Polish Apple Pancakes

Taste has such a connection with memory, don't you think? These pancakes bring back so many memories, but my favorite is of visiting my paternal babcia in Poland and her cooking these delights for my dad and I on the night that we arrived. I was about ten years old; tired, grumpy and overwhelmed. We were ushered in, sat at a plain and simple table in her small apartment's kitchen, and she continued to fry these babies up.

They are called "racuchy" (rah-tsoo-hiy) or "placki z jablkami" (pancakes with apples / "plah-ts-key z yab-kahm-eh").

These days I pull it out on those evenings where "breakfast for dinner" is on the menu again or if I have extra apples that should get used. They're like a mix between a pancake, fritters, dutch baby, beignet and a donut. There's just no one way to describe them! But they are super easy to make, use readily available ingredients and are so tasty. Even though they are essentially deep fried, they don't come out greasy.

You'll need:
2-3 apples (peeled, cored and sliced thinly)
2 cups of flour
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1 tsp sugar
vegetable oil
powdered sugar

You'll do:
1. Mix together the 2 cups of flour, egg, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of sugar to make the batter. It'll be similar to the consistency of pancake batter. Fold in the apple slices.
2. In a frying pan, pour enough vegetable oil to fill the pan about 1/4 of the way up. Heat it to hot.
3. Ladle drops of batter with 2-3 apple slices into the oil. You don't need a lot of batter, just enough to stick the apple pieces together.
4. Cook until the bottom is lightly golden, then flip. It should take less than 2 minutes total.
5. Place onto a paper towel lined platter. Blot up any excess oil with another paper towel.
6. To serve, give it a good dusting of powdered sugar.

Getting toddlers involved in the holidays

Toddlers are such a handful at times, but when things are good, it's pure magic with them. This year the spirit of Christmas is making a big impact on my 2 1/2 year old, Penny, and I have been going through a list of holiday activities with her. Here's a few ideas to help you get going on how to get your toddler involved during the holidays:

1. Picking out the tree together
2. Creating ornaments (we bought a couple ceramic ones from our local craft store and I let her paint them)
4. Cookies! Check out our experience below
5. More Christmas candy, like dipping chocolate covered pretzels and decorating with sprinkles
5. Make garlands using pom poms, popcorn, cheerios, macaroni noodles, cotton balls, beads
6. Hand print crafts
7. Felt board stories
8. Read Christmas books together
9. Make scented playdoh
10. Create Christmas cards
11. More craft ideas: make candy canes with beads and pipe cleaners, Popsicle stick ornaments, salt dough hand and foot prints, pom pom wreaths

I'm a baker at heart and it's been a long time dream of mine for the day when my daughters can help create goodies for our family. So last Christmas Adam made a kitchen step stool station for the girls that will safely bring them to counter level. While Ruby rode along for the ride, Penny and I got started with decorating our first cookies together.

Because fun and being mindful of the time (for both the toddler's and infant's attention span!) was of the utmost importance, I used Toll House Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough. Toll House has 4 different flavors of pre-rolled cookie dough to choose from, and I chose sugar cookie because that's a family favorite! The dough was already rolled out the the appropriate thickness so from Penny's standpoint the fun was ready to begin!

I showed her how to gently press the cutter into the cookie dough (just like how we practice with playdoh) and I moved the cut shapes to a cookie sheet for her. Following the instructions on the package, we let them bake and fully cool before moving on to the decorating portion of our activity. Meanwhile, we played with the playdoh from item #9 above because she wasn't done using the cookie cutters!

For the decorating portion I made a simple frosting using solid coconut oil.
4 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup solid coconut oil
5 T milk
1 t vanilla extract
food coloring
Cream together the coconut oil and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in milk and vanilla until it is smooth and stiff. Add a couple drops of food coloring until you get the color you desire. 

And then I was reminded of the valuable lesson about toddlers. Even when your plans are laid out perfectly, things hardly ever go as planned. 

Once the cookies were done baking and had cooled, I showed Penny the frosting that I had made and laid out all the sprinkles for her to choose from. SUPER excited. I slathered on the frosting onto each cookie and laid them out onto a piece of butcher paper for her.

And then things took a 180° turn. Suddenly, according to the toddler, all sprinkles MUST be put away and the frosting MUST be removed from the cookies. NOW. Like "mama give me a wipe, no no no no frosting on these cookies pleaaaaaaaaaaaase!"

Friends, life's greatest mysteries are not about Nessie, the Bermuda Triangle or Stonehenge. It's toddlers. No one will ever understand why.

