Welcome to day 2 of Toys In The Dryer 14 Days of Valentines! From January 25 through February 7 we'll be posting non-stop Valentine's posts to celebrate this lovely holiday. Lindsi-- Jamie and I had the pleasure of receiving Hallmark's "Until We HUG Again" bear and bunny last week. When I first got my package from Hallmark in the mail I opened it up and thought "oh, for cuteness sake!" The bear I received to review is incredibly soft and lovable. He has the cutest heart shaped nose and adorable patches sewn on him as well. (I will add that Hallmark must have paid very close attention to our families as they sent me the more "boyish" version and Jamie the more "girlish" version! Two thumbs up Hallmark!) Each adorable animal comes in a chair shaped box with very clear instructions on the bottom. Hallmark has the most amazing patented Voice Save Technology which safely records, saves and plays back treasured voice recordings for years to come. The content is saved even when you … [Read more...]
Homemade Mozzarella Sticks
It's been freezing in Minnesota this week. We're talking highs of -4° F with wind chills of -20s to -30s F. What do Minnesotans do when it is this cold out (besides act normal, because hey, it's Minnesota and this is nothing new)? We eat. We eat fatty, carb loaded foods, and we love it!*tee hee hee...Lindsi is hijacking this post...ohmigosh that sounds AMAZING!*Yesterday Tottie and I made homemade mozzarella sticks for our snack. They were warm, hearty, and most of all, super yummy! Oh, did I mention they are easy-peasy to make too? Ingredients:4 string cheese sticks1/4 cup flour1 egg1 Tbsp milk1/2 cup Italian style Panko bread crumbs Or 1/2 cup plain Panko bread crumbs plus 1/2 to 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning1/4 tsp garlic powderThings you'll need:3 bowlsgreased cookie sheetoven pancake turnerStart by preheating your oven to 400°. Next cut the cheese sticks in half and put them in the freezer while you prep the rest.Line up your bowls to make an assembly line. In the first bowl put … [Read more...]
A Mom’s Review of the Nexus 7 Tablet by Google
My family debated on getting some kind of tablet for Christmas for the family to share. Nutty uses them at school, Tottie plays with Grandma's when she visits, and I would love to have one to tote around to blog meetings and conferences instead of hauling around my large laptop. Ultimately, however, we decided that we would spend our money on things for our boat because that's how we spend time together as a family in the summer. As luck would have it, a few weeks ago I fell into contact with a marketing rep from Staples who offered a Nexus 7 32GB Tablet from Google for my family to review. I don't know who was more excited, me or the girls! Our Nexus 7 Tablet arrived from Staples at the perfect time. The girls were heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the long weekend which meant that I had time to play with it and set it up before the girls stole it got their hands on it. Set up was a breeze! Since my cell phone runs on the same operating system (Android 4.1 Jelly … [Read more...]
LEGO® Official YouTube Channel PLUS $1000 Giveaway #LEGOChannel
I loved LEGOS® growing up. This past Christmas my girls got a ton of LEGO® Friends and are finally sharing in my love for the tiny little blocks. My girls and I also love watching videos on YouTube. It's fun to see what you can discover on it (with supervision from mom of course!). LEGO® now combines two of our favorite things with their Official LEGO® Channel on YouTube!There are over 500 videos on the Official LEGO® Channel with more being added daily. What's best is that they are all kid-friendly so you can feel ok leaving your children to surf the channel while you look away for a few minutes (i.e. get the dishes or laundry done, or if you're really lucky, close your eyes for a 15 minute nap!).We could have spent hours building a playlist off of this channel. Nutty loved the LEGO® Friends Music Video, Tottie loved any of the LEGO® Monster Fighters videos (yes, she's my little monster lover), and I liked the short little LEGO® City clips. We all liked the videos that fast … [Read more...]
World Unplug & Play Day™
We interrupt our normal Pinned it Did it! to bring you an announcement:Tomorrow (January 19th) is WORLD UNPLUG & PLAY DAY™!Play from Scratch™ and Toys In The Dryer challenge you (yes, we mean you) to take a break from your gadgets and just play for an entire day. Shut off your cell phone, computer, and tablet, turn off the video games and mp3 players, unplug and play in the real world. We don't care what you do exactly, just do something as a family that doesn't involve a cord.“Technology can bring us together as well as distract us from what’s important,” said Jeff Freeland Nelson founder and CEO of Play from Scratch. “We think everyone should take the pledge, unplug for just one day and rediscover what it’s like to play in the real world.”You can take the pledge and watch a video of kids making the case at unplugandplayday.com. Organizations as far away as Bilbao, Spain have already jumped on board and are encouraging their friends to unplug and play. “Our goal is simple,” said … [Read more...]
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies–Guest Post
People have become aware that more children nowadays have what is called a gluten intolerance. The National Institutes of Health, Univ. of Chicago Celiac Disease Center reported in 2012 that between 5% and 10% of all people suffer from a gluten sensitivity of some form. Many bakeries have also become aware of the growing need for different options of baked goods and have started providing gluten free alternatives. As parents, chances are that we all have at least one friend of the family who's child has a gluten sensitivity. It is a good idea to have ingredients and a recipe on hand for playdates. Below is a gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe that all kids can enjoy. This recipe makes 3 dozen cookies. Ingredients 3/4 cup softened butter 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract 1/4 cup egg substitute 2 1/4 cups gluten-free baking flour mix 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 12 ounces … [Read more...]
