The Top Road Trip Snacks Kids Want

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripHacks #CollectiveBias #Albertsons 

I feel like we’ve been traveling a lot lately and for our family I guess we have. We began the month with a 5 day road trip to see family in southern Oregon, then I jetted off to New York for another 5 days, and this week we are planning to drive down to the beach and spend three nights camping in a yurt.

Help Your School Out with Labels for Education #Labels4Edu + A Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Recipe #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Hey everyone! It feels like I haven’t been on here in forever, but I guess it’s only been two days. It’s been a couple busy days, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things will start smoothing out a bit now that Noah started preschool again so I can try and figure out this year’s routine. He started back up today and he was just a little excited! Today I have two things on my mind that I want to share with you - a super simple recipe and how you can help your school with Campbell's Labels for Education.

Last night we had our first official PTSO meeting of the year – and if you haven’t been following along accepted the position of President again this year. Last year was a rough year because I came in knowing absolutely nothing and didn't really have anyone to ask questions too. This year, although there is still so much I don’t know, is going a lot smoother so far, and I’m blessed that I've got a good group of people on the board this year that will pitch in and do their part. Last night was a long night because we had to sit down and go over the years budget and goals – every little thing we do is accounted for and we have to estimate what we think all of our fundraisers will bring in…and we've added a couple of huge changes this year which will mean even more fundraising will have to happen.

One thing that we count on every year from the parents is the Campbell’s Labels for Education. They are found on the backs of a bunch of products, from Campbell's soup to yogurt and pasta sauce – even things like pens and cookies! (To see the whole list click here.) It’s great because it’s tons of stuff that most parents are already buying. All they have to do is clip them and send them in with their kids. We have one parent volunteer that handles them and sends them in, and in return our school can cash the points in for items that we need – and we usually use the points to purchase playground and P.E. equipment because there is literally no other money allotted that goes towards it. We make it fun for the kids at school and hold a contest twice a year with a classroom party for the students who bring the most labels in, and it really helps them remember. J

Like I mentioned, Labels for Education can be found on many different items at the grocery store, but the first place I normally think of finding them is in the soup aisle. Example: just look at all of these I found at Walmart the other day – enough labels to make this PTSO mom a little envious! I always keep my Labels in a zip lock bag that I keep on top of my refrigerator that I just clip and keep them in until we turn them in, so I always know where they are at and are all in one spot.

 With all of the evening events coming up I have also finally started creating freezer meals that can be easily rewarmed for a quick meal – last night I had my version of chicken and rice all ready for the family to eat while I headed to my meeting.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups of wild rice

1 cup of cheddar cheese

1 cup of frozen petite peas

1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup

Directions

•   Cook chicken breasts and slice into ¼” strips.
•   Cook rice according to instructions
•   Pour rice into a 9X12 baking pan and mix with Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup,    peas, and ½ cup of cheddar cheese. Add chicken on top and then top with the other  half of the cheddar cheese.
•   Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until the  cheese is melted.
•   Serve and enjoy! 

 Before you head out shopping make sure you check online – I know there’s some coupons that you can print so save a bit on money on your next trip and there’s also a great sweepstakes going on, where 1000 schools will each win $1000! Click here for more information.

I love the Labels for Education because its a simple thing that every parent can do to help out and get involved. I know a lot of us don't have the time to volunteer, but this is something that anyone can do for our kids! Thanks you #CollectiveBias and #Labels4Edu for letting me share this great program!

~Melissa

Easy Meat and Cheese Wraps + Printable Coupons!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Hey everyone! How was your weekend? If you follow me on Instagram you can see what a busy lady I've been lately! Friday I was at The Bite of Oregon up in Portland (a fun food festival that supports the Special Olympics), Saturday the family and I took a day trip to Hood River, and yesterday we had Anika’s birthday BBQ and sleepover!  Since we've been traveling and on the go so much summer I've been making these easy wraps and I thought I’d share them with you today since there are some great Kraft coupons that you can print right now!

I've always made wraps here and there when I had the time, but since we were at the fair a couple of weeks ago I began making them regularly when we are going to be gone for a long period of time and putting them in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack to keep them cold. Obviously wraps are pretty simple and easy to make, but this is how I make them for my kids and they love it – they don’t even mind the lettuce I sneak in to them (too much!) 

