Cheddar Chicken Tenders

Yum, who doesn't love good chicken tenders?  Here's a nice twist on them that is quite tasty.  I made them the other night & my whole family liked them.  Yummy & easy to make -what a combo!

Recipe:
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups (about 3 oz.) Cheez-It crackers
1 1/4 lbs chicken breast tenders

Put Rack in lower 3rd of oven & preheat to 375 degrees.  Brush baking pan w/oil (I line mine w/aluminum foil for easy clean up).  Crush crackers in to crumbs w/food processor (or put them in a plastic zip-loc bag and bang the crap out of them).  They don't have to be super-fine crumbs, just smashed up enough to roll the chicken in them. Transfer cracker crumbs to bowl & stir in pepper.  Toss tenders in mustard & then dredge them in Cheez-It crumbs to coat.  Arrange on oiled pan & bake (turning once) until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  I like to serve them w/honey mustard or buttermilk ranch for dipping.  You can dip them in whatever you like because they go well w/most any sauce.  Bon Appetit!

Makeshift Outdoor Tent/Fort

Okay, so I saw this somewhere (& I'm thinking it must have been Pinterest) and I knew my kids would like it.  You make a tent/fort/house (whatever you want it to be) outside by using rope and sheets or blankets & whatever trees you have available.  Today was a hot summer day but it wasn't too hot this morning & there was a slight breeze which made it bearable outside.  I went out with both kids to the backyard & took some rope (I reccomend rope that you use for towing or clothelines) that I keep in the garage.  I bought mine at the Dollar Store (Is there anything you can't buy there?) and it is a long 65 feet of rope.  I keep it for hanging stuff outside like when your decorating for an outdoor party & you need to hang stuff & for camping (hanging a tarp, as a clothesline etc.) or, for this idea.....  You could use 3 short ropes but, I found it easy to use this 1 long rope.  You tie one end to a tree & stretch it across to another tree (or in this case, my kids play-climber) at about chest-high level & tie it.  You can tie a 2nd rope, ideally about 1-2 feett or so apart from that first one & slightly higher (maybe 6-10 inches) . Then, tie the third one the same distance apart but, about the same height as the 1st one.  Once you drape the blankets over the ropes, it will have a tent or house effect since, the middle rope is higher to give it the peak in the middle.  Of course, if you use 1 rope like I did, you just have to pull it over to the next place that you want it to be.  In other words, tie it on the branch and then pull it over to another branch slightly higher to tie the 2nd line & then pull it over to another branch for the 3rd line.  Hope this makes sense but, if not, looking at my pics should help.  Then you drape 2 blankets or sheets (full or queen size work well) over the ropes (one lenghtwise & one widthwise) and you have a nice tent to play in.  I reccomend using sheets instead of blankets because the weight of the sheets doess weigh down the ropes a good bit.  I can imagine heavy blankets would really weigh them down. I also like the light, airy feeling of the white sheets because they kept the sun off of us but, we still enjoyed a lot of light. We put an outdoor blanket down for a "floor" and use little surf-floats (that came with our Slip-n-Slide) as beds & throw pillows from our outdoor patio set to make our fort comfy inside.  We played in there for a good while this morning & then had snack under there this afternoon. It's also really easy to take down & we took it down at the end of the day.  My kids really liked it & so did I!  I do not have 2 trees close enough together to make this between 2 trees (which is really ideal) but, I improvised by substituting my kids play-climber for one of the trees.  I wish I could have gotten the ropes a little farther apart to make a bigger fort but, I had them as far apart as I could with using the play-climber.  Also, I wish I could have tied the middle rope higher to make the more house-like peak but, couldn't due to the height of the kid's climber that I had to use.  I think I'll get more creative & do a much better tent next time but, it was still a lot of fun. Believe me, I wish I could've made it bigger because, I did spend a pretty good amount of time in there with my kids!  Anytime, I wasn't in there with them, they called out to me to join them!