And there you have it. Mothers dream about the day when we get to bake cookies with our sweets for the first time and how magical it will be. In my case, I was spared the flour dust parties (thanks to the pre-made cookie dough!), and I even thought it was smooth sailing until the end...and then true to form, my daughter makes it interesting at the very end!

Find out more about Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough Sheets 

Share your favorite toddler friendly holiday activity (or toddler friend holiday activity fail!)

Disclosure: Thank you to Nestle Toll House for sponsoring today’s post and inspiring me to create and decorate delicious cookies with Nestlé Toll House Rolled & Ready Cookie Dough Sheets!

Weekly Family Slumber Party // Princess Movie Night (with The Perfect Pop App)

Thank you, Pop Secret, for sponsoring today's post! 
Check out the new Perfect Pop App to make your family movie night a memorable one too. 

A few months ago, Penny got to meet a couple real-life princesses and ever since then it has been 100% princesses 100% of the time. We've got princess books, princess shoes, princess dresses, princess necklaces, princess balls, princess dolls, princess forks...ok you get the drift. If I need to convince Penny to do something, I tell her that this is the princess way. For example, she got this weird bloody nose right before nap time a few weeks ago, so after cleaning her up and getting her back to bed for her nap, I wanted her to lay on her back for a few more minutes to make sure the bloody nose had stopped. Penny normally likes to sleep on her side or stomach, so the best way I could convince her to sleep on her back was to show her how Princess Aurora sleeps, on her back and her hands clasped at her chest. Worked like a charm!

Riding along this princess wave, one of the ways that we reconnect as a family at the end of a long week is our weekly family movie / slumber party nights. We don't ever have to ask Penny what movie she wants to watch; you guessed it - Princess Movie! This typically means Frozen, Tangled or The Princess and The Frog. We've tried a couple other animated movies but these three have stuck.

Snacks are an important part of movie nights, and because our movie night is also a slumber party we opt for bed friendly snacks. We fill our water bottles for the night and keep them close on the night stand, this way
we don't worry about spilled drinks in our bed. We also opt for easy to grab snacks, specifically popcorn, because c'mon, movie night just isn't complete without popcorn! Our favorite popcorn is Pop Secret Movie Theater Butter. Other ideas include meat and cheese slices or hummus and pita bread triangles. We try to avoid sugary snacks because it's late and part of the point of a movie night is to not have to actively put your kids to sleep ;)

Our tradition is to pile into our pile into our king sized bed around 6:00 on Friday nights and snuggle together for a couple hours of uninterrupted, technology free family time. I nurse Ruby to sleep and we settle quietly in. Penny will usually stay awake for the entire movie, but sometimes she curls up and sleeps on me like she did when she was a baby. Oh, my mama heart swoons when my big toddler girl snuggles on me like that!

I had mentioned popcorn on movie nights - isn't burned popcorn one of the most annoying things in the world? It's such a difficult balance between perfect pops and making sure all the kernels are cooked. I recently got to try out the Pop Secret Perfect Pop app and I think we've got a winner!

With our microwave, the Perfect Pop app suggested that we stop 34 seconds early. The result? Not one burned piece and they were softer too. I ran a comparison bag (because one bag simply isn't enough) without using the app and the popcorn was tougher. However, and maybe this was a fluke, there were more unpopped kernels in the first batch than there were in the second (90 vs 70). I still think that I'd be willing to give up a few kernels to make sure that my popcorn tastes good.. Quality over quantity, right?

If you're like me, you're probably wondering how does an app know that my popcorn is done (and isn't that what the popcorn button on the microwave is for?!). Well, even with that handy-dandy button we still end up with burned bags from time to time. The Perfect Pop app listens to the pops and the time in between and will tell you when it's done. In the meantime, it also gives you trivia to pass the time!

The Perfect Pop App is free at the iTunes store and is compatible with most Apple devices. Liked this post? Please take this 1 question survey.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Pop Secret, though all opinions are my own. Apple is not affiliated with in any way, nor does it endorse or support this third party app. 

Family BBQ with Klondike Kandy Bars

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Weave Made Media® and Klondike, but all my opinions are my own. #weavemade #KandyBar  http://my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH

This past 4th of July was a busy one for us! We celebrated 5 years of marriage, visited my in-laws to watch the local parade, had some family fun with a BBQ afterwards, then Adam and I took off to celebrate anniversary!

Besides all the great family fun to be had, my favorite part of any family get together is always the food. We had the good ol' all-American cheeseburgers with an assortment of sides and I was (and usually am) the bringer of desserts. I had already baked a peach cobbler, but I also wanted to share the all new Klondike Kandy Bars!