Here’s what I use to make them:

Easy Meat and Cheese Wraps

• 8” Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese

• Lunch meat (I used 4 slices for each wrap)

• Kraft Ranch Salad Dressing

• Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese

• Romaine Lettuce

I spread the Philadelphia cream cheese on each tortilla first, then add the lettuce, lunch meat, and ranch and top it with cheese. Then roll them up, slice them in half and place in a plastic bag. We throw enough in a lunch bag with a few cold waters and Capri Suns to keep us full until we get home – or for days like the fair we took them for lunch and then bought something later for dinner. It’s just a good way to save a little extra money so you can budget more for fun or “special meals” together.

Whatever you put in your wraps, Kraft has a bunch of printable coupons right now that you can use on your next shopping trip. We stopped by Walmart the other day and stocked up.  What’s one thing you always make for meals on the go?

Thanks #CollectiveBias for letting me share my #PackedWithSavings idea! 

~Melissa

Kefir Beef Stroganoff Recipe

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. Thanks #CollectiveBias for letting me make #KefirCreations.

Last week was so busy with things going on that I really felt like we didn't sit down together and really enjoy our meals much and that is something that is very important to me, so I decided last night to go ahead and change that. I went ahead and took a little extra time preparing a meal that I hadn't made in a long time - Beef Stroganoff. Normally a stroganoff recipe calls for sour cream, but I changed mine up a bit and used 2 cups of plain Kefir low-fat cultured milk smoothie. 

Wayne came home and said he could smell it from outside and that it was making his mouth water! By taking a little extra time and using good quality ingredients it really turned a good comfort dish into something even more special. 

We love Kefir because it's got a smooth and tart taste, not quite a sweet as yogurt, and its packed full of 12 live and active Probiotic cultures. It also has no artificial sweeteners and I know that Lifeway only uses milk from cows that haven't been treated with pesticides, antibiotics, or synthetic growth hormones. All of the cows are grass fed and GMO free - so it's a really tasty option that the kids love to drink. There are several different flavor options to choose from as well. 

To make the stroganoff you really only need a few ingredients. I used red wine in my recipe, but you can always use beef broth instead if you'd like.

Kefir Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
Olive Oil
1 lb. Sirloin Steak
5 cups of sliced white mushrooms
12 oz. whole wheat wide ribbon pasta
1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups of red wine
2 cups of Lifeway Kefir Plain Low-fat Cultured Milk Smoothie
1 Packet of Stroganoff seasoning

Steps:

1. In large pot, boil water and cook noodles per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in frying pan and sear the steak on both sides. Turn temperature down to medium and cook steak until internal temperature reads 165 degrees.
3. Meanwhile in a separate frying pan, melt butter on high heat and then add the mushrooms. Sauté until they are tender, then add the onions and cook until they are translucent. Add minced garlic and set aside.
4. Remove the steak from the fry pan and slice into 1/2" inch pieces. Pour red wine into the fry pan that the steak was in to and head over medium-high heat, and then add the Kefir, steak, and mushrooms and onions mix. Pour packet of stroganoff seasoning into mixture to thicket sauce up, or you can thicken it up with flour instead if you'd like, until you get the right consistency. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
5. Place noodles in dish and then pour the mixture on top of the noodles and serve.

 If you love Kefir or want to try some out for yourself, you can save a little by signing up to receive Lifeway coupons HERE.

Why not make an ordinary meal time a little more extraordinary? See if you can make a recipe a little more special with the time and ingredients you use. Celebrate the little things sometimes. ;)

~Melissa

Our Little Backyard Bash with Dr. Pepper Ice Cream

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

For more ideas on how to create your own #BackyardBash, check out the tumblr page at www.drpepperbash.com

If you follow along with me on any social media you already know that last Saturday was Anika's last softball game of the season. We made it to the final round of tournaments and ended up in second place and the team all received medals to commend them for all of their hard work and determination. It turned out there was only four middle school softball teams, so theoretically coming in second place shouldn't have been that hard - but several girls on our team (including Anika) had never played before, and in middle school everything starts getting competitive, so our team had a bunch of catching up to do. From my observation we started out with the least experience, needed the most improvement, and managed to achieve that. This last week during tournaments the girls literally spent 2-3 hours every night practicing - and obviously it paid off for us. Saturday night the whole team had a sleepover at one of their houses, and they all celebrated their accomplishment and the end of the season! Last night after Anika came home, I decided to have a mini Backyard Bash for her with a couple special goodies to celebrate her achievement. 

