Cheesy Broccoli Bites

I love me some broccoli!

Well, really, that's not true. Is there anyone out there who loves them some broccoli? I think we all mostly just tolerate it.

Recently, however, I found this recipe for cheesy broccoli bites that is really yummy:

Source: staceysnacksonline.com via Robyn on Pinterest

The name is actually broccoli cheese bites, but I call them cheesy broccoli bites because of my almost-3-year-old, who hates broccoli but eats these. At first I was calling them cheesy bites - and leaving out the word broccoli - because I was afraid he wouldn't eat them if I said broccoli.

He quickly caught onto my corniness wicked cleverness and realized that they are, indeed, made of broccoli. 

But he still eats them! 'Cause that's how tasty they are.

We sub almond flour for the breadcrumbs because we're gluten-free, so I bet they're even tastier with real breadcrumbs.

U

This is a 2 pins up recipe for me!


- Robyn

Behavior Warning Chart

So I mentioned on our Facebook page that I wanted to give Ellen's review yesterday some kind of an award for "best finished project ever." Seriously, her finished IKEA hack shoe cabinet project looked EXACTLY like the pin. It was crazy! Don't believe me? Click here to read her review.

As far as awards go, there are the Oscars, for the "best" movies out there and then there are the Razzies. To get a Razzie, you have to be one of the "worst" movies made in any given year.

And let me tell you friends. My execution of the below pin (for a Behavior Warning Chart for kids) deserves a big ol' Pinterest Razzie.
  

Here's a look at my finished project.

Ok. Let's dissect what went wrong here....

1. Never do a project like this with a 4-year-old who chooses glitter glue pen. It's just not. gonna. work. No matter how good your handwriting is, it's not good enough to overcome the sticky, gooey, icky-ness that is a glue "pen."
2. The blue paper and white printed labels were a good idea. Gluing them with a glue pen was not. You can't really tell from the picture, but there are raised glue tracks all over each white paper - really looks terrible!
3. If you're not "cutesy" and blessed with the ability to add happy-looking smiley faces and cute little sad faces, don't make the attempt.
4. My son and I decide to add his face to the paper clip showing what "level" he's on, but we didn't count on the glue bleeding through the paper. His face looks like it has some kind of horrific burn!

Now, let's balance the above with what went right ...

This concept REALLY worked for my little visual learner. I put it up (terrible design and all) and used it throughout the afternoon. My son seemed to appreciate having a cue about where he stands at any given point of time. In fact, I caught him twice looking at the board when he was starting to ramp up his attitude and it saved us a couple of times from time outs.

So, all in all, I give this concept 2 pins up because it absolutely worked for us.

However, I have to give my execution of the concept a hearty, enthusiastic 2 pins (way) down. Since it worked so well for us, I'm going to redo our chart. Sans glitter glue :)

- Christa

IKEA Hack Shoe Cabinet

Our recent move to Asia meant a significant downsize to the space in our home, including closet space and space for our shoes by the front door.  We were in serious need of a better solution than the natural one .. you guessed it, 6+ pairs of shoes cluttered in our front hallway not to mention another pile(s) in our bedroom.

I searched both in stores and online and found an “almost” solution at the space saving expert IKEA.  I say “almost” because it was typical IKEA chipboard rather than solid wood and only held 8 pair of shoes.  Here is the unit on IKEA’s website.

During my search I found an idea online for how we can combine two units of my exact IKEA find by eliminating one of the middle legs.  Rather than having two middle legs on two side by side units, the unit looks like it was destined to be twice the size with only one middle leg. 

Here's the pin:

  

And here's our finished project:

The project turned out far better than we expected, so much that we’ve almost forgotten it’s chipboard!  We each have one unit and fortunately I’m able to fit more than the suggested 2 pair per drawer, hence my 4 drawers hold a total of 14 shoes (mind you, I wear mostly sandals in 90+ degree weather) and my husband’s side holds 8 pair of his man-size shoes.  

There are project instructions on this website and they seem sufficient, however my Mr. Fix-it didn’t follow them other than for concept.  You do need a drill and only slightly more than 2 left hands for this project, but you don't need be a full-on handy (wo)man therefore I give it a 2 PINS UP.  If you want to take it one step further, consider painting the drawer fronts in a coordinating color to add design, but we opted not to do this.

If you have a long entrance hallway and a need to tidy up your front door shoe mess, this one might be for you. 

Until next time,

Ellen

p.s. as a side note related to our recent downsize, I brought home my 2 boxes of unassembled shoe cabinets from IKEA in a TAXI .. a true introduction and welcome to urban life!

Fresh (and healthy!) Summer Sandwich

Yay! It's summer! Ok, well, not really. But, almost!

