Kitchen Gadgets

While I finalize my gluten-free post with links and pictures (sorry about the wait on that) I wanted to quickly include a couple kitchen gadgets that are totally unnecessary but nonetheless awesome!  And would make awesome gifts for any cook (and are all reasonably affordable).

These are silicone mats that you can use as cutting boards. I LOVE mine!  This set (picture from Bed Bath and Beyond) comes in a set of four and are priced at $6.99. I got mine while we were in South Korea and had never seen anything like them.  I love that they are so bendy so when you are done cutting, you can just pour your ingredients right into your pan or bowl. Also, they are dishwasher safe.  Super cool!

This is an apple peeler, corer and slicer. I got mine from a local grocery store for $10 and it has been worth every penny. It peels the skin off the apple, cores it and slices the apple into spirals. I have used it for apple pies, once it is spirals I just cut it in half twice for bite sized pieces. The kids like to eat it in spirals.  And when I was making my huge batch of applesauce for canning, it helped me peel, cut and core a half bushel of apples in no time. I love this thing!

This is a DASH yogurt maker. I just recently started making yogurt with this machine (twice so far) and I love it!  I tried multiple other times making big batches in a crockpot and another time in canning jars, but this has worked the best.  It comes with eight one cup containers and heats the milk bacteria mixture evenly creating a super smooth and tasty yogurt in eight hours. I have done it to make regular yogurt and added the powdered milk to make Greek yogurt and was very happy with both results. This is a more expensive of my kitchen gadgets and cost me $29.99 at Target. You could probably shop around and find it cheaper.  We eat yogurt by the ton (I am making a batch a week) so it will definitely pay off for us.

This is my Coffee Bean Tea Leaf milk frother.  This is the most expensive of my kitchen gadgets in this post and retails at $59.99. You can definitely get other brands for cheaper. I got this one because the box was damaged and Target gave me 50% off.  I LOVE this machine. Basically what it does it heats liquids by circulating them and slowly warming up. When you turn it on, there is a stirrer on the inside that moved the liquid and it automatically shuts off before it scalds.  I can make hot chocolate for the kids without it being too hot. I can reheat a latte without burning the milk. I can brew tea without heating the water separately.  Obviously none of things things are life essential, but I have definitely used this enough to make it worth the price. 

Last one:

This is a julienne slicer for vegetables. I got this a Bed Bath and Beyond for $7 and am excited for the possibilities of this. You can cut any vegetables into thin slices, like noodles. Zucchini noodles, carrot noodles, sweet potato noodles. Noodles without gluten, noodles with extra vitamins. I am a fan.  

So these are my extras. If you know anyone that loves cooking, these all make awesome gifts.  If you have problems coming up with gift ideas to ask for, ask for these. You will be happy. I promise!

What kitchen extras do you have that have become essential to you?

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Pocketbooth app

I know I have been neglecting my blog and I apologize.  We have had a lot going on recently and I have kind of signed off of "social media" altogether.  I am trying to work out getting myself more organized regarding setting limits on myself, not expecting so much out of me and basically just letting go of ridiculous time lines I set for myself.  This is the time of year to sit back and enjoy yourself and your family and all you have and I have been running myself around crazy, trying to make a million things happen instead.  So.  I am going to lay off myself for a little bit.  Which might mean less entries, less updates and less pictures.  And I apologize.  But I need to give myself a little leeway before I have a nervous breakdown.

In other news, I always take the free app cards at Starbucks.  Anyone else?  We have so many apps and songs and videos from those little suckers.  Zander and Calla love to hold on to them and pretend they are credit cards.

We recently snagged the Pocketbooth app and it is so much fun!

Available here

This isn't what the app looks like.  iTunes wouldn't let me copy the app image, but this gives you an idea of what it's like.  Imagine the old school photo booths, where it takes a picture, pauses and then takes another one.  That's the concept.  What I love about this app, other than having the sequential pictures, is that it is completely customizable.  You can pick how many pictures, what photo filters and how long a delay you want between shots.  I also love that you can email it, post it on Facebook, Twitter or even order it to be printed!



When we got it at Starbucks, it was free but regularly the app is $.99.  You can buy more filters and expand the use of this app if you want.  I think the basic version is pretty cool.  Here are some shots of us messing around with Pocketbooth on my iPad:

The kids love it! They didn't really understand the concept of moving or posing for the next shot at first, but they quickly caught on.  You can tell I got in a posing slump and kind of make the same poses in each sequence.  I am a photo booth bore, I guess.  But seriously, how fun!  I love the idea of taking something that is kind of non-existent anymore and updating it for the next generation.  Check it out!