I had some left over Dr. Pepper that I had purchased on a spur of the moment Walmart trip for 4th of July goodies and ended up with a bunch leftover, plus a few extra decorations, so I threw together a little display for her and went to work creating - Dr. Pepper flavored marshmallows and Dr. Pepper ice cream to be exact.

I had never made marshmallows before, but found a good recipe and adapted it a little to create a hint of Dr. Pepper flavor. They were really fun, but we quickly found out that they don't make s'mores very well! They pretty much melt back down into a marshmallow-y cream when they get warm. It was okay though because my kids liked eating them plain, or melted all together. (We got smart and placed all of the s'mores on a cookie sheet and then slowly warmed them up so the chocolate melted with the marshmallow). I found a great tutorial HERE, and then added 6 Tablespoons of Dr. Pepper to the mix. I probably could have added a little more for extra flavor, but since it was my first time making marshmallows I wanted to play it safe. :)

The best part of the evening was experimenting with our ice cream maker. I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out because the Dr. Pepper would make it a little more icy than creamy, but it ended up turning out really tasty - and the consistency initially was nice and creamy, but did get a little icy when it had been in the freezer overnight. It still tasted delicious (yes, someone had to check it this morning!) but if you like it creamier I'd suggest to just eat it all when it's made. ;)

Dr. Pepper Ice Cream

What you need:

Ice cream maker
Ice
Rock salt

3 1/2 cups of Dr. Pepper
7 oz. (1/2 a can) of sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups half and half

Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker, but this recipe is super simple. Pour all of the ingredients in the container and then pack ice and rock salt around. Turn the machine on until you have an ice cream consistency. Our turned off automatically after about 30 minutes. Scoop the ice cream out and enjoy!

I love taking little milestones and using them to create a special memory. I'm glad that softball season is over, only because it was so time consuming. I'm excited to slow down a bit and enjoy the rest of our summer. It won't be too slow for long though - fair is coming up in a couple weeks and Anika will be showing her lamb. :)

Thanks #CollectiveBias for another great opportunity to share our memories!

~Melissa

5 Silly Road Trip Activities + Candy Ideas

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser

Last week when we went on our mini road trip over the 4^th of July our car was completely full! I’m not sure we could have fit anything else inside of our Expedition! One of the things I made sure to bring though was a special bag full of activities to keep the kids busy in the car to hopefully keep them playing together instead of fighting or crying out, "Are we there yet?" Every five minutes. The only thing I was missing in the bag was some treats (aka candy). I mean what's a road trip without goodies, right? So we stopped by Walmart on our way out of town for some candy ideas and they were demoing the new Zours® Candy from Mike and Ike. Often times I’m a little hesitant and will pass on sour candy because it's just too tart for me, but I was brave and the Zours® candy was actually really tasty! They were sweet and sour just enough to give you a little pucker when you ate them!

Needless to say they kept us very entertained in the car taking ridiculously silly #ZoursFace selfies.

Our two and a half hour road trip passed pretty quickly between!

Here are some of the silly little things we did to pass the time together -

1. Silly Zour Faces - On the count of three each pop a piece into your mouths and take a photo, then judge who has the best #ZoursFace.
2. Slug Bug games – Remember this game? My kids love it.
3. I spy - …with my little eyes… it’s a classic game that can turn silly very fast when you put three kids in one car.
4. Dance parties in our seats – We like to switch stations and find the best songs to rock out too in our seats. I’m not sure what Wayne thinks of this while he’s trying to drive, but hey – the kids aren’t fighting! J
5. Funny feet photos - Don't ask me why - but I always end up with some 'pedicure' photo from every road trip! If you’re kids have their own camera or you have one they can borrow, toss one in the back seat and let them take their own silly road trip photos. You can go through and delete all but the very best later.

Even after we arrived at 'camp' the Zour® Candies were a big hit, and we enjoyed them as a little treat to have on hand. Sometimes it’s funny how one little thing like new candy can spark a whole lot of fun and creative entertainment for the family!

What kinds of silly things do you do to keep the kids entertained in the car? Please tell me I'm not the only one doing the disco in the car. ;)

Thanks #CollectiveBias for making our road trip a little more exciting!

~Melissa