So after lunch we sent the kids outside to the sprinkler and the grown ups tore into (well, I should say that my brother in law tore into) the ice cream and we sat back, enjoying our sinfully delicious KANDY Bars and laughed at the kids run around.

Out of the three flavors, the Caramel & Peanuts disappeared the fastest - the runner up was Cookies & Cream. All three flavors have a chocolatey coating and a ribbon of gooey goodness inside along with the ice cream. They were the perfect compliment to our low key dinner and a total crowd pleaser!

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Disclosure: Thanks Klondike for sponsoring today's post and treating my family with some yummies!

Sour Cream Zucchini Bread with Coconut Oil

This is a revamp on my previous recipes of sour cream banana bread and sour cream pumpkin bread. Seriously, what else can I mix into this fantastic recipe that won't be a win?

Yields 2 loaves

You will need:
non-stick cooking spray
1/4 c of sugar with 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c softened butter (or 1/2 c Tropical Traditions Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil)
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 c shredded zucchini (drain for 30 minutes)
2 c  sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c flour
*Optional: Toppings such as more cinnamon-sugar, candied pecans or chocolate chips.

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray 2 bread pans with your non stick spray.
3. In a small bowl mix the 1/4 cup of sugar with the 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon. Dust onto the greased pans.
4. In a stand mixer cream butter and remaining sugar together. Add eggs, zucchini, sour cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix until well blended.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate into the zucchini mixture.
6. Divide batter between your pans.
7. Top with cinnamon-sugar, candied pecans or chocolate chips.
8. Bake for about an hour (but check at 45 minutes), or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

To freeze extra loaves for later:

• Allow the bread to cool off completely
• Wrap tightly in plastic wrap
• Bag in a large freezer bag
• Freeze
• Use within 3 months

Jonboy Caramels Review & Giveaway! #seattle #bmnlove

This post was originally part of the Feel the Love Giveaway Hop.

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Pictures speak a thousand words, don't they?

We recently had the opportunity to try Jonboy Caramels, a Seattle based company.

I pretty much got my first taste without Penny really understanding what was going on. But as soon as she saw the really pleased look on my face, my little girl looked up at me (with her hands outstretched) and said "mama - have?"

Yes baby, you may have one too.

Normally I keep sugary sweets out of my little tyke's hands, but what mama can resist such a sweet request?

It's also a major plus to me that Jonboy Caramels sources local ingredients, down to the cream and butter used as the base. They've opted for organic brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup; and their seasonal flavors, such as Balsamic Berry, uses raspberry and blackberry juice from local farms too.

We sampled a box of their Fleur de Sel Caramels and my initial hope was for them to last us through Valentine's Day - hah. Fat chance! These babies were gone in less than a couple days, between a snatch here and a grab there, and a 'well, I just have to have another one..' incident or two.

The texture was creamy and they melted in your mouth just like a good caramel should. These aren't the sticky, chewy caramels that make you worry about your dental health - my fillings remained intact after several samples of these. :)

Have I got you drooling at all? Well lucky you, Jonboy wants to share the love and give one Pierogie Mama a sweet sampler of their Fleur de Sel, Molasses Ginger, and Absinthe caramels. Oh boy!

Enter to win below!
This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all who entered!

Disclosure: Thank you Jonboy Caramels for hooking me up with this sweet treat! 

I love supporting a local Seattle company. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Win a Christmas themed prize pack for the kitchen! #SantasLilHelper

Welcome to the Santa's Little Helper Giveaway Hop, hosted by Viva Veltoro and So Easy Being Green!

We all know that everyone could use a little help around the Holidays, so for this event I've teamed up with over 50 other bloggers to be your Santa's Little Helper... giving away prizes that anyone would want to see under the tree! You might find the perfect gift for a little one on your list - or even for yourself, so hop around to all the blogs, including the GRAND PRIZE, on the linky at the bottom of this post!

Happy Holidays!

This time I've partnered with Shawnee from The Apronista to have one lucky winner receive a kitcheny-Christmas themed prize pack.

It's become a family tradition among the ladies on my husband's side of the family to get together right around Thanksgiving and get our Christmas candy bake on. This year I made sure we had a mini apron fashion show and I loved my matching mama-child apron set from Cupcake Provacateur. Moms of sons - fear not! This prize pack has a gender neutral set and Cynthia is working on a boy-specific line as well. 

ps, don't judge the background - that's currently my kitchen countertop!