Frozen Yogurt Pops

Okay, in my quest to find healthy frozen treats for my kids this summer, I ended up finding nothing!  Well, that is nothing that comes already made in a box in the frozen section of the grocery store.  Most products out there are so high in sugar & fat with little nutritional value. If I had a kid who ate a well-balance diet the majority of the time, I probably wouldn't care so much. Unfortunately, my oldest is so picky & hard to please that this is not the case.  Unless, of course, the 4 food groups are really Pasta, Ice cream, Bread and Cookies. Oh the humanity!! Once again, I find myself back in the kitchen making my own concoctions just so that I can justify feeding my kids frozen treats at any time!  The supplies are things you probably already have on hand.  I used 9 in. paper "Dixie" cups and plastic spoons to make the pops.  I used greek yogurt because it's way higher in protein than the regular kind.  I gotta maximize these frozen pops for all the healthy benefits! My sons not that big on yogurt so, I planned to make these as much like ice cream pops as I could. At 5 yrs old, he's getting harder & harder to fool.  Emily (almost 2) loves yogurt so, she'll eat them either way.  The first pic up top is of the pops before they were frozen & the 2nd one is after they were frozen. For my son, who doesn't like fruit (yeah, that's I right, I said it), I used vanilla greek yougurt with a little mashed up oreo cookies and a couple spoonfuls of Yoplait Chocolate Mousse yogurt (to give the chocolate ice cream effect).  I kind of layered the items for a nice presentation.  As you can see by the pics, Cameron's looks pretty cool (& delicious!).  For Emily's, I used plain greek yogurt with a little sugar added (still less sugar than using the vanilla yogurt) & pureed blueberries sweetened with a little sugar.  After you put the ingredients in the paper cups (fill about 3/4 of the way full), just stick the plastic spoon down in the cup (with handle side stick up of course).  After they freeze (1-2 hrs), you can just tear the paper cup down the side a little & the treats pop right out with a built-in handle to hold them.   Both kids loved these but, I will make them a little smaller next time because they couldn't finish them in one sitting.  The nice thing is, you can put the pops upside down back in the paper cups & stick them in the freezer to eat the rest later. I recommend eating these outside because they do make a little mess but, they don't seem to drip as much as regular ice cream does.  My kids were wearing their bathing suits to play in the water afterwards so, I figured they'd get cleaned off after eating them without any effort.  I will say that when Cameron first tasted his he said "It tastes like Yogrit (meaning yogurt)" and I played dumb.  I neither confirmed nor denied this because, he will simply not eat things just because he is turned off by what he thinks it is, instead of giving it an un-biased taste.  Although these are made from yogurt, if you have a kid who is just coo-coo, like mine, you can calls these "frozen treat pops" or "frozen ice-cream pops".  Either way, they tatse great & you can feel good about serving them.

Hydrangeas

Here's a tip about planting Hydrangeas.....Don't give up on them!  I love Hydrangeas and they were the main flowers in my wedding.  Several years ago, my mom planted a Hydrangea bush in our yard & for about 3 yrs straight, it never bloomed.  We had finally given up & since it was in a prime location, my husband decided to dig it up & replant it elsewhere in our yard.  For some reason, he picked a spot on the side of our house where we keep our large trash can behind a white resin screen ( the resin screen looks nicer than looking at a big ugly trash can).  Oddly enough, the next year, it started blooming with big, beautiful, blue flowers & it has thrived the last couple of summers.  It produces gorgeous Hydrangeas but, the problem is, no one really sees the flowers behind the trash can!  I swear people, you can't make this stuff up!  The pic in this post is a Hydrangea bouquet on our kitchen table.  Unfortunately, the only way anyone gets to enjoy these flowers is by us cutting them off & making bouquets.  Oh well, lesson learned!

Tales from tha Airplane -Part 2

So, I didn't blog about the airplane ride home from West palm Beach yet. The whole reason that you take a round-trip airplane is because it's just not enough torture once. To really get the whole miserable experience of flying with toddlers, you gotta do it twice! I must say, flying out of West Palm is a total dream compared to the Atlanta airport. I kept waiting for all of the super-nice airport employees to short-circuit & blow-up in front of me because I was sure they couldn't be real. I waited at the ticket line behind 1 other person. That kind of beats the 4 zillion people I waited behind in Atlanta for45 minutes -just slightly :) Also, the airport is so small & easy to get around in. Security was a breeze & complete strangers that were also passengers kept asking if I needed help or anything. No one in Atlanta ever bothered to do that. I swear I think you could pull up to the airport, kids & all, 15 minutes before your flight & still make it. Anyways, Emily was a little better on this flight but, it was also during my kids dinnertime so, I had to have more than snacks this time. I had so much other stuff so, space for food was limited in my backpack but, I managed to have whole wheat PB&J "Uncrustables" sandwiches for my kids to eat. If you r not familiar with these, you should be. I like to call them "Unfusstables" as they come frozen & they that they thaw as you're on your way & you don't have to make & package the sandwiches yourself and my kids don't fuss because they really like them. 'Nuff said? Okay, so,as Emily is trying to stand up, look out the window, jump around & eat her sandwich all at the same time, I try to sit there & attempt to restrain her in some kind of way. Eventually, a man behind me taps me on the shoulder & says "I think I should tell you that you have a big glob of jelly in your hair". Nice, that's all I need. Now, I was not so much embarassed (I'm pretty much beyond that as a mother) but, did wonder what the state of my hair really was at this point. As I tried to check it out, the girl beside me gives me a mirror & I see there's jelly on my sunglasses (which were on top of my head) too. The guy behind me says "I'm sorry, I just thought you should know". I say "Oh well, I've had worse". Laughter erupts from everyone seated around me. I'm sure they felt my pain with my rambuctious kids on the plane. Oh, I amost forgot Emily bit Cameron twice on the plane (she never did that before! Why now?!) & apparently the 2nd time she bit him really hard. He screamed like nobody's business! All I could do was tell him "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do we're on an airplane". The next day, during bathtime I notice how bad the bite was & felt terrible. Anyway, despite how it sounds, the kids were actually pretty good on the plane & in the airport, especially Cameron who is five. I might actually do it again one day!

