Tonight I am thankful that I get to stay home with my children and spend so much time with them.  I am thankful for all of the memories that we are creating and the teachable moments that occur in daily life.  

My three year old went shopping with me at ALDI this afternoon and as we approached the bagging counter, he started to climb out of the cart and onto the counter.  I thought oh no, not again.  (On a previous trip to ALDI he climbed out of the cart and onto the bagging counter and ran the legnth of the counter until I captured him and returned him to the cart.)  

Today I quickly pushed the cart away from the counter and stood between the counter and the cart.  I opened one of our reusable shopping bags and asked Bruce to put the groceries inside.  He loved it and forgot all about trying to escape the cart.  He sat in the large portion of the cart and bagged all of our groceries.  He did a great job with very little assistance.  I am thankful for my helpful little shopper and his enthusiasm for bagging groceries.  

If you would like to participate in 30 Days of Giving thanks, you can link up your posts at Blessed Beyond Words.  

Tomorrow our oldest goes off to school again.  He is really excited.  He is returning to the same preschool that he attended last year and he is feeling confident and can't wait for school to start.  I am so glad.  It was a difficult decision to make.  Kindergarten or another year of preschool?  I think we made the right decision.  

We decided to celebrate the start of the new school year by having a special dinner tonight.  He planned the menu - hot dogs, coleslaw, cantaloupe, and corn on the cob.  We'll be doing this again in two weeks when our almost 3 year old plans his pre-first day of school special dinner.  Wonder what he'll choose?  

Do you do anything special to start the school year?  

These are delicious and so filling.  Enjoy them warm with a cold glass of milk.  We've been blessed with such juicy ripe peaches lately so when I saw this recipe at Joy the Baker, I had to try it.  I adapted it a little by using cold coconut oil instead of shortening and using two peaches instead of one.  I try to avoid shortening since it is an unhealthy fat.  The recipe makes eight scones which is a lot for us, so I baked four the first morning and refrigerated the other four and baked them the next morning.  They were just fine wrapped in plastic wrap overnight and baked beautifully the next day.  I waited to brush the buttermilk on top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar until right before I put them in the oven.  These are a truly wonderful summer treat.  

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

1/4 cup cold coconut oil crumbled or cubed as best as you can or an additional 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, cold

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ripe peaches, sliced thin

1/4 cup buttermilk, for brushing

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut in butter and coconut oil until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  


My 5 year old loved this part and yes some of our flour mixture did go flying out of the bowl, but most of it stayed in.  Notice the mess (toy boat and sticker art) on top of the microwave.  This is what a home looks like when there are three wonderful boys 5 and under and their mom is too busy to put everything away.  

3.  In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and vanilla and beat lightly with a fork.  Add the liquid to the flour mixture all at once, stirring enough to make a soft dough.

4.  Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 15 times.  If the butter has warmed too much in the making of the dough, shape the batter into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.  If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and on a well floured surface, roll dough to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness.  The dough will be rolled just thinner than a biscuit dough from which you would cut biscuits.  


(To knead the dough, press down on the dough disc, then fold it over itself and press down again.  Repeat 15 times.)

5.  Brush half of the rolled out dough with buttermilk.  Arrange peach slices in a single layer across the buttermilk moistened dough.  Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. 

6.  Carefully fold the empty side of dough over the peach slices.  Press gently together.  Add a bit of flour to your hands and press the edges of the dough in, creating more of a rectangle shape than a half circle shape.  Slice dough into eight pieces.  

The picture below is half of the dough which will make four slices.  I refrigerated this half wrapped in plastic wrap and cut and baked it the next morning.  

7.  Place dough on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2-inches of room around each scone to spread while baking.  If dough has warmed, and feels mushy, place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rechill.  Remove from the fridge.  Brush each scone top with buttermilk, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.  (I never had to refrigerate my dough as I was working and found it was pretty easy to work with.)

8.  Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Scones are best served warm.


This is what they look like right before cinnamon sugar and baking.  

Don't forget to vote for my little painter in the messy baby contest.  I called his picture "Green Face".  It is  on the bottom row of page 3.  You can vote each day until the end of the contest on August 19th.  

Thank you for your votes!