There's nothing like something custom made for your home, is there? Maggie over at Chalk Treatmeat specializes in beautiful graphic design and can hand letter some pretty amazing pieces. She's giving away a custom lettered tree ornament to the winner of this prize pack - so put your family name on it, make a special gift for grandma and grandpa, or even something for the dog :)

Do you stock up on vanilla extract for the holidays? I'm pretty sure I go through several of those mini bottles during the months of November and December every year. This year I am trying out Beanilla's home extract kit and can't wait until my own batch is ready in less than 8 weeks! Win a Beanilla extract kit of your own - complete with bottle and vanilla beans. This is a wonderful gift to give as well.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter the Grand Prize Here.

The Hosts of this Hop have put together a Grand Prize Package for a lucky little one! This Santa's Little Helper is going to deliver to one lucky reader... a $100 Gift Card to jrfashionista.com and a $100 Gift Card to Pediped.com to get that little one styling, a $75 Gift Card to Hearthsong.com and a $50 GC to Build-a-Bear to satisfy their Toy List, and a Crane USA Adorable Cool Mist Humidifier and Nightlight so they can sleep soundly waiting on St. Nick!

Disclosure: The Pierogie Mama, So Easy Being Green, Viva Veltoro, the Blogging Mamas Network, and the Santa’s Little Helper participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill prize obligations.

Gender Reveal Party

Today was our gender reveal party. We had our ultrasound on Wednesday last week and it was tough keeping it a secret from the family until today. I pretty much had to be on a 'text only' basis, otherwise something was going to slip.

Our menu:
Balsamic spinach pasta salad (my mother in law's delicious recipe)
Deviled eggs
Crackers with a topping of cream cheese, smoked salmon and my mom's homemade pear sauce
ruske / potato and cheese pierogies (but of course!)
prosciutto and melon appetizers
fruit, veggie, meat/cheese/cracker platters
Baked brie with walnuts and cranberry sauce

And the grand finale:
the gender was revealed by way of cakepops. I used's The Kitchn's cakepop recipe using devil's food cake, sweet cream cheese and chocolate almond bark to coat.

The family members were told that the flavor of the cakepops is chocolate and only one of the 20 pops will have the gender of the baby revealed by the color of the batter. Kind of a Charlie Bucket and the golden ticket kind of thing.

We are so excited for Penny to have a younger sister. I don't have a sister and I think their closeness in age will be wonderful.

Sour Cream Banana Bread with Coconut Oil {Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Oil Review & Giveaway}

I'm a big fan of butter. Don't get me wrong. Butter just makes things better. Better with butter. But with heart disease being fairly prevalent in my husband's side of the family, I've really got to tone it down. After doing a little bit of research, I found that coconut oil is a totally viable and healthy alternative to butter in many aspects of cooking. You can substitute it as a frying oil, buttery spread and in baking. Tropical Traditions has graciously provided me with a jar of their Gold Label Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil so that I could give it a try with my tried-and-true sour cream banana bread recipe and we were all pretty impressed with the results!

Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is certified organic & traditionally made. This coconut oil meets our strictest standards and is handcrafted by family producers in the Philippines using traditional methods passed down from previous generations. Recent studies show that traditionally-made coconut oils have the highest amounts of antioxidants. Tropical Traditions also has tons of info if you want to learn what virgin coconut oil is and how to use coconut oil. 

You will need:
non-stick cooking spray
a mixture of 1/4 c of sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon for dusting
1/2 c Tropical Traditions Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
3/4 c raw honey (or 1 1/2 c sugar)
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
2 c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c flour
optional: Add 1/4 cup of mix-ins such as chocolate chips, golden raisins, organic shredded coconut or candied nuts).

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray 2 bread pans with your non stick spray.
3. Dust both pans with the cinnamon-sugar mix. You don't have to use it all, just enough to lightly coat the pan.

4. In a larger bowl, cream the coconut oil and remaining sugar together. Add eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until well mixed.

5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate into the banana mixture.

6. Divide batter between your pans.
7. Bake for 50-60 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool and enjoy with a smear of coconut oil.

Ready to bake some of your own banana bread with coconut oil? I thought so! Check out the giveaway below to enter to win a jar of coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. (ps - if you just can't wait - they are running a BOGO sale on their quart sizes of Gold Label! That's $20 for 2 quarts of amazing coconut oil!)

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.

Big long scary disclosure: I am not a health professional! Please consult your physician or other health official regarding any questions regarding health claims with any products. Nothing I have written here is intended to treat, cure or otherwise prevent any disease. I received a free sample of the product from Tropical Traditions for the review using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product. This post contains affiliate links.   If you order by clicking on any of my links and have never ordered from Tropical Traditions in the past, you will receive a free book on Virgin Coconut Oil, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you. Giveaway is open to US residents, 18 years of age or older. Winners will be contacted via email and have 48 hour to respond before another winner is chosen. The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize fulfillment. 