Road Trip packing list

I have been insanely busy preparing for our trip to Michigan and I apologize for the lack of updates.  We are doing well.  Calla is busy cutting her first two bottom teeth, Zander is cutting his two year old molars and Gabe is getting his six year old molars.  Happy happy house!  In other news, Matt will be home on Friday, just in time to help me pack and gather odds and ends before the kids and I leave with my brother (who is flying in next Monday) on next Tuesday. Whew!  I am exhausted just thinking about it.  Before Matt gets here, I am trying to do as much running around as possible so we can enjoy our 'Daddy' time.  I do, really quickly, want to share with you my ideas for our survive-the-journey-to-Michigan car ride.  

Do I need to repost 'Mayhem' as a reminder of my fear?  I didn't think so.

Last time, I showed you how I made the magnetic faces with the cookie sheet and exposed the greatest entertainment secret of all time (plastic soldiers with magnets on the bottom).

Since then, I have been busy making activity books for each of the boys:

Absolutely, ridiculously easy to make and incredibly cheap and cost effective.

I bought two soft binders (from Target - $.79 each), the portfolio ones, two sets of 25 sheet protectors (PX - $5.99 each - most expensive part and you could probably find them elsewhere cheaper), and three coloring books from the Dollar Store ($3 total) to create these.

To assemble, rip the coloring book pages out of the book and put them back to back inside the sheet protectors and then inside the portfolio.  The kids can color on them (with any kind of crayons) and they will wipe off with a rag.  I have seen this idea before with dry erase markers, but there was no way I would give Zander a marker in the back seat of my van unsupervised.  Crayons work just as effectively!

I chose to buy coloring books because they have activities other than just coloring in them to keep the kids busy, and I didn't want to waste a bunch of printer paper or ink.  To use the whole coloring book, I ended up sticking multiple pieces of paper in each sleeve.  Then when the kids get bored of whatever pictures are in front, we can switch them out with new pictures. 

I did print some educational coloring pages and letter writing ones from this site Mr. Printables.  I love this website.  Very very cool stuff for all ages.

At Easter time, I ordered these (picture below) for the boys.  They are chalkboard mats that roll up and can be taken anywhere you want.  I love them.  The part you write on is vinyl (I think) and works perfectly for writing and cleaning up after.  These were a part of a Very Jane deal, but you can order them anytime from Crafty Momma's etsy page.

I always talk about how great the Dollar Tree is (and it is pretty awesome for bargains), but I really love Target's Dollar Spot.  I found these two wooden puzzles there.  Both boys really enjoy them, but they weren't travel ready.  So I bought some velcro patches and adhered it to each puzzle piece and space they belong in.  Now they can take all the pieces off, put them back on and they will stay on (even if the puzzle falls on the floor).  I don't know why they didn't come with velcro, I think it should be mandatory.

Also, I feel obligated to share this super cool deal with you.  I had no idea that Barnes and Noble sells audio books for kids in the mp3 form.  Did you?  They are only the sound file of the book being read (no book included) but only cost between $1 - 2.50 a book.  My kids LOVE listening to books on tape.  We have many books already, but I always love to surprise them with new books to listen to.  The best part is that you can download these instantly to iTunes and sync them with any device.  I currently have an 'Audio Books' playlist on both the iPad and iPod just in case.  Barnes and Noble has MANY different books to choose from, but here is the list of ones I have purchased for our trip - note all the Jamie Lee Curtis books (I absolutely love her).  Also, the Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) book for kids!

I expanded my arsenal of reading books today when I got an email from Amazon about their "Big Deal" sale on Kindle books.  Having an iPad has really come in handy in that I can order books for the nook (from B&N) and for the Kindle (from Amazon) and read them from their apps.  In their "Big Deal" sale, they have ebooks for all readers at a super discounted price.  For the kids, I bought three books for $2 each and one for $1.  They are fully illustrated and will work perfectly.  As much as I ADORE the act of holding a book and reading to my child, when we travel like this (packing as light as possible) I am glad I can still read to my kids without having to tote our library with us.

You can't see the titles as well as I thought, so I will list them for you:
"Little Pea" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Hoot" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Oink" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Chicken Big" by Keith Graves
 and for me, I bought:
"Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat" by: Temra Costa
"Fifteen Minutes Outside" by: Rebecca Cohen
I am excited - both were $2 each.  That's $11 for 6 books.  I think it's a steal.

Lastly, I have two exciting food finds from Target today.


