Homemade Kettle Chip

http://www.laurenslatest.com/homemade-kettle-chips-with-onion-dill-dip-potato-chips/

Ingredients:
for the chips-
4 large Idaho Potatoes (Russets)
2 pints peanut oil (I used canola and the results were the same)
sea salt
Cracked pepper if desired

Onion dip (optional- I'm not making it because---well, I don't like it and I refuse to waste ingredients)
or the dip-
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Wash whole potatoes. Using a mandoline or food processor slice the potatoes very thin. Then soak them in cold water for 20-30 minutes.

In the mean time, make the dip by stirring all ingredients together. Refrigerate. 
Heat oil in large pot to medium high heat. (mine was about 6 1/2)

Dry potato slices extremely well (I went as far as to dry them individually with a clean cloth).You don't want them wet when frying. When you think the oil is hot enough drop ONE into the oil. If the chip doesn't have even bubbles you need to turn the heat up. If you drop in the chip and it starts drying like crazy- turn it down. I actually had to turn mine up a little bit.

You want the bubbles to be even.

After  about 3-5 minutes, the potatoes should be brown and looking a lot like chips. Drain with a slotted spoon and place onto paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt immediately and repeat with remaining batches. Serve with cold dip or eat by themselves- they are good.We even made a cracked pepper and sea salt one.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Sushi roll

Alrighty, this morning I decided to try to make the girls lunches a little more...interesting. They aren't always in the mood for Peanut butter or Jelly sandwiches, but it had been a while and I figured they weren't awake to argue.

 

I started by taking 2 pieced of bread and rolling then flat with my rolling pin.

 Then I removed the crust and added  jelly to one and peanut butter to the other. Now this is normally where people would put them together and then roll it up- not us. Not only did I think two rolled slices would be a bit much for their tiny mouths, but one only likes jelly the other, peanut butter. So I rolled them separately and sliced them with a knife.

 Here is hoping they like them! Mine don't look as fancy as the original posters photos (shine.yahoo.com)  because they are thinner and less peanut butter and jelly ( I also never photo shop). I also put Goldfish and grapes in their lunches today with my our home made lunch box organizer .Oh and I wouldn't add too much jelly- when you roll it it likes to seep out!

American Girl Gymnastics accessories

 

So I'm starting on Christmas a little early. What would my oldest would really really like?  Why McKenna's gym accessories of course! Now, I'm not just talking the hula hoop, the ribbon and the leotard (which she already owns one for her doll anyway). I'm talking the beam as well. As of right now my husband and I plan to make all of this stuff because this year Christmas is going to be more homemade.

Today I only had enough time to make the ribbon, I still have to go out and buy the materials to make the hula hoops. I took cake rods (you can use kabob sticks) and cut them into a good size (measured it against the dolls hand).

Then I hot glued the ribbon part around the rod (covering the sharp edge). I then wrapped a different color ribbon around  the base once.  Then  added a hair twistie and wrapped the ribbon around and glued it down.

I added a hair twistie so that the girls dolls could hold the ribbon wand by themselves.




Today we're making the Hula hoop.

First I went to Lowe's (because during one of the Lowes Build and Grow workshops I got a free $5 gift card!) and the nice people there cut 2 sets of polyethylene pipe measuring 32inches each (about  22 cents a foot) . I also bought the connector pieces for 88 cents each. The most expensive part of this was the duct tape (about $5 each). Still I'm spending way less on two than I would on one at the actual store.


First I had to  take the tubing and heat the end up in hot water.

 Then push the attachment piece in. Repeat to other side- Careful it's kinda hot!!

You should have a circle now

This is the harder part, because if you're like me you want the wrapping of the duct tape to be smooth

*Tip start the duck tape at an angle, or you'll end up getting bumps like the Hello Kitty one and if you're like me you'll take it off and start over:

Ta da! The dolls will be ready for their gymnastics competitions very soon!

My other American Girl items:
school supplies
feel better kit  (Just like McKenna's!)
head band
Minnie Mouse ears
sleeping bags
sleeping mask
pillow dress
accessories
pet accessories

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Twas the night before school

Well, I have been a busy bee. I don't keep up much on this blog because I'm so busy over at my Pintrest Challenge  blog and then vacation, and well- excuses, right?So anyway today was the first day of school for my babies- Kindergarten and second grade! How time is flying. To make things run smoothly on that hectic first day I do the following:

1) Start waking them up one week prior to the first day of school- also helps if they go to bed a little earlier. I do this so they are not as cranky at school and not giving the teacher the first impression of "acting out".

2) Lay out clothes for them the night before.

3) School supplies are packed and ready by the door

4) Bath the night before

5) Lunches are either made morning of or night before.

This year we were visited by  The Back to School Fairy.


