S'More bar in a jar

With Christmas break coming soon, you might be like me: scrambling in the final few days to put together presents for not only the classmates but for the teachers as well.

Here is a super easy, really inexpensive, and yummy gift!

Get a clear container.  I used a .88 cent plastic cup from Walmart!  Or you can use a quart size mason jar.

Then you can use chocolate chips, or break a chocolate bar in small pieces.

You'll also need graham crackers and mini marshmallows. 









Take a sleeve of the graham crackers, and smash them.  You can smash it until it's a fine powder, or leave small pieces - it's up to you.  Measure out about a cup of the graham cracker, and place it in your container.

Then measure a cup of the mini marshmallows, and place it next on top of the graham cracker.

Finally, place a cup of the chocolate in your container.  In the recipe I found, it called for 1/3 cup of brown sugar as an option, but my container didn't have any room for it, so I just wrote that you can add it when you are mixing the ingredients together.  If you have room in your container, feel free to add 1/3 cup of brown sugar on top of the chocolate.

 S’more Bars
• 1 jar of s’more bar mix     • 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (optional)

1. Pour jar contents (and brown sugar) into mixing bowl.
2. Add melted butter and mix well.
3. Spray a 9×9 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Pour mixture into pan then press lightly.
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 350º F.
6. Let cool and enjoy

After you seal your container, add a ribbon or other decoration, and then make sure to attach the recipe!

Countdown To Christmas

14 days left until Christmas...

We took a red and green bubblebath!

Fill your kids' bath like usual, and make sure there are extra bubbles.  

Then add the food dye, and mix it around in the bubbles. 

 It fades after several minutes, but didn't stain my kids' skin.

House decorations for Halloween

I spent a total of $3 on this, and even had enough caution tape to decorate inside.

Went to the $ tree and got the masking tape, caution tape, and streamers.  For the eyes I used paper plates I had in the pantry, and colored the circles with a marker.

Refill Foaming Hand Soap

I love foaming hand soap, and with three little boys who are always getting their hands dirty (especially the older two) we go through a lot!  The only problem is this stuff isn't the cheapest. The small 8 ounce bottle is about $2.50, or you can buy the 32 ounce refill bottle for $4.00 or more.



To make your own foaming hand soap, you'll need just three things:

Water
Empty foaming hand soap bottle
Regular hand soap

Fill the empty bottle with warm water, but leave enough space at the top so when you put the dispenser back on it won't overflow.

Add about 2-3 TBSP of soap to the water, depending on the size of the bottle.

Put the dispenser back on the bottle, and gently swirl it to mix the soap and water.  I found rocking it back and forth slowly worked the best.

You'll have to pump a couple times, but you should see soap foam dispensing after that.

Reusing food pouches

My boys love those food pouches - especially the baby. He will suck down the entire pouch in less then a minute (I've timed him!) They are portable, but not very affordable, especially when my three can easily devour six of them in one sitting.  

I have figured out how to easily refill them. You only need three simple things:

• Cake decorating bag, with a medium tip
• Empty, flat, food pouch (that has been washed out and dried)
• Your food of choice (I'm using raspberry applesauce.) You can easily make your own puree, and even put veggies in it. I have found that it's very important to make the puree smooth. If there are chunks in it, it will clog up

 So you will fill the cake decorating bag with your puree, then place the tip into the opening of the food pouch.While squeezing the puree into the pouch, apply slight pressure downward so it forms a tight seal. Or else you will get sprayed with puree!
 
After it starts to fill up, you might have to pause, tap the pouch on the counter to settle the contents. 

When it's full, place the top back on and place in the fridge.

Pumpkin Poop

Okay, so it's not real pumpkin poop - but it makes for a cute snack.

I designed the labels, and used generic snack-sized ziploc bags. 

The "poop" is simply cheese balls

6 meals, 1 hour, $26

At least once a week I take the boys on a playdate, and we are gone from 9am to 2 or even sometimes 3 in the afternoon.  The last thing I want to do is think about spending an hour or so preparing for dinner.  

If only I had put something in the crock pot before leaving.  

But after getting three diapers changed, three breakfasts served, two cups of milk, nursing the baby, and getting snacks and cups into the diaper bag, it doesn't leave much time to do anything else, let alone getting everything prepared and in the crock pot.  These frozen crock pot meals are a life saver! You place them in the fridge the night before to thaw a bit, and then in the morning you empty out the contents into the crock pot, turn it on low, and in 6 hours you have a delicious meal.  

It takes me about an hour to prepare three different recipes, which yields six meals (two meals for each recipe.) It's great that I can make one big mess, in one afternoon, instead of six messes on six different days.   The three recipes are as follow (remember, they each make two bags.)

Here is how I make the meals:

Buy all the ingredients.  I went to Aldi, and was able to get everything pictured here (minus the salt, pepper, and seasonings I already had) for $26.64.  Please ignore the vinegar - I had it on my shopping list, but in the end realized that none of the recipes called for it.  

• Chicken. You'll need about 8-12 chicken breasts, depending on your family size. 
• Bag of red onions
• 2-3 green peppers
• 1-2 red/orange peppers
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups Teriyaki sauce
• 2 cans pineapple chunks
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 cans stewed tomatoes
• Bag of baby carrots
• Sausage - enough for your family
• salt, pepper
• bay leaves
• Italian seasoning 
• 2 bulbs of garlic

 
Next get six gallon sized freezer bags.  Write the name of each meal on the bags, along with the cooking instructions.



I prefer to do one recipe at a time. I've seen others who like to cut all the veggies at the same time. It's a personal preference.





Here I am making the Sausage & Peppers.  You'll divide the recipe between two bags. So one green pepper in each bag, one can of tomatoes in each bag, etc.  I have two small onions, but if you have a larger onion just divide it between the two bags.  The men in my family love peppers, so I added an orange pepper to my meal.

I used a different type of sausage for each bag (the other not pictured was a lean turkey sausage.)

  

Then once you have all the food in the bag, lay it flat (you will have to squish around the food to get it flat), push out the excess air and seal it closed.

You can also freeze the meals without the meat in the bag. This is perfect for when you don't have enough chicken breasts! :) 

Hope you enjoy!

Welcome

This is my first post, in my first ever blog.  I've recently become addicted to Pinterest (like so many I'm sure) and I want to share my crafts, recipes, and stuff I make for my three little monkeys.