Sweet Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I've been attempting to hone my roasted pumpkin seed recipe for the last 4 years. That sounds worse than it is, after all most of the time I only get to work with a few cups of seeds at a time ;)  They'd either end up burned or just too oily. I tried all types of oils - olive, vegetable, butter...and this year I was determined to get it down!

I did a little bit of preliminary research and found a technique that I hadn't tried before.. Boiling the seeds before baking. Weird, right? But apparently it helps plump them up and they get crispier. I also tried using coconut oil and this was perfect for this sweet version of pumpkin seeds.

You will need:
1 T Tropical Traditions Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt
1/3 c clean, raw pumpkin seeds
small pot of salted, boiling water.

You will do:
1. Remove all pumpkin pulp from the pumpkin seeds.
2. Boil in salted water for about 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 deg F.
3. Drain the pumpkin seeds from the salted water, pat dry on a towel. They don't have to be super dry, just not soaking.
4. Mix pumpkin seeds with melted coconut oil, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. 
5. Spread out onto a metal cookie sheet, taking care that the seeds don't touch each other too much.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, toss, bake for another 10, toss, bake for another 5-10 minutes. The last part will vary quite a bit. Just check on the seeds by sampling one after the first 20 minutes and adjust from there.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Enjoy these alone or ... sprinkle them on top of some sour cream pumpkin bread!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Just Peachy: Dessert Recipe Round Up

This week I bought a case of peaches...and kind of ended up with more than I can handle! But that's a good problem to have right?

So I spend an afternoon canning half of the case by using this tutorial from Make it Do. Super easy to follow for the novice canner without any extra special ingredients or tools. Just jars, water, sugar, peaches, big ole pot of water. Lots of time. Do it - you will be happy you did!

But I'm still left with a ton of peaches, and there's only so many times per week that I can make my super secret peach cobbler and still feel good about my self image. So I talked to some of my bloggy friends and they all shared their peachy recipes for me pass on to you! How nice!

So go ahead and pin this list round up and keep it around for the next couple weeks while peaches are in season and cheap. You'll be glad you did! And when you do try any of them out, be sure to let me know what you though! (And of course, give the author some love too!)

Everything Mommyhood: Juicy Peach Crisp

That Mama Gretchen: Peach Duff

The Lilac City Momma: Easy Peach Cobbler

More than Mommy: Peaches and Cream Muffins

Creative Family Cooking: Tropical Rice with Apricots and Mango (easily can subsitute peaches in!)

Save Green Being Green: Strawberry Peach Muffins

This isn't from a blog, but I tried these skillet pork chops with peaches from McCormick. I try to avoid copious amounts of salt, so I cut it down to 1/2 tsp of Lawry's.

A few ideas from The Pierogie Mama's kitchen:
Freeze slices on a cookie sheet to have for smoothies for the rest of the year

Puree / Mash up left over pieces and put them in a reusable baby/toddler food pouch.

---Like a Yummi Pouch - enter to win a pack here!---

Mix with finely milled oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, roasted sweet potatoes or bananas! 

revised 9/6 for these lovely ladies' recipes.. These cannot be missed!
Simply {Darr}ling's Peach French toast... WHAT??!
Simply {Darr}ling's Beer infused Peach and blueberry cobbler
Simply {Darr}ling's Peach Pie Filling
HipFoodieMom Cinnamon Peach Monkey Bread
HipFoodieMom Peach Croissants
 

Got a recipe to share? Link up in the comments!

Milk Makers Lactation Cookies Giveaway with More Than Mommy

This post was originally published in collaboration with MilkMakers & More Than Mommy
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MilkMakers are cookies that help to promote a mother's milk supply while nursing.Not only are the nutritious, but they are delicious as well! 

The ingredients are organic and nut free.
You can read a full review from Renae at More Than Mommy HERE.

One lucky winner is going to receive their choice of MilkMakers
or BumpBoosters (for expecting mamas!).

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.


The Pierogie Mama is not responsible for prize shipment. Must be 18 years or older and within the United States. The winner will be notified via email. They will have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway will run until 11:59 Sept. 2, 2013.

Creamy Fruit Desserts

CREAMY FRUIT DESSERTS

Fruit makes a great dessert on its own, but sometimes having an adaptable base for a company dessert lets you give your family or dinner guests a special treat. Use new healthy dairy products and your fanciest old-fashioned dessert mold. Another way to serve this tart-sweet cooler is to layer it with fruit in stemmed glasses or parfait dishes.

