My Clubhouse - Hours of Pretend Play

Ever since last autumn, my two girls have been determend to have a playhouse outdoors. They haul boards and toys around the yard trying to put something together. I have been looking at the neat line of Step2 playhouses and I would just Love to get them at least one! ;)

Right now though, you can enter a giveaway for your chance to win this Clubhouse! 

 

Mom to Bed by 8 and Mom Does Reviews are happy to bring you this fun My Clubhouse giveaway!

Do your children love to play make-believe? Do they need a fun, durable and safe toy for ages 2 and up? My Clubhouse is the cutest playhouse on the block!

• Play make believe in this unique backyard edition perfect for multi-child play
• Features a peephole, chalkboard, picnic table, and secret hiding compartment
• Fabric roof is durable and weather resistant
• Personalize the clubhouse by writing your child's name on the doorway
• Opening side wall for hide and seek fun
• Dining accessories not included
• Adult assembly required
• Clubhouse can be used all year long. Bring it inside in the winter so the fun can continue.

Giveaway is open to US residents only ages 18 and over. Giveaway starts June 4th and ends June 25th.

Enter on the easy rafflecopter below. Remember, you can't win if you don't enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Preparing For Our Children's Future is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.

Welcome from the Ultimate Blog Party!!!

Hey! Welcome from the Ultimate Blog Party! I am assuming that everyone else already knows about it and has joined in the fun. ;) I am fashionably late...as usual. =( I really need some sort of reminder for this awesome event!!

Anyways, Thank you for visiting my blog. =)

I have kind-of neglected it lately since we are so busy with home school, and spring time activities here. Also have been mulling over some things I may want to change about my blog and blogging. Hope you will follow and let me know your thoughts.

Hope everyone is having a blessed spring. =) And great time at the Ultimate Blog party!!!

If you have a home school, cooking/recipe blog or giveaway blog, please let me know so that I can visit and follow your blog. =)

Freschetta Rally for Real Pizza Campaign!!

Hey friends! If you love pizza as much as I do, you will love to hear about this!


Freschetta is having a Rally for Real Pizza campaign!

"Frozen pizza shouldn’t simply taste better. It should be better. Freschetta® frozen pizzas are made with top-quality ingredients and taste-tested recipes, just to make sure your pizza will always deliver Fresch® flavor."

I Rally For Real Pizza because I don't want to feed my family a pizza that has very little taste and is like you are just eating some crust with a dab of cheese throwed on top and a few pieces of meat or veggies that everyone will fight over. I want a pizza loaded with flavor! Flavor in the crust, flavor in the cheese, and tons of flavor loaded toppings!!

Freschetta™ Rally for Real Pizza campaign has an awesome Rally Mosaic on Facebook that you have got to check out! You can join the Freschetta™ Rally for Real Pizza by submitting a photo to the Rally Mosaic on Facebook. Each week they will select 100 winners – to each receive 5 Freschetta® pizzas. On March 30, they will also select 10 winners – who will each receive Freschetta® Pizza for a Year!



Disclosure:
I occasionally receive compensation in the form of products for posts. However, the opinions I share are solely my own.

6 Snack Mix Recipes!!

I was looking for some snack mix recipe and found some great ones, so decided to share them here. Hope you enjoy! If you have any good snack mix recipes, leave a link in the comments! =)


Kickin' Snack Mix Recipe

Prep: 20 min. Bake: 45 min. + coolingYield: 16 Servings20 45 65 Ingredients 


3 cups Crispix
3 cups Wheat Chex
2 cups cheddar-flavored snack crackers
1 cup pretzel sticks
1 cup almonds
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup pistachios
1/2 cup butter-flavored popcorn oil
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the oil, dressing mix, dill, garlic powder and cayenne. Drizzle over cereal mixture; toss to coat.
Transfer to two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake at 250° for 45-55 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 quarts.



Nacho Snack Mix Recipe

Prep: 10 min. Bake: 2 hours + coolingYield: 16 Servings10 120 130
 
Ingredients

4 cups Crispix
1 can (4-1/2 ounces) crisp cheese ball snacks
3 cups corn chips
2 cups pretzel sticks
1 cup cheese-flavored snack crackers
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions
In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Spread in two ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Combine the taco seasoning, oil and butter; pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat.
Bake at 200° for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Cool. Store in airtight containers. Yield: 4 quarts.
Editor's Note: This recipe was prepared with Planters' Cheeze Balls.
 
 
 
 


Trail Mix Recipe

Prep/Total Time: 10 min.Yield: 8 Servings10 10 Ingredients 


1/2 cup unblanched whole almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup dried apple slices, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Honey Nut Cheerios

Directions
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 4 cups.


 

I am thinking this recipe may be good with my homemade granola, instead of the oatmeal squares cereal.