Ecomom.com is offereing $2 credit up to $50 total for old plastic baby bottles and sippy cups.  There is a simple form to print and fill out and you must send the bottles before 8/31/12.  I bought my youngest son Green Toys at ecomom.com for his first birthday.  They have many great products - especially when you have free credit to spend.  

This was so easy to make because I used store bought puff pastry.  I usually don't buy puff pastry since it is around $4.50 a box.  But when you consider that a box of 4 bakery turnovers costs $2.99 to $3.99 at the grocery store and a box of puff pastry will make 18 turnovers, it doesn't sound so expensive anymore.   You can just use one sheet of the puff pastry and make 9 turnovers.  The extra puff pastry sheet will keep in the freezer until you need it.  

Chop a few apples.  No need to peel them.  

You can find puff pastry in the freezer section of the grocery store.  Thaw before using, but keep frozen for storage.  You can thaw overnight in the refrigerator to use the next day.  

Cook apples in a skillet with about a T. of butter and sprinkle a little brown sugar and cinnamon on them while cooking.  Cook until they are fork tender and slightly caramelized.

Cut your puff pastry sheet into 9 squares.  A pizza cutter works great for this.  

Place your pastry squares on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Spoon about a T. of filling onto half of the square, then fold over and press seams together to form a triangle shape.  They look small now, but they will puff as they bake and double in size.  Refrigerate any leftover filling for your next batch or enjoy as fried apples.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes until golden.  

Make a small batch of powdered sugar glaze by mixing powdered sugar with a small amount of milk and vanilla until drizzling consistency.  About a cup of powdered sugar to a T. milk and a 1/2 tsp. vanilla for 9 turnovers.  Add more powdered sugar if you need to thicken it and add more milk if you need to thin it.  Drizzle powdered sugar glaze over turnovers and enjoy.  We made these for a special treat this morning and the boys loved them.   

This is a special offer from American Family Association.  The information below is from an email I received from AFA.  I read reviews of this book on Amazon and it is highly rated.  The reviewers loved it and shared more information about the book and the stories of children in poverty in India and how their lives are being transformed.  This book is free and ships free too.  


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Get a free sample of Nescafe Memento.  Fill out the easy form and get this great freebie.

Enter your messy baby here! Let's face it...babies make messes!  And messy babies often take the best pictures.  Do you have a picture of your baby or grandbaby covered in baby food or Cheerios?  Upload your picture here.  The picture with the most votes will be named the Mix Messy Baby of 2012 and will receive a $200 gift card from B. Lime and a $100 gift card from Macy's.  In order to be eligible, the child in the picture must be age 0-3 at the beginning of the contest.  

You can also vote for my little painter.  I called his picture "Green Face".  It is currently on the bottom row of page 3, but this may change as more entries are received and more votes are cast.  I think you can vote each day until the end of the contest.  

I am reviewing an Eco Lunch Gear snack bag.  This is a great bag for snacks and has been really useful on outings with the kids.  We can't go anywhere without snacks.  I love that there is no waste and this bag is easier for young kids to use than plastic zipper bags.  

It has velcro closures at the sides and top for easy opening and closing.  

It opens completely so you can wipe out any crumbs.  

This washes easily in the washing machine.  Just fold down the velcro tabs first so that the velcro doesn't stick to anything else in the wash.  

There are several things I love about Eco Lunch Gear.  They make a line of great reusable products and the fabric they use is 100% certified organic cotton.  Here is the fabric info from their website:

"We are very picky when it comes to our fabric. We use only 100% certified organic cotton, which is better for the earth and us versus conventionally grown cotton. Our cotton is also certified to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) and is also Fair Trade and CPSIA (Consumer Products Safety Commission Improvement Act) compliant. Our liner is a waterproof material that consists of nylon with a polyurethane coating (the untreated side comes into contact with the food). Our products have been CPSIA tested and is compliant to be in contact with food."

The nylon fabric helps keep food fresh and is resistant to water, stains, mildew, and rot.

Another thing I love about this company is that the products are made in Michigan and nothing is outsourced.  Being that I am a former Family and Consumer Science (Home Economics) teacher I also love that the company owner and a couple of retired teachers sew these products themselves.  

For some great reusuable products that will make your lunch and snack packing easier and less wasteful, check out ecolunchgear.com.  You can get 10% off with code FBFAN.  It's a great time to stock up before school starts.