You read it right, applesauce on the go!  It is applesauce in pouches that have twist off resealable lids, perfect for traveling.  I would rather stock my car (and take up precious cargo space) with wholesome food than have my kids eating fast food for the three days we will be on our way.  This 12 pack cost $6.49 at Target, equaling less than $.50 a pouch.  Baby food costs more than that.  They have different flavors (cinnamon apple and strawberry apple), but I stuck with original because I am planning on feeding it to Calla too.  This is genius.

That's right, peanut butter in to go cups!  I love this idea for multiple reasons.  It is pre-portioned for my kids.  I can give them one of these and some crackers and apple slices and say "Go to town!  Enjoy!" and that can be a lunch meal.  Also, it cost $2.19 at Target - less than a box of Uncrustables ($2.49 for 6).

Originally, I was planning on packing sandwiches, but that came with lots of negatives:

Gabe only likes PB and honey sandwiches - no honey in my van.
Zander picks the sandwich apart and eats each half individually.
Sandwiches always get crushed in a cooler, then you have sandwich guts all over the inside of the bag.

Instead, by going with the pre-portioned peanut butter cups, I have less mess and less worry.  Although, I am a little nervous about Zander.  That kid was made to keep me on my toes.  This might be a snack they eat when we are pulled over for gas or at a rest stop.  Even then, it is still something they can eat on their own and that makes me happy.

In the end, you can see I have put a mountain's worth of thought into this trip.  I am, and will always be a planner at heart, and I am just hoping that all this planning pays off!  If you have any tried and true methods of entertaining kids while road tripping across the country (other than watching DVD's, trust me I have that set up as a fail-safe), please share!  I know I am not the only one making a trip this summer and we all benefit from collective ideas.

Otherwise, this could be the last you hear from me before we embark on our journey!  I do have one other blog post I have been working on, a huge list of recipes we have been using, and will hopefully get that posted before we leave.  If not, I can post it from my iPad (it just might be sans pictures).

First day of summer, Our plans (or lack there of) and Instagram

And so... Gabe is officially done with Kindergarten. Despite his graduation being a couple weeks ago, the school year ended on Wednesday.



He cried. "I am going to miss my friends. I am going to miss my teacher."

A couple hours later, all was resolved with a community water gun fight, sprinkler session and sand/rock/weed cake-making.



And also static hair from playing in the tent. I love summer.
Today was the first day of no school and I kept thinking it was Saturday. All day, I couldn't figure out the lunch rush at Subway. Couldn't figure out why the gate was so backed up. What are all these people doing on base on a Satur- oh wait. When there are no school days and no work days, they all blend together in a complete, lazy lack of schedule.




The boys got haircuts today. Gabe has been begging for a mohawk.




So, as you can tell from the picture of my weekly calendar (that I so obviously ripped off Pinterest) we have very little planned. Not usually the way I like it, but it seems to be working for us right now. The countdown to the road trip to Michigan is now 19 days away. Eek! So many things to do still. So many things to purge. So many things to pack.

I know everyone wants to know our plans and everyone is going to want to see us. But I really look forward to a vacation time. I say that every time and invariably end up running all over Michigan to see everyone. This time, I am putting my foot down and determined to make this a vacation, not stress-induced, juggling circus act where I drag all three kids (and dog) all over the state. I have been making some plans, but for the most part, I want us to enjoy this summer. Very soon, we might be making some big changes and our family needs this down time for relaxation. Thank you for understanding.

On a sidenote, these pictures were all taken with the Instagram app (follow me!) just made available for the Android phones. I am brand new to the Instagram revolution and am conflicted. I love the instantness, being able to take pictures and edit them and post them withn a mater of a couple seconds. I love being able to develop a collection and have a social media following. I don't like the resolution and lack of quality that a regular camera offers. Maybe this is just my camera. I also don't like that I can't access my photos until after they are published. I am a control freak and for this reason I think I dislike Instagram the most.

Does this mean I will stop using this app? Of course not. But if any one has any tricks of the trade or can recommend anything about using this app, please let me know. Maybe the Apple system just works better with this. Until my phone is eligible for an upgrade next year, I guess I am stuck with my Android.

Double side note - Zander's potty training is going much better than expected. I plan a follow up post at a week's mark. Fair warning, if you don't want to read about my son's bodily functions, I suggest you don't read it.

Also, I have a ton of new recipes I am trying to push out. Many don't have pictures (I apologize) but that is what happens when you have to inhale your food while trying to entertain the baby and keep the two year old at the table, while bartering with the six years about how many more bites until he can get down and play.