These were 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.   

A few weeks ago the boys harvested the potatoes they had planted in the Spring.  The boys loved helping and I love that they know from where their food comes.  I heard this on the radio one night, children in our local school district kindergarten classes were surveyed and asked from where they thought their food came.   You're not going to believe this.  The #1 answer was the gas station.  We asked our 5 year old who was 4 at the time and I thought he might say the grocery store.  I was really glad when he said our food comes from the farm.  

I love this picture of our two year old planting with Daddy last April.

Tonight I boiled the rest of the potatoes, added some peas, butter, and salt and we had a delicious dinner. 

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.  

Here is the new Pampers Gift to Grow Points.  Use code TWIT712PT4XD912 and add 5 free points to your account.  This code will expire at 11:59pm CT on July 26th.

Bank those Pampers Gifts to Grow Points.  Even if you don't have a little one in diapers, the free points do add up.  I ordered this Radio Flyer Big Wheel for free with some of my Pampers Gifts to Grow Points last winter and kept it hidden until this month when our oldest turned 5.  It did take me a long time to save up this many points, but isn't this an awesome freebie.  He was so excited.  We put a big bow on it and surprised him with it when he woke up on his birthday.  


Thanks For the Mommas for the Pampers Code.

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.  

I recently made a Spiderman Birthday Cake for my oldest son.  This was a really fun cake to make.  I used a recipe for fluffy yellow cake from Annie's Eats.  It worked well for layering large tiers and was a fairly simple recipe.  I made three batches of this cake batter to fill two 12" layers and two 8" layers.  I used two wooden dowel rods in the center of the cakes to help hold the layers together since they were large.  ​

I frosted the cake with an easy buttercream icing and used paste food colors.  I used almost a whole jar of Christmas red to achieve the bright red.  I piped the black webbing with an icing bag using more buttercream icing.  This icing was great for spreading on the cake, but I would use an icing with shortening next time for piping because the icing was a little drippy and hard to use.  

My husband made the silhouette of New York City by rolling out gum paste which he had colored grey and cutting out an outline of the city.  

He even made the Brooklyn Bridge and I used a fine tip to pipe the cables.  

Check out the dirigible.  Such a creative husband!

My son just had a Spiderman birthday party so I decided to make a seven layer dip with a Spiderman face.  It was really easy to do.  After layering all of the ingredients, I filled a ziploc bag with sour cream and cut one corner so that I could pipe a Spiderman face on the dip.  You could pipe any design or just draw squiggles or straight lines.  

• 16 oz can Traditional or plain refried beans
• 1 package taco seasoning
• guacamole made from 2 to 3 avacadoes
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups salsa
• 1 cup iceberg lettuce (a big handful), chopped
• 1 to 2 cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 oz can sliced olives, drained
• 2 to 3 tomatoes diced
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups sour cream

1.  Mix the refried beans and taco seasoning mix and spread in the bottom of your serving dish.  

2.  Next, make the guacamole and spread it on top of the refried bean mixture.  

3.  Layer the rest of the ingredients in the order listed and decorate the top with sour cream to make whatever design you want.  

You can make this several hours ahead and refrigerate until party time.

I found the idea for decorating a seven layer dip to look like Spiderman at Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons.  I think her's looks a little more like Spiderman than mine did.  She had lots of great ideas in her post for a Spiderman birthday party.  

We just celebrated our little guy's first birthday.  I made him a large sheet cake with a #1 cake on top.  The cake is a delicious homemade chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  I made a simple buttercream to frost the #1 and colored some of it blue to pipe the border and letters.  I then placed large confetti candy sprinkles on the sides of the chocolate layer and on the blue border.  

I have been trying to incorporate more healthy fats into my cooking so I decided to make my buttercream frosting with just real butter and no shortening for my son's first birthday.  It worked well for frosting and was delicious.  I didn't do anything really elaborate with the decorating so this worked.  If you need a stiffer icing, I would suggest using royal icing.  

Simple Buttercream Frosting:

1 C. (2 sticks) real butter, slightly softened
4 C. sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Whip all in a mixer until you have a delicious and fluffy frosting.  (Start slowly or your powdered sugar will go everywhere.)  You can color with icing colors or use as a white frosting.  

It was 106 degrees today, so I decided to boil some eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning.  I thought nice cold hard bolied eggs would be a welcome change in this heat and the boys would think they were a treat.  

1.  Put eggs in a saucepan and cover with water.  Cover the pan and bring to a boil.  Uncover and boil for 1 minute.

2.  Remove from heat and recover the pan.  Let the eggs rest in the hot water for 10 minutes.  

3.  Then let the eggs cool in a bowl of cold water.  Once cool, refrigerate the eggs.