My PB + J

pumpkin patch

This past Wednesday was the first organized “field trip” I organized for Payton’s class. Yeah, let’s back-up, Payton began preschool last month and I am her room coordinator. That post is coming soon, like the rest of our Summer I haven’t blogged. Life has happened and this little blog has been put on the back burner. So, for those who have asked if I started another blog, or for family that have asked if I would ever blog again here ya go! A post with actual pictures. yippee! 
Back to our trip to Bates Nut Farm. We’ve gone every year since Payton was an infant. This year was a little different because we shared our pumpkin patch going experience with three other families. We spent the morning on the damp, perfectly crisp patch. We explored, went on hayrides, had an exciting time navigating throughout the corn maze, picked out pumpkins and pushed the big macs around. Let’s just say it was a great morning and my first organized non-school event was a blast! 

Until next year, Bates. 

Bag It Foward with Elmer’s #cfk #bagitforward

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client

It’s that time of year again and the new school year is upon us. This year is exciting for us because our sweet P is starting her first year of preschool. She will be attending school at our church and I couldn’t feel any happier about it. She has been so excited about this big girl change! When I told her about going shopping for school she could not wait and I went back to the excitement I had as a kid and even throughout college. This feeling also got me thinking about all the kids that do not get to experience back-to-school shopping and kids that never have their own supplies. I was recently introduced to Champions for Kids, an organization that encourages you to “bag it forward”. While you’re out shopping for your school supplies this year they ask that you create a second bag for a child or organization in need. Having the essential school supplies helps children feel confident and the Bag It Forward campaign aids children across America to help them grow by having a happy and healthy school experience.

Payton and I headed out to go school shopping, but the catch was, she had to pick-out enough supplies for two students and additional to donate to her school. I knew that Walmart would have the best prices on back-to-school essentials. To see our entire shopping trip head on over to my google+ album.

While the shopping list for a preschooler isn’t very big, there were a few items that were required by the school. Based on our classrooms unique list we needed to purchase a 2-3 gallon bucket and a 1″ binder. However, we know that every preschooler needs plenty of glue, crayons, scissors, paint and markers for their exploratory learning. By shopping at Walmart, I was able to purchase enough supplies for three children and an abundance for the school for under $100.

Walmart has great pricing on school supplies and while I could have purchased non-Crayola products to further my dollar I chose to donate what we always use at home. Most of the supplies started at .50 and did not go over $2, which is nice if you have multiple school aged children.

When we got home we created a build-a-bucket table! It was a sea of school supplies ready to be tucked into three buckets for the students and school. 

The bucket building process was so fun to do with my daughter and it felt even better dropping everything off to her school. I knew that if the preschool couldn’t use a particular item that it could be allocated somewhere else on campus since our church offers a preschool-12 program.

#BagItForward for children in your community!

It’s this SIMPLE!
1. GATHER your friends, family, and co-workers to collect new school supplies! 
2. COUNT the number of items you collected and take photos.
3. DONATE the items to a local teacher or school in your community to help prepare children for their 1st Day of School.
4. SHARE your impact by reporting your project at championsforkids.org/share.
It really is that easy! Stay connected with Elmer’s and the Bag It Forward campaign
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Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake Muffins {recipe}

I never thought I could top the best bakery muffin recipe I tried in March but I did. Thanks to purchasing four pints of blueberries last week I was forced to find something to do with the plump berries before having to freeze them. The muffins are not too sweet and you can taste the subtle hint of sour cream and buttermilk within the tender crumb. The batter is studded with plump, juicy blueberries and topped with a simple streusel crumb. Double the recipe and freeze for easy on-the-go breakfasts when school starts or for a lazy weekend breakfast in.

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake Muffins 
makes 12 jumbo or 16 regular sized muffins
recipe inspired by Ina Garten
 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk 
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems
Streusel Topping:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 sugar
3/4 of a stick of butter, at room temperature
 
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. I used mini panettone paper molds and baked them freely on a cookie sheet. You could line muffin tins with regular muffin papers as well. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans (1/4 cup for regular sized muffins and 1/2 cup for jumbo muffins).
 
For the topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment combine flour and sugar. Mix to combine. Add in butter and mix until pea sized crumbles form. Top each muffin with 1 TB of topping and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean. 
 
 


 

Lemon Blueberry Parfaits #choosesmart #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

Having a husband who travels quite often makes it difficult for me to get on a cooking whim when I know I am the only one eating. I am not going to lie that 80% of the time when he travels we tend to dine out. It’s easier for me and less of a hassle. Being that Jim is away for three weeks this time it’s already wearing on me eating out so much. When the aunt & uncle said they wanted to come over yesterday to play with the kids I took advantage of having two additional mouths to feed and headed to Smart & Final. I didn’t have a lot of time to prep so I wanted everything to be simple, fresh and Summery. Plus, I knew that Smart & Final would have everything on my shopping list: from produce to desserts, bulk to regular portions, party ware, drinks & much, much more I could easily be the hero of the day and get away with visiting one store. (You can see my entire shopping trip on Google+).

Being that we would be dining out by the pool I wanted to barbecue some garden burgers, have fries for the kids, fresh fruit and some cool potato salad. In my family, dessert is a must but time was an issue. I took advantage of pre-baked First Street pound cake and made a semi-homemade lemon blueberry parfait. Piecing together a last minute barbecue could have been a disaster but thanks to Smart & Final I was able to save the afternoon and I still had time to play with the kids before the sun went down. 

You know me and dessert. I would rather eat dessert than anything else so my quick semi-homemade lemon blueberry parfait had to be awesome. Summer desserts are best being light and refreshing and this parfait hit the ball out of the park. 

If the photo alone doesn’t have you guessing how does a limoncello soaked vanilla loaf cake parfait with homemade lemon curd, fresh cool whipped cream and studded with blueberries sound?

Lemon Blueberry Parfaits
Serves 6 
1 package First Street vanilla loaf cake, cubed
1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried 
Lemon Curd, fresh or store bought 
Freshly whipped cream or Cool Whip 
Limoncello liqueur 
Mint (optional)
Note: This recipe isn’t exact. It all depends on the size of your serving dish. Because my dessert dishes are on the larger size I was able to layer two layers. About the limoncello, if you’re not a fan of liqueurs in your food you can skip this and add a simple syrup. It gives extra moistness to the cake and an extra dimension of flavor. You could easily replace with Grand Marnier as well. 
In your serving dish of choice (I used footed dessert glasses) first layer your cubed pound cake, drizzle the limoncello sparingly over the cake, next layer the lemon curd (about a tablespoon), next a generous dollop of whipped cream and finish with blueberries. Repeat if necessary. 
Enjoy! 


Also, when you head to Smart & Final from 7/24-8/6/13 you can purchase two First Street bakery items and get a free movie ticket to see Percy Jackson, Sea of Monsters movie. See, I’m not the only one being the hero of the afternoon.

What is your favorite Summer dessert to share? 


tiny dancer

This past weekend Payton had her first ballet class. Is she graceful? Not quite sure yet, but her heart is there. Watching her pay attention to Miss Nicole was so cute, watching others before she acted, nonchalantly biting her nails as she waited for her turn and taking two silly ballerina twirls while the teacher wasn’t watching made for an anxiety filled 45-minutes. Am I a stage mom? Probably. This pint sized kid is definitely my mini me. Her favorite part of class? Striding across the room like a princess ballerina pony. My favorite part of class? Watching her light up as the teacher asked, “who hear likes ponies?” and taking moments to find me from her circle to wave hi. My tiny dancer is finally at “ballerina school”. Bring it on dance moms.