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  • Mini Lemon Flower Tarts

    These Mini Lemon Flower Tarts are perfect for any Spring celebration, including a Mother's Day Brunch! These two-ingredient mini lemon tarts are super simple and make a stunning presentation for any Spring gathering. We loved them for Easter brunch and think they would be a stunning addition to your Mother's Day celebration! Mini Lemon Flower Tarts Recipe Ingredients: 1 box Ready-to-Bake roll-out pie crusts 1 can lemon creme (We used a can of Duncan Hines lemon creme found in the baking section) powdered sugar, optional Supplies: Flower cookie cutter mini cupcake pan Directions: Set your pie crust out, to become room temperature. Preheat your oven to 450F. Once your dough is room temp, roll it out and cut flower shapes out of it with this flower cookie cutter. 1 pie crust makes about 7 flowers, plan accordingly. Tuck each pie flower down into the mini cupcake pan, being sure to press them down into the bottom well, and gently fold the petals back around the top of the cupcake pan. Give the bottom and sides a few pokes with a fork. Bake for 5-6 minutes. 5 minutes was the sweet spot for me but your oven might be slightly different. Gently remove the flowers and let them cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Spoon the lemon creme into a plastic baggie and cut the tip off. Pipe the lemon creme into the center of the mini flowers. Refrigerate for a few hours or until ready to serve. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired before serving. I tilted my flowers so that the powdered sugar got on the petals and not the pretty yellow filling. These would be a sweet treat to serve for a Mother’s Day Brunch! Moms always love flowers and they would make such a pretty presentation. These sweet lemon tarts would even be great for a baby or wedding shower or even a tea party or any celebration really! They are so pretty and bite-sized! This post may contain affiliate links.

  • DIY Easy Fairy Gardens

    When the weather is nice, we always want to spend all our free time outdoors. Our patio becomes our second living room/kitchen. It's fun to spruce up the patio with these cute and easy DIY fairy gardens that bring a lot of joy to look at. It's a great activity for kids of all ages to get involved, create something "magical" and get their hands dirty in the garden a little bit. It's a great activity to let kids express their different personalities by letting them choose their own fairy house and flowers for the pot. The first thing you will need is a big flower pot. I personally like these 22 inch pots that look like stone but are made of plastic so they aren't as fragile and can be easily moved around the patio. Once you've got your pot, you need some fun fairy decor. A fairy house is a must! It is exciting to see what kids choose. One of my kids chose a strawberry fairy house and the other chose an acorn fairy house. Here are some other fairy houses that would look darling in a fairy garden. Once you've decided on a fairy house, hit up your local nursery to shop for some pretty flowers! I suggest getting 2 or 3 small flowers to put around your fairy house. Once you've got your flowers planted and houses placed where you want them, time to make it even more personalized. Kids will enjoy making little stone pathways up to their fairy houses and can even make it more fun with fairy garden accessories like a bridge, chairs and tables, little animals, signs, fairies, flower umbrellas, and more! You may also like our: Flower Garden Parfaits DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs Flower Jar Craft This post may contain affiliate links.

  • Chicken Tinga Quesadilla Tacos

    Elevate your Taco Tuesday with these amazing Chicken Tinga Quesadilla Tacos! Everyone in my family gets so excited when I make these tacos. The tacos taste so good and look beautiful, but the recipe is so easy! These aren't your average chicken tacos, because we turn the taco into a quesadilla. I mean look at that cheese pull! Let's jump right in and make these amazing tacos. As I said, these are stunning tacos, but actually pretty easy to make. Easy enough that you can actually have them on Taco Tuesday without feeling overwhelmed. Chicken Tinga Quesadilla Tacos Ingredients: Olive oil, about 1 tablespoon 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded 1 red onion, halved then sliced 1 can of chipotle chilis in Adobe sauce (I vary how much I use, but usually it's around 4 of the peppers with some of the sauce added in) 1, 28oz can of crushed tomatoes 4 garlic cloves 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp dried oregano small flour tortillas (you need 2 tortillas per taco) non-stick spray, I like avocado spray quesadilla cheese, shredded Roasted poblano salsa cremosa (so so good, makes those flavors pop) Toppings optional: Onion, chopped (for ease, I buy prechopped) Queso Fresco cilantro lime wedges Note: Special tools this recipe calls for are a griddle (I own this one) and a food processor. Directions: Halve your red onion and cut it into thin slices. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions to start cooking. While your onions are cooking down, add garlic cloves, chipotles in adobe sauce, crushed tomatoes, oregano, cumin, and salt to a food processor and blend. 4. Once your sauce is blended, add it to your pan with the red onions and bring to a simmer. 5. Add in the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Bring it all to a simmer again and turn it down to low to just heat the chicken through and let that sauce marinate the chicken. 6. Start prepping your toppings for the tacos - we like chopped onion (I often buy pre-chopped to save time), crumbled queso fresco, cilantro, lime wedges, and the roasted poblano salsa cremosa really makes these tacos. Set all this aside and get ready to start making your tacos. 7. Start getting your griddle warm, I think I usually cook mine around 300. Spray with non-stick spray. I like avocado spray. 8. When your griddle is ready, add your bottom tortillas and top with shredded quesadilla cheese. Top with another tortilla. 9. When they are almost ready to flip, spray the top side with more non-stick spray, flip, and cook the other side. 10. Now, you're ready to make your tacos! The easiest way to make your taco fold in half is to use your spatula and made a small indentation down the middle to fold easier. 11. Add a scoop of the chicken mixture to one side of the taco. I sometimes add the rest of the toppings right way, other times I remove them from the griddle and add the toppings. Fold your taco together 12. Top with queso fresco, cilantro, chopped onions, roasted poblano salsa cremo, or whatever toppings your family likes. 13. Serve with a wedge of lime and enjoy! This post may contain affiliate links.

