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Sweet Summer Treats and Savings

Posted on June 16, 2014 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

Summer is here and families all around will be hosting barbecues, picnics, and grilling for their guests. Most years, my extended family has a large gathering at the lake. Since they take care of all of the kosher meats for grilling, we often bring sweet treats to share. The best part of baking is that my kids can get involved and help. When we head to our local Price Chopper, I make sure to check the ads and coupons that they offer for additional savings. This time of year, Price Chopper is filled with the House of BBQ items. You can get recipe suggestions to help with your party planning. While walking around the seasonal section, produce, and dessert aisle with Betty Crocker Brownies, I came up with two fun ideas for parties at home or on the go.

Nothing says summer fun like a soft serve ice cream cone. Of course, ice cream melts and is not always practical when at a celebration. We decided to try a new twist on an old favorite. Kids of all ages love cupcake cones. Rather than fill the cones with cake, my youngest begged to try the Betty Crocker Supreme Triple Chunk mix. We grabbed that and a few others items for our recipe.

Faux Soft Serve Brownie Ice Cream Cones

I followed the directions on the brownie mix which called for an egg, vegetable oil, and water that were not pictured. While my oven preheated to 350, I placed the 12 ice cream cones into a cupcake tray. Then, I filled each of the cones with approximately 2 tablespoons of batter. This fills the cones to the main line inside. These baked for 20-25 minutes until they were clean to a toothpick (if you use the triple chunk just remember there are lots of gooey chip spots). There will be extra brownie batter left. You can make additional cones or use it for the other dessert that I made below.

Once the cones were cooled, it was time to transform them into soft serve ice cream cones. The new Betty Crocker Whipped Butter Cream Frosting was an amazing shopping find. When this frosting is piped onto the top of the brownie cone, it looked just like soft serve vanilla ice cream. Top with sprinkles that match the occasion, and you are all set.

Dessert Kabob with Brownie Dip

Summer time means indulging in a bounty of fresh fruit produce. I still have memories of going to Price Chopper one summer and picking five pounds of cherries with my cousin who was in from California. We then sat outside devouring them while seeing how far we could spit the pits. These days, I still smile when picking up cherries, so I had to get them to garnish my summer plates. Fruit kabobs are a refreshing treat and kids just love anything on a stick. I grabbed strawberries and green grapes. I also bought some kosher marshmallows and Price Chopper lite whipped topping.

With the remaining brownie batter from the Faux Soft Serve Brownie Ice Cream Cones, I made a dozen mini brownies. I spooned one tablespoon into each of the mini-muffin trays. These bakes for about 17 minutes at 350. Once my whipped topping was thawed, it was time to make the Brownie Dip. The small container of Price Chopper whipped topping has about three cups in it. I then mixed in one cup of the Better Crocker Supreme Peanut Butter mix. The peanut butter chips add a fun surprise to the dip. You could also add in mini chocolate chips or sprinkles.

Once this was ready, it was time to construct the Dessert Kabobs. I bought the smaller House of BBQ skewers. Each completed kabob had a marshmallow, two green grapes, a strawberry, and a mini brownie. When everything was ready, I plated them with some of the Brownie Dip and cherries. To make it a bit more festive, I put some sprinkles on top of the dip. The dip is really versatile and would be great with animal crackers or any other fruit that looks great when shopping.

Be sure to check out recipes and ideas from the other bloggers participating in the #PriceChopperBBQ campaign. Lots of recipes for grilling and more for those getting ready for the 4th of July and beyond. You can also head over to the House of BBQ Pinterest Page and follow Price Chopper on Twitter where they share many additional items. If you are on Facebook, be sure to look at their page where additional coupons and money saving offers are often posted.

What is your favorite dessert to make during the summer? I would love to hear your ideas and whether or not you get the kids involved in the process.

Disclosure: I am a member of Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client. I am a frequent Price Chopper customer and have written about them on my blog in the past.

Categories:
baking shopping sponsored post summer

Goodbye to Summer

Posted on September 2, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It seems like only yesterday that the boys were finishing school. The last week of June came and suddenly we had an entire summer ahead of us. Now, I sit here in disbelief that the kids go back to school in a week. I wish we would have more time to go to the park to run in the spray ground that will be closing after Labor Day.

Our relatively care free days are going to be changing. Soon there will be days in school learning, nights with homework, after school activities, and less time for running and playing together. The items pictured below and more will be heading back with the boys to first and fifth grade.