Cherry Almond Snack Mix Recipe

Prep: 10 min. Cook: 20 min.Yield: 20 Servings10 20 30 Ingredients


4 cups oatmeal squares cereal
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 pinch salt
1 cup dried cherries or golden raisins

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In 15-inch x 10-inch x 1-inch baking pan, combine cereal and almonds.
In small bowl, mix melted butter, apple pie spice, and salt . Drizzle cereal mixture. Toss to evenly coat.
Bake 20 minutes or until almonds are toasted, stirring once during baking.
Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Add dried cherries and/or golden raisins.
Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week.



Corny Snack Mix

Prep/Total Time: 25 min.Yield: 40 Servings10 15 25 Ingredients


3 quarts popped popcorn
1 package (15 ounces) Corn Pops
1 package (15 ounces) corn chips
2 packages (10 to 12 ounces each) vanilla or white chips

Directions
In several large bowls, combine the popcorn, Corn Pops and corn chips.
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt chips; stir until smooth. Pour over popcorn mixture and toss to coat.

•Spread onto two 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Cool. Store in airtight containers. Yield: 7-1/2 quarts.




Zesty Snack Mix Recipe

Prep: 10 min. Bake: 25 min. + coolingYield: 13 Servings10 25 35 Ingredients


4 cups Corn Chex
4 cups corn chips
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the cereal, corn chips, peanuts and oats. Combine butter and honey; drizzle over cereal mixture. Sprinkle with chili powder, salt and oregano; toss to coat.
Spread in a single layer in an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, stirring once. Cool. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 10 cups.

Creamy Sourdough Snack Recipe

I love dips and bread and the hollowed out round loaves filled with rich creamy dip are just amazing! =)

I think this one may go good with the sourdough bread recipe that I just posted in my last blog post. ;)

Creamy Sourdough Snack Recipe from Taste of Home


Prep/Total Time: 20 min.Yield: 28 Servings20 20 Ingredients


1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) sour cream
2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 round loaf (1 pound) sourdough bread
Chopped fresh parsley, optional

Directions
In a saucepan, combine sour cream, cream cheese, onions and Worcestershire sauce; cook and stir over low heat until blended. Add cheese and ham; cook and stir until cheese is melted and ham is heated through. Cut off top of loaf; carefully hollow out top and bottom, leaving a 1/2-in. shell. Cut bread into cubes. Pour dip into shell; sprinkle with parsley if desired. Serve with bread cubes. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

Neat Sourdough Recipe!

Looking for an sourdough recipe that you don't have to keep working with? I found this great recipe on Taste of Home and can hardly wait to try it!


Sourdough Bread Recipe


32 ServingsPrep: 20 min. + standing Bake: 45 min. + cooling


Ingredients
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
3-1/2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal

Directions
In a 4-qt. non-metallic bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water;
let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups of flour until smooth.
Cover loosely with a clean towel. Let stand in a warm place
(80°-90°) to ferment for 48 hours; stir several times daily.
(The mixture will become bubbly and rise, have a "yeasty" sour aroma
and a transparent yellow liquid will form on the top.) Stir in milk
powder, butter, sugar, salt, remaining water and enough remaining
flour to form a soft dough. (Do not knead.) Cover and let rise in a
warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.

Turn onto a floured surface; punch dough down. (Do not knead).
Divide in half. Shape each into a round loaf. Heavily grease baking
sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on prepared pans.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

With a sharp knife, make three diagonal slashes across tops of loaves. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Brush loaves with cold water; bake 35-40 minutes longer or until golden brown. Yield: 2
loaves.


Editor’s Note: Dough may also be shaped into 24 rolls instead of loaves. Bake for 10 minutes, then 20-25 minutes after brushing with water.

Betty Crocker coupons!

Hey friends!

Wanted to share some great Betty Crocker coupons with you!

You can visit THIS LINK to download a
printable coupon for 85 cents off when you buy
ONE BOX of Fun da-middles Cupcake Mix.

And, you can visit THIS LINK to download a
printable coupon for 75 cents off when you buy
ONE POUCH of Betty Crocker Molasses Cookie Mix.

Hope you all enjoy and have a great "week-end before Valentines"! ;)



Disclaimer:
I received this information and the coupon offer from Betty Crocker through
MyBlogSpark.

Rubbermaid Bento Set Giveaway Winner!

The winner for the Rubbermaid Bento set Giveaway is......



According to True Random Number Generator:

Min: 1

Max: 135

Result:  28

Comment #28
Trista Z said...
"-"Like" Preparing For Our Children's Future on facebook ( 3 entries) trista zollars 1"


Winner has confirmed.

Congratulations Trista!