For a 6-8-cup mold or 6 parfaits
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• ½ cup cold water
• 1 cup orange juice, apricot nectar or mango nectar *
• ½ cup honey
• 4 cups greek style plain or vanilla yogurt, full-milk, low-fat or fat-free
• 1 tsp. canola or safflower oil
• 4-6 cups mixed summer fruit, cut in small slices or chunks **
• Mint sprigs

Sprinkle the gelatin on the cold water and let it sit for 5 minutes to soften. Heat the fruit juice or nectar and the honey to boiling. Pour it over the softened gelatin, stirring till thoroughly dissolved.  Gently whisk in the yogurt.

Lightly oil your dessert mold and pour in the fruit/yogurt mixture. Cover lightly with a piece of plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 6 hours until firmly set.  Turn out your mold on a 12-16-inch platter or shallow serving dish and top it with the fruit. Cut slices or wedges from the mold or scoop with a broad shallow
spoon. Decorate with mint sprigs.

For individual servings, mix all ingredients except the fruit and mint together and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. Spoon ½ cup of the mixture into the bottom of each parfait glass, add a layer of fruit and repeat, ending with a top layer of fruit.  Top each dessert with a mint sprig.

*Instead of orange juice, try some of the pleasures of the Latin or Caribbean section of your grocery store.  You will find apricot nectar and other fruit nectars that enlarge your taste vocabulary. A fruit nectar is very similar in texture to the with-pulp version of orange juice.
**In what we sometimes call “menu-French” a mixture of chopped fruit cut in small pieces is called a “macedoine.”  Peaches, plums and blueberries; pears and strawberries; or nectarines and raspberries all make wonderful macedoines. Cutting fruit pieces small exposes as much flavor as possible and lets you eat all the ingredients in the mixture together—a real summer treat!

Lauren Hill is a contributing author for Hamilton Beach, a kitchen appliance company offering a large selection of blenders, ice cream makers and slow cookers.  Go here to see more summertime recipes.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided in sharing this post, 

but I wouldn't share it with you if I didn't think it was delicious! I can't wait to try it out myself.

How to Store Summer Strawberries

Last week, Penelope and I visited a local farm that grows all organic berries. Oh my.

In about 2 1/2 hours, I was able to pick 13.5 lbs of strawberries. How does one accomplish this with a toddler? (Many moms have asked me!). Well, I started out wearing her on my back in the Ergo. She wasn't happy about this, but tolerated this for about half an hour. It was pretty tiresome to bend over or kneel while wearing her on my back, and I knew she wasn't too comfortable either.

Once she started squirming in true discomfort, I let her out and run. She's pretty good about sticking close while she figures out the situation when we're in new environments, so she ran around within 5 feet of me for another 15 minutes. She also took advantage of foraging berries from my basket or off the bush - which I was sure to let the proprietress know about! As it goes with toddlers, her courage grew quickly and pretty soon she was off running in different rows or checking out the tractors close by. Sometimes she'd sneak up behind me and I'd find her in my strawberries...When we got home, we prepared the strawberries for freezing. I like to use frozen strawberries in our smoothies instead of ice, so I froze almost all of it! 

This is how I prepare berries for freezing (this is perfect for organically grown, though I would probably take greater care in cleaning them if they aren't organic).

You will need:
A big bowl of water
Distilled white vinegar
Berries of choice
Cookie Sheets
Cleared out space in your freezer
Freezer Bags

You will do:
1. Fill a bowl with a mixture of 2/3 cold water to 1/3 white vinegar.
2. Place berries into the bowl, allowing them to soak for about 5 minutes. Agitate with your fingers and rub off any dirt.
3. Place on a cookie sheet. I prefer mine not to touch each other, though if you don't care it doesn't make a difference.
4. Freeze for several hours. I just left mine overnight.
5. Once frozen solid, transfer into freezer bags.

I did reserve some for delicious strawberry shortcakes.. Which I made 2 nights in a row ;)

Monthly Its: Six - Two Thirteen

 Want to know what's been on my screen lately? 

My "Monthly Its" list will show you exactly that!

Firstly I'm really excited to introduce my sponsors for the month! Lisu from LeLa Studios makes lunch bags, totes, binder pouches and kids' messenger bags for school. Her prints are fun, unique and stylish. Our whole family has been using this lunch tote - Adam carrying his lunch to work and it's been a great place to keep Penny's snacks cool while we visited the zoo.