While I wish I could rewind to spend more time with the boys enjoying the moments, I do look forward to seeing all that they will learn in the year ahead.

What will you miss most about the summer and what do your children miss most about school?

Categories:
family school summer

Special Moments with Your Children

Posted on August 29, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As the summer winds down, I am getting a little sentimental. My boys are growing up. I think it hit me last night when JSL woke up out of the blue early in the evening. He came over to the couch where I was sitting and getting some work done. The next thing I knew, he was curled up in my arms and fell fast asleep.

My heart melted at that moment. I immediately took a photo to capture this moment because you never know if a six year old will do something like this again. It left me wondering how many more moments like this I would be able to experience with my boys. They truly are growing up too quickly.

It has been a great summer. Each of the boys went to camp one week and loved their experience where I signed them up. While one went to camp, the other kiddo and I did special things together. JSL and I went to lunch, saw the new shows at the planetarium that we are members at, and kept cool in the crazy hot week by playing at Nana and Papa’s house. NHL and I went to Menchie’s to try it before everyone else in our family. We also were able to see Smurfs 2 and Turbo. I was able to get to know each of them a little better without the other being there. While our summer as a group has been nice, being able to give one child all of your attention and not worrying about the other was refreshing.

These moments made me think that while TechyDad and I need to have special moments with the boys together, I think we need to add another item. Perhaps we will set a time each month where we do something special with one of the boys alone. They could use this time and it would be interesting to see if we go for a hike, make a craft, read a book, or something else like that. We do not have to spend money, just make memories before the kids are grown up.

Do you ever have special “dates” with just one of your children at a time? I would love to know some of the things that you have done or what you would like to do if you tried something like this.

Categories:
family milestone parenting summer

Summer Themes

Posted on August 23, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

While many children across the United States have gone back to school, my kids do not head back until the week after Labor Day. We typically go the week of Labor Day, but the holidays made that week hectic enough that they pushed it back. Thanks to this, we are still filling the days with summer fun. It made me wonder if there was a theme to our 2013 summer. Last year, Harry Potter and Magic Tree House books claimed a lot of our attention, along with LEGO fun. So what would I say our theme was this year? Most likely it would be Doctor, more LEGO fun, and a major dose of dinosaurs and general science fun.

Several of these silly photos were set up my the boys, others done while participating in the #SummerADay Instagram fun that A Frugal Friend and Simple Sojourns have been running all summer. Either way, I have had fun documenting the fun while on the go with my phone and sharing it with family and friends.

Why yes, our theme would probably have a lot to do with dinosaurs and science thanks to out miSci membership. Of course, even Doctor Who has had his run-ins with these topics and more.

So my question to you this week: If you had to come up with a theme to describe your 2013 summer at this point, what would it be and why?

It's Me

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this Friday fun. These days, Pamela at A Renaissance Woman is reviving the fun Friday Meme. Head over there to link up and join in the fun.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #251

Categories:
Aloha Friday summer

Exploring with Watercolors

Posted on June 27, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Summer vacation is here and, when the weather is nice, we try to head outside as much as possible. Of course, lately Mother Nature has been giving us a lot of rain. The other day, I stumbled upon an unopened package of watercolors. Thank goodness, I was able to find another unopened Crayola watercolors so each of the boys would have their own.

NHL has painted with watercolors before in school. He immediately asked me to have some crayons. He wanted to do use the Crayon Resist method that he learned about. So I pulled out some crayons and let the boys explore the watercolors. As you can see, my little guy was very serious. He was trying to figure out how much water to use to get the vibrancy right.

When JSL was finished, this was his masterpiece.

The little guy loves to make items with rainbows and, typically, he will show up in those pictures, just like the one above with the pot of gold.

The next day, JSL asked to paint again. This time, he wanted to test out making some of the Monster’s University characters. He pulled out his figures and used them as inspiration. Confession, I did help him a little on these. He is six, but most of the time I simply drew the eyeballs and a few other details in crayons. He did all of the painting. Here are the four that he has done to date.

JSL really wanted to protect them, so I pulled out the laminator and tossed the ones he had already finished. In case you were wondering, those are Mike, Squishy, Sulley, and Johnny. To surprise the boys, I just bought them something else to help with the painting. Check out the new Crayola watercolors. Yes, there are actually 24 colors to pick from when being creative. No more being stuck with eight colors.

Do you or your children like to use watercolors? I would love to know if you do or have specific projects that they enjoy. We’re always looking for more fun projects to try out when the weather keeps us inside.