. These frozen pudding cups are so easy to make your preschooler can play cook/icecream maker.
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What you need to make Pudding Icecream:

Vanilla or chocolate pudding
Fruit (or oreo cookies)
Milk

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Make the pudding by the directions on the …

Do you have independent children?  So far, I have three of them!  This Popsicle recipe is perfect for them.  It was simple enough that with minimal supervision/intervention my four year old was able to give the directions (she loved that) to my three year old who mixed these yummy treats up!  We made a couple different batches.  The inspiration for these popsicles came from hearing about the dripless icecream that they make with jello, and after having to hose down a toddler covered in traditional popsicle goo… Why don’t we …

My kids love going to the grocery store, me not so much.  I can totally see this idea, from JDaniel’s Mom, entertaining my kids as we shop!  Thanks for another great guest post – I think this would be great for my youngest who is still learning her colors.  It would be a great way to teach her about the shades of something!  JDaniel’s Mom went on a hunt for shades of the color green, but I can see us adapting this and say giving each of my kids their …

I love feeding the kids a nutritious breakfast.  I also love teaching them independence and watching my preschoolers have a sense of accomplishment when they “make Daddy’s oatmeal”.  It’s precious!  Here are a few of the ways we have fun with our morning oatmeal.  Do you do anything to make breakfast more interesting?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
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The kids get to pick their own packet – Better Oats has quite the variety of flavors – and dump the oats and water into their own bowls.
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Sometimes, they …

This recipe makes a massive batch, but using the tips from our101 Canning Series, you can can several pints – We filled 5.5 pint jars – enough to gift to family or friends and top icecream sundaes for most of the year! This is such rich and yummy fudge!
Ingredients needed for fudge:

5 bags of chocolate chips – we used Dark chocolate for the rich flavor and antioxidants!
2 Cans sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Can evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons of butter

Get your big crockpot out, put the chocolate in, turn heat on …

I got this idea from chatting with Kellie, from Chicks With Kidz, she had a great idea/suggestion to include my kiddos in making our own variations of trail mix.  We eat granola regularly for breakfast, but I have always been the one mixing it up!  With her encouragement my one year old now has a way to “help mommy” cook breakfast!  Thanks Kellie!  We are always looking for ways to include our kids in household chores and activities!
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How to make your own Granola Mix:
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Grab handfuls of any or all of …

My son loves being a helper and was thrilled when he got to make lunch for us today! We are eating pancakes – yummy! How fun is it to mix breakfast with learning our letters! We have a set of cookie cutters that are in the shapes of capital letters (thanks Laney). Here is a tip that we use to decrease the likelihood of massive pancake batter spills while using cookie cutters to make pancakes in particular shapes, maybe it will help you!
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We used a dry …

Today’s Fantastic Friday shout-outs all have one splendid theme, “dessert”. I have a massive sweet tooth and am seriously itching to try making my very own thin mint cookies (why does Valentines Day mean Girl Scout Cookies in my mind?), these melt-in-your mouth mini-cheesecake cookies, homemade cream soda-pop, and fudgy molten chocolate cake. I am exploding in anticipation! Alas, I’m snowed in… I sense a grocery trip in my future. Till then, check out these “Fantastic Friday” posts… and if you have any sites to share …

Please tell me we aren’t the only family to get in a rut during meal times. We tend to eat the same 5 or 6 lunches! They say variety is the spice of life and while I can’t seem to manage to think of something new for lunch, we do have new ways to entice our kiddos to eat! Yeah for cookie cutters! They make grilled cheese or even peanut butter and jelly interesting!

This is really good. When I was little, my Mom used to shop at Randalls. They always had this big kettle of clam chowder out in front of the seafood shop with little plastic cups for samples. I loved the fresh clam chowder. But I have never been able to enjoy the canned version, it tastes “tinny” to me. This was awesome, super awesome. I plan to always have some on hand.
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Jenn’s Super Easy New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2 …