  • Bird Feeder Crafts for Kids

    My kids love nature, so one of the crafts I’m looking forward to making with them is one of these Bird Feeder Crafts for Kids. This spring is a great time for crafting and an even better time to give birds a little extra love. The weather is starting to get warmer but there may not be as many natural fruits, nuts, and seeds for them to find to eat, especially if you live where it snows in the Spring. I found some cute bird feeder crafts for kids to DIY. These aren’t just for Spring though. They make a great rainy day activity or a fun weekend, Winter Break, or hot Summer day craft! We love that a lot of these are all natural or use recycled items to create cute bird feeders. Bird Feeder Crafts for Kids This milk jug bird feeder from Great Stems can be designed in lots of great ways and it’s a good way to upcycle that old milk carton. How about this colorful and cute paper bowl bird feeder from Non Toy Gifts. Don’t throw away that juice carton, make this cute owl bird feeder from Red Ted Art. This orange bird feeder from Made With Happy has a great tutorial full of helpful pictures. How cute is this shaded bird feeder house made of popsicles on Babble. The Pinecone Bird Feeder from Natural Beach Living is messy and fun for kids! We love how colorful this soda bottle bird feeder is from Artzy Creations. Kids can practice their fine motor skills while threading the yummies on this fruit and grain bird feeder from Happy Hooligans. This apple bird feeder from Natural Beach Living is so pretty! Which one would your kids choose to make? You may also our: Flower Garden Parfaits DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs

  • Flower Jars Craft

    These pretty little flower jars are a perfect way to keep those little flowers that kids like to collect. This is a fun craft to do after a nature walk, for Mom on Mother's Day or just because if you have flowers blooming nearby. It's super easy to make, but older kids will be able to lay their flowers down better without petals getting smooshed or fingers sticking to the tape as much. Here's how you can make your own Flower Jar Craft! Supplies: Jar printable Scissors Packing tape Flowers and leaves Get the free printable here Directions: Cut out your jar printable (I used cardstock) so that you have the outline of the jar with blank space in the middle. Flip your jar over and gently (so it doesn't stick to the table too much) add tape on the back, overlapping slightly within the jar and around the edges. You're going to cut those edges later so don't worry about them. 3. Flip your jar back over and fill with flowers and/or leaves arranged however you like them. 4. Tear off a piece of tape and lay across the biggest section of flowers. Press down to seal. Just like you taped the back, continue to layer the packing tape across the front of the jar "sealing" your flowers in. Remember to overlap it at the sides and between pieces of tape. 5. Trim up the outer edges of your jar with scissors. These are pretty displayed in a window. They are like nature suncatchers! * Please note, this craft does not preserve your flowers, most flowers keep their color for a few days. Pressed flowers could also work for this craft and would last longer. You may also like our: DIY wildflower seed bombs DIY Fairy Gardens

  • Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft

    This is a fun project for toddler or preschoolers but honestly big kids (moms included) can have fun making these coffee filter butterflies! Supplies: Coffee filters Watercolor paints Paintbrushes Paper plates Pipe cleaners Directions: Lay your coffee filters out on paper plates and let the kids paint them with watercolors. Try out many different designs. We set out multiple plates with coffee filters on them at once so they had a lot to work with. Once the coffee filters are dry, scrunch them in the middle. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and wrap around the middle. Curl the antennae out to complete it and ta-da! One coffee filter makes one butterfly! We like to string our butterflies up on display so we can talk about them. They make a fun addition to the playroom during the Spring.

