Monday, July 29, 2013

Simple Dessert: Marshmallow Popcorn Balls




For movies we love to pop fresh popcorn from our movie theater style popcorn maker. Sometimes I get a little wild with it making way too much for the night. I find it absolutely fun to make the popcorn and watch it pour out of the popper. Silly I know but this leaves me with extra popcorn all the time. Sometimes we feed it to the ducks at a local pond and other times we make popcorn balls.

This last time we made popcorn for a movie I had a whole grocery bag full left over. I decide we would make some simple marshmallow popcorn balls. I searched the cupboards to see if we had anything we could add in and I found some white chocolate and dark chocolate chips. I found some food coloring too so I decided to make my white chocolate pink.


My son wanted to help as always so I let him make a couple pink popcorn balls, his oddly turned out a little runny. I found out after clicking through some pictures and asking my husband that he had dipped his popcorn balls in his apple juice before dipping it into the white chocolate mix. ( I was baffled as to why his turned out so watery and strange lol)


Ingredients:

4 tbsp. butter
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
10 oz bag of Marshmallows
12 cups popped popcorn
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips


Directions:

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the marshmallows, vanilla and salt. Heat, stirring constantly, until the marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Place the popcorn in a large mixing bowl. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the top. Toss gently to combine and coat the popcorn. Allow to cool just slightly, then form into balls with well buttered hands. Place on sheets of wax paper. While popcorn balls are cooling melt the white chocolate in a small bowl in microwave, mix in coloring if desired, melt dark chocolate in separate bowl. Once cooled dipped the popcorn balls in the chocolate mixtures. ENJOY!
Share:

Friday, July 26, 2013

Frugal Friday Coupons!


Food
Personal Care
In the Home
Share:

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Summer Fun with Target and Justice League! #SummerUp

Check out our summer loot, we have been digging into it finding lots of great activities to do!


It is no secret how much my family and I love Target, in fact my 3 year old's favorite store is Target, even above the toys store! There are so many great things to shop for at Target and they did not disappoint for their summer items. Target has a line of summer gear of Justice League with a ton of things to help keep the kiddos busy while the lazy days of summer continue.
Enjoying the summer days with nice cold drinks in our pitcher and cups along with tasty treats :)

Ashley at the beach with our picnic blanket, perfect for keeping the sand under us, not on us.


The boy making their own Justice League masks!

Ashley (and the Chewie the dog) love to throw these light weight frisbees back and forth, again from the summer Justice League.

Game day? Add superhero plates, cups and more to make family time even more fun.

The summer is in full swing over here in Washington, we have been to the beach, the park, and any outdoor activity we can. The summer days can also drag and feel like they will never end that is why I love getting new ideas for activities and outings. In need some summer fun inspiration? Target has just that and more check it out here!

* This is not a paid post, I was provided these items on behalf of Target. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 
Share:

Saturday, July 20, 2013

A very vintage weekend...




This weekend consists of taking pictures of my beautiful, vintage inspired, little sister Megan, some thrifting in hopes of some vintage finds and taking in a movie in a local old theater with my wonderful husband. Here to the weekend, hope you enjoy yourself and find joy in the little things.
Share:

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Day at the Lake with Save Mart Cantaloupe #FreshFinds #Shop #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. #FreshFinds #shop #cbias All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

This summer has been filled with fun times. We swim at the pool, have BBQ dinners, attended festivals and even met some new friends. This year we decided we wanted to take our son for his first lake trip. He has swam in pools and dipped his toes in the river but we have not made it to the lake. When I saw the great deals at Save Mart for the food I would need to plan a picnic I knew we had to go. I have been wanting to try a new recipe for Cantaloupe Berry Fruit Salad that has a lemon yogurt and cinnamon dressing.


We made a list for our day at the lake using the Save Mart ad and divided it in half. My husband and I planned to divide and conquer in the store. We had a busy day planned and knew this would be fast. My son went with me since I had the "cool" racing cart. We ended up with 44 items all together and saved $36.86. Great shopping trip! You can read about our shopping trip in my Google+ story.



I found many fresh finds at Save Mart. Everything I need for my Cantaloupe Berry Salad, honey mangoes to snack on while I cook, watermelon to slice into wedges for the kids to eat and red bell peppers to add to the pasta salad. Thankfully my son loves fresh fruit and ate almost half the containers of strawberries and blueberries while I was preparing the fruit salad. I had to hide them or he would have eaten them all!



The sweet scent of fresh fruit filled the kitchen as I was preparing the salad. I always look forward to California summers that are filled with local fresh fruits and veggies. I often just set our a big bowl of cut fruit to guest to snack on. I wanted to fancy up our fruit for the day at the lake so I made a cinnamon lemon yogurt dressing.

Cantaloupe Berry Fruit Salad Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low fat lemon yogurt

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

2 cups sliced cantaloupe 

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 cups blueberries

Preparation:

In small bowl, mix yogurt, juice, sugar, and cinnamon and blend well with whisk. Combine remaining ingredients in salad bowl and drizzle with salad dressing. Cover and chill until serving.


We packed up the fruit salad, pasta salad, watermelon slices, fresh corn that we planned to grilled in the husk, the meat to BBQ and all drove to Folsom. The kids were super excited to be going to the lake. For a few of our friends this would be their first time at the lake, just like my son.