Hello my name is Lisu, the creator of LeLa Studio, an art lover, designer and crafter.  After graduating from Art Center College of Designs  I worked as a photographer at  major advertising agency for six years then got married and now am a stay at home mom of three.  With our busy family schedule I need something for myself to take me away from the daily family routine.  I am thrilled to see LeLa Studio is flourishing after being on Etsy for one year. It has been a fantastic experience for me.  I love what I do and best of all is being able to share my vision and creativity with a lot of people from different parts of the world.  At home, I have three lovely kids and a 200% supportive husband.  My workshop is full of fabrics. As a kid, I loved to go fabric store with my mom, it was like a candy store for me. Now it has become  an addiction but I am happy that I can use the fabrics I buy for my shop.  I enjoy it very much!!  

Wow, 3 children and she runs a successful business! Go Lisu! 

For you cloth diapering mamas be sure to check out Buttons Cloth Diapers ASAP! Amy, who is only weeks away from welcoming her second baby (a little boy!), is the sweet mama who is behind these super affordable cloth diapers. Be sure to come back here because 6/21 I'll be giving away a set of two covers and inserts here!

What else can I share with you?

• Did you know that most plastics aren't truly recyclable? On that thought, enter to win a handmade lunch tote through 6/20 from my lovely sponsor LeLa Studios, a pair of handmade sandwich baggies from Baby's Growing Up Green and a Citrus Zinger water bottle from Zing Anything.

• I really wish Planet Wise was around in the 1980's - check out my giveaway for a set of awesome wet/dry bags to accompany you on your summer travels! Perfect for cloth diapering families but sooo many other uses, like the pool or camping. This will be live from 6/11 - 6/25, check back daily because I've got tons of opportunities to increase your changes of winning.

• 8 tips for maintaining sanity when your partner is away.

• It's parenting, not syphillis. 

• Blueberry Lemon Oatmeal Bars - lawdhelpme!

• Most of us are familiar with the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15," right? Where do GMOs come in?

• A fruit/veggie wash that uses ordinary household ingredients

• I'm no sewing pro, but I *might* try making this baby girl 4th of July dress!

I hope you found a few things worth checking out here! Please keep an eye out for those upcoming giveaways and be sure to check out LeLa Studios and Buttons Cloth Diapers over on the right hand side.

Toddler Friendly Smoothies Using Avocado

I recently discovered how amazing it is to add an avocado to smoothies. My household has a certain love affair with avocados, so I decided to give this a shot after a friend recommended it to me. Not going to lie, this was an amazing discovery. I think avocado needs to find its way into every corner of my cooking. Into my cereal, into my coffee.. yea, that part I was kidding about.

Avocados are considered the perfect food by many, it's been said that an avocado contains many of the nutrients we need to survive. It's a great first food for babies as well - Penny was chowing down on slices by the fistful when we introduced her to foods via baby-led weaning. Hanna from Endless Simmer hilariously recants the etymology behind the word: "...avocado is a derivative of ahuacatl, which happens to be the Aztec word for testicle.  The avocado grows in pairs, dangling from the tree so suggestively that even the Aztecs noticed, pausing long enough from their daily blood sacrifice to chuckle to themselves and bestow the avocado with its legacy."  Will you ever look at avocados the same again? ;)


But isn't the hardest part first selecting the perfect avocado? Avocado Central has a great interactive widget to help you determine the stage of your avocado's ripeness.

The Freckled Avocado
mmm, our favorite!

• 1 ripe avocado 
• 5 medium to large frozen organic strawberries 
• 1 cup of plain or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt 
• 2 Tablespoons of local honey

The Tropical Avocado

• 1 ripe avocado 
• 1 peeled and frozen banana 
• 1 cup of plain or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt 
• 1 cup of fresh orange juice 
• 2 tablespoons of local honey

The Chocolate Avocado

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup of plain or vanilla flavored Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

The Red Avocado

• 1 ripe avocado 
• 1 cup fresh orange juice 
• 1/2 cup frozen raspberries

A few that we'd like to try:

Beet- Avocado: from We are Not Martha

• 2 small beets
• 1 C vanilla soy milk (I used Silk Light)
• 3/4 C frozen berries
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 C baby spinach
• 1 scoop (10 grams) chia seeds

Avocado Apple: from Cooking Classy

• 1 medium ripe California avocado
• 1 large granny smith apple, chilled, cored and sliced
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and frozen
• 1 Navel orange, chilled and peeled
• 2 cups packed spinach
• 1 cup almond milk, chilled
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp agave nectar or honey, or to taste (optional)
• 8 ice cubes (about 1 1/3 cups)

Avocado Mango: from Reboot with Joe

• 1 cup mango (fresh or frozen) 
• 3 handfuls spinach
• 1/4 avocado 
• 1 cup almond milk- add a little water if you like your smoothie thinner 

Do you like to add avocado to your smoothies? What is your favorite combination? 