So anyway, I've been putting off pulling out their backpacks and tote bag stating that it's in a box under a lot of stuff and "I'm just not getting it out right now" Finally the girls were asleep and I needed to get into action. During the last couple of days I've been secretly sharpening brand new pencils in another room while they watched a movie or practiced in their workbooks. This afternoon I pulled out the backpacks and hid them behind clothes in the closet. Once they fell asleep I quietly pulled them out and placed them against the couch along with: their lunchboxes (which are packed and in the fridge until morning), first day of school outfit, shoes and a jacket.  With a note  about enjoying their first day of school!

In their lunchboxes I left a little note from me with a Hershey's kiss saying that I loved them and missed them and couldn't wait to give them a real hug and kiss.

The only other part that made me smile was when the back to school fairy left their American Girl Dolls some new stuff.  Instead of new clothes the dolls got their own accessories for a new school year!

http://dolldiaries.com/doll-play-day-82-make-doll-folders-and-school-supplies/

I simply printed this page out, cut the yellow and purple copies and glued it all down.  Their dolls already had backpacks that I made. So the supplies just went inside. I fake laminated the  calculator, ruler and ID card by using packaging tape and re-cutting them out. They are not as sturdy as American Girl makes them, but they do the trick!

The Chore Chart

We are very excited to be going on vacation soon. My daughters  (4 1/2 and 6 1/2) really wanted to earn some money  for vacation to buy souvenirs. Instead of just giving them the money, I was really proud that they wanted to earn it. I took a piece of paper and drew a vial with lines. Each line is worth 25 cents- the large line makes a dollar. The choice in price is yours however. This just fits my budget. At the end of each day I draw in with green colored pencil how much they have earned.

Think about things that your child CAN do- even if it involves a little help from you. You can also add things that your child may need improvement on into their chore chart. To help them remember what they can do I drew some stick figure versions of the girls onto their pages.

KITCHEN:
They can wipe your counters down  if you clear off the counters first
They can wipe down their place mats
The can mop a floor either with a rag or the mop.
Sweep the floors
Help empty out the dishwasher and load it
Wash a couple non breakable dishes by hand
Set a table
Clear the table
HOUSE:
Sort the laundry
Fold Laundry/put away laundry on their own.
Clean their room: put away toys without complaint.
Help feed an animal
They can make their beds 
SCHOOL
Not "act out" at school
Do their homework without complaint or since it's summer practice some homework.
Play well with others
ALL THE TIME
Listen (not always perfectly- but for the most part)
Wash properly in the bathroom without assistance
Brush teeth with no complaints or by self
Play nicely with a sibling
No complaining (little prompting to "stop")

---Before you think I'm making this too easy for them to earn money I would like to note that I'm not against taking the money back for negative behavior all day.----

When the time comes to "pay out" We're giving it to them in cash on vacation and they have to physically be the ones to buy it. This gives them 1) a sense of pride that they earned this money and 2) a value of money "Do I really want to buy this or do I want to save up for something bigger?"

As seen in Parents Magazine

Our second time being published in Parents Magazine!! This was the first "It Worked For Me!" section though, so we're very excited.

We took an old water dispenser and stuck it outside on a shelf at our apartment so that the girls could water easily on their own without dropping a watering can and spilling everywhere.

Teaching Kids about being healthy

So I saw this on pintrest and there is no original source for the teeth diagram.

I saw this book online and checked them out at my library. Then I found a craft (no original source)
 to do to show the girls how to brush and floss their own teeth properly. To be honest between each book, the best one was the "Brush, Floss, and Rinse" book for teeth- although I disagreed with their "brush then floss" I had always been taught by the dentists we go to to floss first THEN brush because it's like vacuuming then dusting-pointless.

HEALTHY TEETH:
  We took a piece of red for the gums, pink for the tongue and cardboard egg cartons for the teeth. We cut a piece of yarn for each girl and called it "floss" in between each tooth.

We talked about how food gets caught in your teeth and on the grooves (tops of the egg carton) and how flossing only gets in between. How you need to brush each tooth really well (we used my hair brush as a tooth brush) to get all the food off your teeth to prevent cavities or "Sugar bugs"

Another fun thing we've done already :Brush your teeth sign

Since the orange book wasn't just about teeth (in fact only one page was really about teeth the rest was about keeping germs away and eating healthy)
HEALTHY BODIES
We re-went over our food pyramids and talked about wheat foods are health for their teeth and bodies.

SPREADING GERMS
http://totallytots.blogspot.com/2011/10/touch-feel-learn-healthy-habits.html

I'm in love with the way this mother taught her son about germs

She took a spray bottle and sprayed her sons hand calling it the germs. Then they shook hands and her hands were wet. Meaning he spread his germs.

She taught him to sneeze into the bend of his arm or a tissue. She took a tissue and sprayed it with water (after they dried their hands from the previous demonstration) and shook hands. Their hands were both dry meaning no germs were spread.

Next she spread cocoa powder on his hands and hand him run them under water.

She took bread (and me being cheap got a clean white towel) and had him wipe his hands revealing that although his hands looked clean they were still  dirty.

Then he re-washed using soap and water and his hands were clean. Reminding him that he should use soap and water to wash away germs.

 Clean!!

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