  • Healthy Green Smoothie

    In my most recent attempt to be a healthier, I created this healthy green smoothie. It's so yummy and recently has been my favorite breakfast, even my kiddos like it! I finally got a chance to make it for Richard this week and he's a fan. It's so simple and super healthy with all that spinach! I created measurements for this post, but usually for my frozen fruits and spinach I sort of eyeball it. The measurements aren't always exact when I make it but pretty close. This smoothie is so good you don't even feel like you're eating greens. It's a wonderful way to get some green stuff into your body making your day start off healthier! Green Smoothie 1/2 cup frozen peaches 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks 4 ice cubes 1 cup cold water 2 fresh bananas, broken into pieces 1 fresh kiwi, peeled and sliced 3 cups fresh baby spinach 1 small container vanilla yogurt (6 oz) Blend it all together for a few minutes, stirring to ensure everything is getting mixed and enjoy! This makes about 36 ounces of smoothie.

  • Three Cheese Potato Soup

    My friend gave me this potato soup recipe years and years ago. I tweaked it a little over the years, however, it still remains one of our rainy-day favorites. I use heavy cream in my recipe, but you could substitute it for milk if you have it. I usually use whatever cheeses I have on hand. I usually have cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella cheeses in my fridge so that's become my base recipe. In the past, I've used a variety of different cheese combinations. That's the great thing about cooking. You can totally make changes to a recipe to suit your likes or use up things you have in your fridge. Three Cheese Potato Soup Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced smoked sausage, sliced olive oil 2.5 cups chicken broth 4-5 medium potatoes 2.5 cups heavy cream or milk 1 cup cheddar cheese 1 cup mozzarella cheese 1 cup Swiss cheese Directions: 1. Start a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil and cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Boil in salted water for about 10 mins or until tender. 2. Meanwhile, in a large pot sauté onions, garlic, and sausages in olive oil over medium heat until the onion is slightly browned and soft. 3. Stir in chicken broth. Dump in drained potatoes and mash with a potato masher until smooth, some lumps are okay. 4. Add in salt and pepper to taste (I've added smoked paprika before) and stir in heavy cream or milk. 5. Stir in cheeses, leaving a little for topping. 6. Feel free to adjust the milk and chicken stock if the soup is too thick. 7. Once it's heated through, scoop it into bowls, top it with cheese, and serve. These Soup Bowls are my favorite for presenting cute soups and stews! Shop them here: I like to serve my potato soup with a big German pretzel or some crusty bread and a cold beer!

  • Floral Bunny Headband

    Easter is a fun time to make floral crafts! All the beautiful flowers in the craft stores, and outside, have inspired us to create this sweet Floral Bunny Headband for Easter and the dress-up box. If you already have a set of old bunny ears, you can jazz them up with some flowers for a new look. We decided to create our own bunny ears out of wire and lace, for a soft and sweet look. Gather up your supplies below and let’s get started. Supplies: Headband - plain Floral wire Lace Fake flowers, assorted Hot glue + hot glue gun scissors 1. Attach two pieces of floral wire to your headband, creating bunny ear shapes. 2. Lay out a piece of your lace, and cut it to the length of one ear. Wrap your lace around the ear shape, hot gluing to the back of the wire as you go. Trim off any excess lace. 3. Decorate with pretty flowers! Using scissors, or by just pulling off the flowers, remove the flower heads from the stems. Hot glue your flowers along the base of your ears and headband. Adding a variety of different flowers and colors will make your floral bunny headband really pop! Have fun playing around with different colors and flower combinations. I could make about 38 of these; I got a little excited buying flowers at the craft store! You may also like our: DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs Flower Garden Parfaits