Rubbermaid Bento Boxes & Toppers (Review & Giveaway)

*Giveaway Closed*

I don't know what I was expecting when I took up the offer to do a review for the Rubbermaid Bento Boxes and Toppers, but when the UPS man showed up with a huge box I was so surprised and excited!

These boxes are just amazing! They are sturdy, and so neat looking!

Most of time I dread thinking about having storage containers/organizers around the house, but not with these! I would actually show them off! Lol!

The boxes and toppers came in a set of 4 and they all fit neatly into the biggest box (the X-Large box).

(Pictured above).

Mine are in the Paprika color.

Below is how the X-Large Bento box looks with the Flex dividers open.

The dividers pop out very easy, and make your containers easy to organize on the inside!

Also, may be great if you are trying to keep things stored and don't want things jostled around or broken.

 I think these would make great storage boxes for Christmas and other holidays!

My house is small, so these have been a great find for me.

My husband has the smallest one on his desk. He uses the flex dividers in his and it holds his pens in one corner, business cards in another and other small items. Great for keeping the desk from so much clutter!

I use the Medium size box for my sewing supplies! It is great for holding my scissors, needles, thread spools, lace, etc.

I love how you can use the tops for lids or covers OR trays! So neat! I have most of the tops on mine flipped over so that they can hold stuff on top too.
The tops are just as sturdy as the boxes so are also great for carrying things on, using for a tv tray, etc!

As a homeschool mom, the Bento boxes have so many uses and are so handy! If I am doing things around the house, I can always carry one of the trays with me of things I am using or need, putting up items etc.
I use the Large Bento box, JUST for homeschool, right now. It is the perfect size to hold the notebooks, teacher books, student books, flashcards and books we are using at the moment. =) I love it! So handy and also can have it right where I need it. And as you can see, in the picture below, the top for it is being used for the youngest Princess's Kindergarten puppets. =)

You can see more pictures and read more about Rubbermaid's Bento boxes and toppers HERE on their website. And check out their other great products!

You can also browse more pictures at the Rubbermaid Flickr photostream,
videos at the Rubbermaid Youtube channel, and follow the Rubbermaid Blog HERE! 
Plus don't forget to follow Rubbermaid on Facebook and Twitter!





A Big thank you to the Great folks at Rubbermaid, for giving us the opportunity to try out their Bento Boxes and Toppers and for offering one of my blog readers their very own set of Bento Boxes and Toppers!



Mandatory Entry:

Visit Rubbermaid and tell me which Bento fabric design is your favorite and tell me how you would use your Bento boxes and toppers!

Mandatory entry must be done to enter giveaway!

Please leave your email address in your comment or have it visible on your profile.



Extra Entries After completing mandatory Entry:

-Follow Rubbermaid on Facebook and tell them "Our Children's Future" sent you! (1 entry)

-Follow Rubbermaid on twitter (1 entry)

-Purchase a Bento product from Rubbermaid during the time of this giveaway (10 entries per purchase)

-Follow my blog through GFC (1 entry)

-"Like" Preparing For Our Children's Future on facebook ( 3 entries)

-Follow me on Networked Blogs (1 entry)

-Follow me on twitter @ForTheirFuture (1 entry)

-Tweet this giveaway and leave me your tweet link (1 entry per day)

-Add my blog button to your sidebar and leave a link of where I can find it(3 entries)

-Write a blog post about this giveaway and leave the link to your post below (5 entries)

-Enter one of my other blog giveaways (1 entry per giveaway you enter)



That gives you 28+ chances to win! Have fun!

Please leave a comment per entry that you qualify for, for each entry to count!



This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada and Ends on January 27th at 12 am central. The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.

The prize will be sent directly from Rubbermaid to the winner.





Disclaimer:
For purposes of this review, I received a sample to review.
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own.

Peppers Galore!

Wow, I am so behind on my blogging! REALLY starting to miss it! My computer is very messed up and locked up again on me for a while around the Holidays. That was a real bummer, but I did spend more time with my family! =)

Last summer, we bought some peppers plants to plant in our garden spot. They did sooo good this year! lol! We had peppers running out of our ears!

I had Never picked so many peppers at once! One day I picked a 5 gallon bucket of Just jalapeno peppers!

I pickled a lot of the jalapeno and some habanaro (sp?) peppers. Then I dried and dehydrated a ton of them. Ground some of the dehydrated ones up, put them in an seasoning shaker, and King Ed loves to put them on his soups, stew, chili, pizza etc. He loves hot peppers.

I loved the bell peppers of course! We had stuffed peppers, and used peppers for a lot of meals over the summer. I also dehydrated a bunch of the bell peppers. They seem to be keeping well in the fridge, but I need to vacuum pack some.

I was very surprised and happy with the quality of the peppers. Wish they had all been open-pollinated seed, but the bells were hybrid. =( Oh well, I am really going to aim at being a Better gardener this year! =)