The S'Nookie

During my recent camping trip (read Part I and Part II), my friend Sarah and I made a delicious discovery. As you are aware, I love combining my favorite foods into a whole new meal (Baked Spaghetti Pizza and Red Velvet Brownies, for example).

And thus, behold:

 Are you ready to change life as you know it?

You will need:
2 chocolate chip cookies
Nutella
1 large marshmallow
A camp fire
Tin foil
*Note: it's helpful to have an extra set of hands for this one.

You will do:
1. Start your campfire. Ideally you don't want a super hot fire, it should be a little subdued with coals to help warm the marshmallows and cookies slowly and evenly.
2. Place tin foil on fire ring grate (if available) and arrange cookies evenly on the tin foil. Allow to warm up.

3. While the cookies are warming, start roasting your mashmallow.
4. As your marshmallow nears preparation, have an extra set of hands turn your two cookies over (so the bottom is facing up) and smear some delicious Nutella on.

5. Make a S'mores sandwich by laying the roasted marshmallow between the two Nutella smeared cookies.

6. Enjoy, and try not to get marshmallow or Nutella smeared across your face. Brush off those cookie crumbs too :)

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Menu

Typical Bianca. Instead of actually packing and preparing for the impending camping trip that we are leaving tomorrow for, I'm at the computer writing about it. My husband is so right that I'm a procrastinator incarnate.

But I'm going to justify that this is a way for me to organize myself ;)

Tomorrow morning we are taking off for a 4 day camping trip. It'll be our first one with Penelope, but at 15 months I think everything will go just fine. Naps might be a little tough, but if she doesn't want to lay down in the tent we can always put her in the Ergo and go for a hike or snuggle up in the Maya wrap at the campsite and bop around until she lulls herself to sleep. I'm flexible.

Now I'm going to preface that when I say we're going camping, it may not mean the same thing to everyone. To some people, that means packing a backpack and heading out into the woods. To others, that means loading up the camper - complete with DVD player, oven, and shower. For us, camping is sort of in the middle. We "car camp," as many might say. We go to campsites that definitely have running water, preferably showers, allow dogs and I use a Coleman propane cooktop to prepare most of our food. This time around, I am bringing my Lodge cast iron dutch oven and am planning on putting it to good use! I feel really legit now! ;)

We're camping with another couple and are splitting the meal responsibility, but I am excited to share what I am planning on bringing for us.

Tales of A Mountain Mama's Dutch Oven Stew
Amelia, thank you so much for posting this on such short notice for my benefit :)
Home made pasta salad
Dirty Gourmet's Campfire Breakfast Potatoes
Mommy's Kitchen's S'mores Trail Mix (and regular S'mores too!)
Martha's Turkey Sloppy Joes
Moms and Munchkins' Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I haven't made any of these recipes before - but I'm sure they'll be a hit!  

What are your camping favorites?

Farmer's Market Day

Farmer's Market season has officially begun! Penny and I ventured out and drove to a market that was about 30 minutes away to check it out.

It was a gorgeous day and the drive to the market is a scenic back road. Prior to becoming a mama I would have just pulled over and taken pictures of the magnificence, but for the most part there really wasn't a large enough shoulder to pull over on so of course I didn't risk it. But friends, I promise that very soon I will find a way to safely take a picture of what our drive looked like. Because words are not enough. So I won't even try. Just trust me - it was gorgeous!

This particular market was not a very big one, less than a dozen vendors, but each one was interesting and unique. There was a veggie stand, local grassfed beef, a jam & pickle man, apples & pears, a local pizza parlour brought out a portable wood fire oven and baked pizzas for you on the spot. The best find? A little mom and pop stand where they have probably 3 dozen different pastries set out and there was a line about 20 people deep. I *knew* this was the place to check out.

The person standing in line ahead of us was a very tan older man with a thick New York accent. He was clearly a regular, and he was talking with the lady-owner about his week and such. He turned around to me, suddenly, exclaimed how I must try their challah bread, and that my little girl had the cutest dimples and blue eyes. Thank you, I said with a proud smile, to which he replied that she of course gets it from her mom. Cue the blush. Then he asks her name, to which I reply "Penelope" and he looks into my eyes with the most sincere look that I would reserve only for the best of friends and told me that I couldn't have picked a more perfect name for her. Gosh, that man made my day over again.

So we bought a strawberry rhubarb pie for the hubs and an apple cinnamon bread that Penny and I shared while we walked around downtown and visited the little stores and played at the playground. This mama sure is blessed :)