Tales from the Airplane -Part 1

I recently took a trip on an airplane with just myself & my kids for the first time. I have flown with just my son before when he was a baby but, not both kids. There were so many things that went wrong but, yet, so many things that went right. The things that went wrong were things that were out of my control & most were not my kid's fault! I should say that we were flying out of the Atlanta airport which is an extemely large & busy airport. The line for the ticket counter wrapped all the way around the place so, that was horrendous in itself. Keeping Emily (almost 2) strapped in the stroller barely moving for 45 minutes was a real test. Not to mention, Emily's car seat was resting on top of her stroller canopy (& was wobbling around up there) & I was pulling a large suitcase (wheeled, of course)& wearing a heavy backpack while pushing the stroller w/the car seat on top. People either thought I was brave or insane (I'm hoping for brave). I was so happy when I got to the ticket counter & got to ditch the suitcase & carseat for baggage. Then, I had to make it thru security which meant taking Emily (& a carry-on that I had in the stroller basket) out of the stroller, folding the stroller & putting it on x-ray conveyer belt along with my backpack, Cameron's backpack, our carry-on bag & my shoes. Just a few travel items :) All of this while Emily is running around like a chimpanzee after finally being released from the stroller. Then they stop & go thru my carry-on bag because the x-ray showed something suspicious (which turned out to be a toy, yah, whatever!) & then they send it back thru the x-ray machine while I get Emily back in the stroller, you can imagine how she felt about that. Thru all of this, Cameron was such a trooper. He never complained about all of the walking (& sometimes running) & he answered all of the questions that any of the airport personnel asked him. A lot of people don't realize the extra effort that you go thru when you have a stroller because you have to take elevators instead of escalators & their not as conveniently located. You also have to wait awhile for the elevator sometimes & often wait thru multiple times because there can be lots of people in big wheelchhairs wating to get on too. Frankly, it's a real pain in the ass. On the flight, the kids were pretty good. I had to have Emily on my lap because she's still under 2 & can fly free then. I knew that wouldn't be easy but luckily, Cameron is small & with the armrest up, we had plenty of room. It was like our oown little 3-person bench, except it was more like 2 people & a chimpanzee. I think the other passengers got tired of me saying "No, no Emily", "sit down Emily", "stop that Emily" etc. but, oh well. I did have a couple of books & both kids sat attentively while I read to them. Of course, I also had the holy grail....snacks. The kids really enjoyed putting the tray tables down & eating their snacks. Luckily the flight to West Palm Beach is only about 1 hr & 45 min. I think if it was any longer, I might have had to try to check Emily as baggage in a dog crate. Don't worry, I'd still provide her snacks.

Fun Outdoor Game

Here is a fun outdoor game that kids really like and that requires no equipment (yes!!). Well, there is one caveat, you need a yard with at least a few trees(even small shrubs will do) in it. The game is called "Squirrel". This game is really great for kids 3 & up (even my teenage niece & nephew like to play it). Basically, you need 1 tree for each person (except for the person who is "it"). Each person picks a tree to stand at & the person who is "it" is the Squirrel and they stand at a designated point in the middle of the playing area but, about ten feet or more away from the players. When the Squirrel yells "Squirrel!", the players have to run to another person's tree (they can't stay at their own). The Squirrel tries to tag one of the player's when they're running & if they catch one before they reach a tree, that person becomes the Squirrel. If all of the player's make it to another tree without being caught, the same Squirrel is "it" again. It's a lot of because only one person is allowed at each tree so, sometimes people fight over the same tree all while trying not to get caught by the squirrel. Try it & add a little chaos to your backyard! So, you may have noticed that there are little ghosts in the pic that I posted. Yes, this pic was taken around Halloween, I'm not a weird or something!