  • No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream

    Today, I’m sharing our favorite No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream recipe that you and your kids can enjoy week after week, all summer long! We love homemade ice cream but pulling out the ice cream churn and gathering all the parts and pieces is time-consuming. Making sure I have enough ice and salt, and watching and waiting for hours, isn’t really fun for me and my kids got bored waiting. But, for an easy ice cream recipe, I came up with an easy no-churn ice cream recipe with triple chocolate to please your sweet tooth and keep you cool on a hot day! This no-churn ice cream only takes a few minutes, and a few easy ingredients to make. Then you have a yummy summer dessert or hot afternoon treat! It doesn’t get any easier than 5 ingredients! No-Churn Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Ingredients: 2 cups heavy whipping cream 14 oz sweetened condensed milk 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder pinch of salt (optional) chocolate syrup chocolate chips Directions: 1. In a small bowl mix together the sweetened condensed milk with the 1/4 cup cocoa powder and pinch of salt (optional) 2. With a mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium speed until soft peaks form. 3. Gently fold the chocolate/condensed milk mixture into the whipped cream until smooth. 4. In a loaf pan (or this cute ice cream container), layer in about 1/3 of the ice cream mixture. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and chocolate chips on top. 5. Repeat with another layer of ice cream mixture and more syrup and chocolate chips. Add a final layer of ice cream mixture and top the whole thing with syrup and chocolate chips in a pretty design. Cover and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours. Overnight works best so that your ice cream is completely frozen. Scoop and enjoy!

  • Bookworm Library Bag

    The Summer can be soo hot here in Arizona. We like to spend the hottest part of the day indoors. One of our favorite ways to hide from the blazing sun, during the middle of the day, is with a stack of books from the library to read. Since we read a lot during our summer break, we made a DIY bookworm library bag to carry our books in and the kids love carrying their books in it! For this craft, we jazzed up a simple canvas bag with some pom pom “bookworms” for our little bookworm. Bookworm Library Bag Craft Supplies: canvas bag pom poms fabric paint (and foam brush) puffy paint googly eyes reusable letter stencil stickers glue (fabric or hot glue) Directions: This DIY Bookworm Library Bag is pretty easy to make but younger kids will need some help. 1. Use stencils and fabric paint to spell out their name, or spell out the word “bookworm” along the top of the bag like we did. 2. Draw a squiggly line of fabric glue and let the kids create a body for their bookworms. If you’re using hot glue, only add one dot of glue as you glue down each pom pom to prevent the glue from drying to fast. Add a larger pom-pom for the head of the bookworm. We found these cute rainbow-colored pom-poms, that were a fun addition to this craft! 3. Lastly, glue on some googly eyes and add puffy paint legs and then let it dry overnight. Take to the library and let your little bookworms fill their new DIY library bag with as many books as they can carry! Now head over to your local library and sign up for their summer reading program!

  • Wildflower Seed Bombs

    My daughter is 100% committed to caring for our Earth and the animals and people on it. We recently learned about bees and our family decided to create a wildflower garden that bees would love. That inspired us to create these recycled paper DIY wildflower seed bombs – to beautify our community and help save the bees. Get this fun, kid-friendly DIY just in time for Earth Day and Spring gardening! Before creating our DIY wildflower seed bombs, we headed to our local nursery to get some tips on flowers that bees and other pollinators would like. We found out that bees are particularly drawn to blue flowers and that yellow flowers appear blue to them! It’s a good idea to find wildflowers that are local to your area. The bees will enjoy them and they will be sure to grow well in your local soil and weather. Our local nursery had several different wildflower seeds and blends to choose from. In the end, we choose the Arizona Summer Bloom Wildflower mix for our seed bombs since we live in the hot and dry desert climate of Arizona. DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs Supplies: Construction paper Food processor wildflower seeds silicone mold Directions: 1. Start by tearing your construction paper into small pieces. We choose 2 pieces of purple, 2 pieces of pink, and 2 pieces of green construction paper and kept them separated by color. Tip: 2 pieces of construction paper made about 4 seed bombs for us. 2. Soak the pieces in a bowl covered in water for 20 mins. Drain off most of water and blend paper in the food processor. 3. Once your paper is blended, squeeze out any excess moisture. Press some paper into the bottom of your silicone mold, just enough to cover the bottom. 4. Add a pinch of wildflower seeds to each mold. TIP: try to keep the seeds in the middle and away from the edges. We had some trouble with the ones my son did, being too full of seeds, and the top and bottom not drying together because there wasn’t enough wet paper to create a good seal. 5. Add more of the paper on top of your seeds and press down to seal and cover the seeds. Let your seed bombs dry overnight. 6. Once they are dry, gently pop out your wildflower seed bombs from the molds. We created a free printable that you can download and use! Wildflower Seed Bomb Printable PDF Click here for printable PDF We put our wildflower seed bombs in a clear bag, folded over the top, and punch holes in it. We tied off our printable and baggie with a pretty ribbon and surprised some friends with them. The instructions are easy. Just toss them out in your yard, water them and they will grow wildflowers in a few weeks! Check out these other posts you may like: Flower Garden Parfaits DIY Floral Bunny Headband

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