Tonya Staab

Harper Kids: DIY Notebooks and Journals for Kids

How is your summer going? Ours has been pretty busy, we've taken one trip, had sleepovers with friends, soaked in the salt air at the beach, seen movies, and had a lot of downtime to sleep in and relax.

To help stop that summer slide this summer we've created these fun journals and notebooks so that kids can write short stories, sketch, make journal entries, or just write out a few thoughts - their favorite songs, lists of things they want to do, etc.

You can find all the details to make your own notebooks (out of recycled materials) over at Harper Kids. 

Happy crafting!

Outdoor Landscape Painting Ideas

Before we headed to Kentucky a couple of weeks ago I mentioned to Mike that I'd love to take the kids outdoors and paint landscapes. I've been wanting to do this for the longest time, and thankfully he loves to paint (he has an art room in his house) and gets on board with all of my crazy ideas. So, one day when it wasn't too hot, he whipped up a few art easels out of scrap wood in his garage, we popped out and bought canvasses and paint trays, then raided his art room for paintbrushes, acrylic paint, and containers for washing brushes. 

This activity is not only a great way to get kids being more creative and outdoors, but imagine taking them to the same spot with each passing season to capture how much the view changes as winter turns to spring, and spring turns to summer, and summer turns to fall. 

This is also a fantastic date idea, which we discovered after Mike mentioned what we did to his son, and he jumped at the opportunity to make that a future date idea. 

So, I thought I'd share it here too in the hopes of inspiring a few people to take canvases outdoors to paint.

Matcha Banana Coconut Muffin Recipe

I had such a craving for cake today. CRAVING! You know the kind, that no matter how much you devour you still want what you want and nothing else is going to suffice. Going to the store though meant putting on pants and I needed a day at home, so I foraged in the pantry and realized I had everything I needed to make some yummy baked goods at home ... it's just a shame I'd already eaten all of those chocolate chips right from the bag last week.

Flynn is the only one who eats bananas here and seeing as he is at his dad's house, and the rest of us only eat them in baked goods or smoothies I decided to use the last two before they had to be thrown away. 

This recipe was just kind of thrown together with what I had on hand so I'm looking forward to trying it again with white chocolate chips, and maybe coconut milk instead of the reduced-fat milk. And yes, I know it's not cake, but as long as I was getting baked goods I figured I could trick my brain ... it took eating four muffins to do that, but that toasted sweetened coconut was what did the trick.

The Best Selection of Women's Summer Hats

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tenth Street Hats.

I'm not sure who loves hats more, me or Mike. Although I think he might because I rarely see him without one unless he's asleep.

I'm a jeans and t-shirts kinda gal. They are my staple uniform for running errands, meeting friends for coffee, or taking kids to appointments. Throw on a hat (okay, I'll admit, sometimes it's because I haven't brushed my hair yet) and sandals as I run out the door and I immediately feel more confident and a little more dressy. 

The hat I'm wearing above is the 'Gemma' from Tenth Street Hats. It is a 100% wool felt women’s safari hat with a wide, floppy brim, braided leather band, and it fits PERFECTLY! I love brimmed hats in the summer. I admit to being a little lazy some days as I'm running out the door and forget to put sunscreen on my face, so I often throw a hat on instead (again, this could have something to do with the unbrushed hair too).

Gluten-Free Snack Trays for Kids

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Blue Diamond® as part of an Influencer Activation and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

At the beginning of summer break, I promised my daughter and her friend that I would take them to a local cheese shop to sample a variety of cheese (they LOVE cheese and even have a cheese-focused Instagram page). I ordered a tray of food that we could all share that included crackers, cheese, meats, fruit, condiments, and assorted gourmet snacks. We sat outside on the patio, the kids tried new foods, and we played countless rounds of UNO. It was fantastic, and they discovered new foods that they actually really loved ... my daughter has been eating fig jam like it's candy ever since.

This has meant that we've been able to kick up our entertaining at home when their friends come over ... unfortunately, it also means that they'll now be diving into the snack trays that Mike and I make all the time too and we will now have to share.

I have to admit, I kept stealing snacks from this tray that I made them though, it was all so yummy, and all of the things I love too. 

Here is what you need to create a gluten-free snack tray for kids, or at least what I used. Create your own with your kids' favorite snacks!

Orange-Ginger Salmon with a Citrus Cauliflower Rice

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MarinadesWithMazola #MakeItWithHeart #CollectiveBias

I've been trying to lighten up a lot of the dishes we make at home (like spaghetti and grilled meals) by removing some of the extra carbs, adding more fresh produce, and switching out some of the staple ingredients for lighter choices, like using Mazola® Corn Oil instead of butter; a clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, see Mazola.com.

One dish that my entire family can agree on (and there are no complaints from the picky eaters) is grilled salmon. It's become part of our standard rotation of meals because it's just so quick and easy to make. But, I've also been wanting to lighten it up a little. I sometimes put a little lemon butter on it before grilling, and then pair it with couscous, corn-on-the-cob (with more butter), green beans, and bread. So, I switched out a few things this week. Instead of lemon butter, I made an orange-ginger marinade for the salmon, grilled the salmon and vegetables in foil packets with a little Mazola Corn Oil, switched out the bread for fresh orange slices, and then instead of couscous, I made a citrus cauliflower rice.

And, it was delicious. Not a single complaint, although I did notice one kid devoured a lot of extra orange slices instead of his cauliflower rice, but I'm okay with that

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