The food was delicious. The fruit salad was a big hit, some of the kids even asked for seconds! We ate so much I wanted to make sure the kids waited for a bit before heading back to the water. I did not want to sound like a cliche so I did not want to say "You have to wait 30 minutes before swimming" so I had them talking and playing with balloons I brought. We played balloons and had fun for about, 30 minutes lol. If its true or not about waiting to swim I still like to have them settle their tummies before swimming.



One of the benefits of serving fruit for a day at the lake dinner is we were all hydrated and full of antioxidants while we enjoyed the summer sun. Some people like to make things like S'mores but for us on a hot summer day fresh fruit is what we love. We all headed to the water to swim and build sand castles. We had a perfect summer day!


My son loved swimming in Folsom Lake. He wanted to stay as long as we could, the only way I could get him to leave is by promising he could have more fruit and swim at the pool when we got home.



You can find great recipes and see what items are on sale to plan your next summer adventure on the Save Mart website, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Share:

Regal Summer Movie Express for only $1

summermovieexpress 


Looking to beat the heat this summer for only $1 per person? Regal Theaters hosts a "Summer Movie Express" every summer. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays they play older movies like Ice Age, Rio, Yogi Bear, Happy Feet 2 and more for only $1!! I plan on taking my boys this week, it will be my now 3 year old Liam's first movie going experience, but I figure if we fall apart or have to leave the theater it was only a dollar. You can't go wrong for that price, check out the states, cities and times here.

* I was not paid for this post, I just wanted to share a fun and frugal summer event with our readers :)
Share:

Friday, July 12, 2013

I got a new 'do.






I was in desperate need of a hair makeover.....

I was starting to feel like all I ever did was put my hair up in a ponytail, which is 90% true. Good enough for me I thought. After all I am a mom of three small children and what do they care if I NEVER style my hair right? Wrong. After seeing countless pictures of myself with my hair in the same old ponytail I decided I needed a new 'do! So I went to the salon and told her I wanted it to be different and dramatic and easy for a busy mama! And this is what we came up with! In true disclosure I have actually had this haircut before, a long time ago, in my early motherhood years. It was never this short or this sassy but it is now and I love it! So simple to manage, wash and style.

I also honestly think that most anyone can pull of this style if they really wanted to. So go ahead, try it, I dare you ;)
Share:

Frugal Friday Coupons!


Food (+ Drink)
Personal Care
In the Home
Share:

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Monday, July 8, 2013

Friday, July 5, 2013

Frugal Friday Coupons!

 

Food
Personal Care
In the Home

Share:

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Happy 4th of July!



Happy 4th of July from our families to yours!
Share:

Monday, July 1, 2013

Jamba Juice New Tropical Harvest Smoothie and Jamba Kids Berry Beet It! Smoothie Review #momsmeet


* This is not a paid post. I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product. #sponsored

At Jamba ready to try some new flavors. Its the summer but my son would only leave the house if I let him wear these pants. Anything to get him out the front door right!



I have loved Jamba Juice drinks for the last 15 years! They are a great way to cool off in the CA summers and to get your fruits and veggies in a tasty way. When they come out with new flavors I love to try them. My son of course wants to be like his Mama and he always gets a kids Jamba when we go. I was a picky eater as a kid and my son has developed the same habit. I eat all sorts of fruits and veggies now and he sees that but he still says no way or thats gross. As a kid who said the same things I know how he feels and know I need to sneak in the veggies. A perfect and fun way to sneak in veggies is by serving juice.

Anyone who loves Jamba has a favorite flavor, mine is Aloha Pineapple. This trip to Jamba Juice we planned to try two new flavors. One for me and one for my son.


I tried the New Tropical Harvest Smoothie and loved it! It contains the orange veggies I dont seem to get enough of, sweet potatoes, carrots and butternut squash. It tasted great with the mango and peach in it to balance the veggies.  My son gulped his down and got a little bit of brain freeze lol. Poor kid was saying how yummy it was then grabbed his head. He caught on that he needed to drink it slower but I saw that as a sign he really did like it. I love that there is beets and kale in it, no way could I get him to eat that at dinner time.

We will be back for these flavors again soon. I tried my son's drink and it was great, he liked mine too. I like to be able to order him kid size and kid tailored drinks for him when we go out.

Info on the new flavors:

The new Tropical Harvest™ Smoothie is made with a fusion of mangos, peaches, and passion mango juice blended with juices from butternut squash, sweet potato, and carrot. With only 230 calories, this beverage is
free of dairy and gluten—plus, it’s an excellent source of Vitamins A and C.


The Jamba Kids™ Berry Beet It!™ Smoothie is made with a delicious blend of strawberries, mangos, bananas, and mixed berry juice with carrots, beets, broccoli, spinach, kale, and lettuce. With only 190 calories, this beverage is free of dairy and gluten—plus, it’s an excellent source of Vitamins A, C, B6 and fiber.






We saw some cute kids cups in our Jamba store and a sign about becoming a Jamba Insider. I love to get deals and coupons so I will sign up and see what deals we can get.



There are new items I had not noticed in this store too, we often go to the mall Jamba and they do not have all the items this store location has. The Make it a Meal pack is a great idea for a grab and go summer lunch.

You can learn more about Jamba Juice on Facebook and the Moms Meet Blogger Program online.
Share:
© Frugal Family Tree | All rights reserved.
Blogger Template Designed by pipdig