Even though the weather is still quite cold in the Netherlands, I'm looking forward to starting in on lots of great, fresh warm-weather eats in the very near future. When I saw this pin, I immediately thought of lazy summer lunches and lots of fresh flavors.

  


This sandwich was a breeze to put together. Just mix the ingredients and layer on a piece of bread (or in a wrap) with some sprouts. I happened to already have chopped cucumbers on hand, which made this recipe even easier (and quicker).

I give this sandwich 2 pins up! It's super easy, it's quick, it's customizable (you really can add just about any veggies you want to the "salad"), it's healthy and it tastes great. I have a feeling we're going to be eating lots of these this summer!

Enjoy!

- Christa

Natural Tick Repellent

We're getting ready for summer over here at my house, in New York! I'm so psyched. I love the summer.

But not too long go, I found the first tick of the season. On my knee. While I was putting my kiddos to bed.

Obviously I screamed.

Then ran around the house.

Then we got it off.

But I have been neurotically itching for days and days on end, despite having had many tick encounters over my 30+ years living in the northeast United States (and most of it in Connecticut, the "birthplace" of Lyme disease)!

So the next day, I made this natural tick repellent:

Source: tappstipstv.blogspot.com via Robyn on Pinterest

I have to say that I did not use the geranium oil. The directions say that it's basically for smell and, at over $20 for 1 ounce, I just couldn't justify getting it. And I think the mixture with eucalyptus alone smells good, actually!

So, here are my two ingredients:


I put about 30 drops of eucalyptus essential oil into 1 cup of grapeseed seed oil. And then I put it in a spray bottle for ease of use.


Now, I feel like I can't quite say if it works well or not. We've only used it a handful of times over the last week, and how many ticks are you going to find on you in a season? One a month, maybe? (Hopefully...?)

But it has promise!

I'm going to give it a 1 pin up for now. Easy to make, easy to use. I think it smells nice, even without the geranium essential oil. And natural!


- Robyn

Quick & Easy Yard Tent!

I found this picture on Pinterest last week and had to remember it!  What a perfect idea for quick and easy shade in the back yard for the baby!!  This picture was pinned from nanaboodilly.blogspot.com   The blog is marked private, but I loved the idea so much I had to share:

 

Here is a picture of the shade tent that I made on our clothes line for the baby.  My clothes line is perfectly located near my garden so I am able to work in the garden and watch baby sleep or play in her seat not to mention the boys love it!!  The best part is when I need too, I am able to put up multiple tents for the boys!  I give this pin 2 thumbs up!

Cocoa Baked Quinoa Bars

On the heals of another quinoa bar recipe from former health coach, Christa, I’m not sure where to start with this review for Cocoa Baked Quinoa Bars. Perhaps she will find them to be healthier than the recipe she made, but as for them being good … well, read on and see what they contain: 

- 1/2 cup raw almonds 

- 1-1/2 cups almond milk, unsweetened (or milk of choice) 

- 1 cup pitted dates 

- 2 cups cooked quinoa 

- 1/4 cup chia seeds 

- 1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened 

- 1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened 

- 1/4 teaspoon salt 

- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal 

- optional: 1/2 teaspoon liquid chocolate stevia, 1/4 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, dried chopped fruit 

I made these hoping to find a homemade version of a nutrition or protein bar but it turned out more like a replacement brownie … but yet a long way off. I “almost” followed the exact recipe other than I substituted dried cranberries for the dates. I used chocolate chips, sunflower seeds and chopped nuts for my toppings. 

It wasn’t possible to cut mine up and serve them like bars as pictured because they were super moist and required a fork/spoon. I baked the batch for 10 minutes longer than the recipe suggests and this was still not enough, although I felt like some of the edges were on the brink of burning, hence the reason I took it out of the oven. 

Here’s how mine looked after baking: 

Mind you, I managed to eat the entire pan by myself in a few days so they weren’t all that bad, but I was glad I made these while my husband was away. He would not have touched them. 

All this to say … the review for today’s pin depends on how you and your family approach the recipe, e.g. whether you’re like Christa or more like someone in our household who’s still back at rich European pastries in the snack/dessert department. If you’re expecting a healthy version of a Duncan Hines brownie, WRONG = 2 pins down. If you’re expecting something better than a rice cake, SCORE = 2 pins up! 

For the pure fact this recipe is more on the healthy side, I give it a 1 PIN UP and can only recommend it to cooks who either have impressionable minds with hungry mouths to feed or adults in the house who are further along the health-food continuum than the other member of my household. My guess is the recipe Christa reviewed might be more suited for us since it's a least somewhat of a step in the right direction!

- Ellen