What I Made Wednesday {Oyster Cracker Nibblers}

Out of after-school snack ideas already? Try this crunchy, yummy, savory, easy-to-make recipe.



What You'll Need
1 bag oyster crackers (16 oz)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pkg. dry Hidden Valley Ranch Original dressing
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon garlic powder

What You'll Do

In a large storage bowl with cover, dump in all the ingredients and shake well. For 2 hours, shake well every so often. The oil will absorb into the cracker.

What You'll Need to Know to Finish

Store in an airtight container, will keep for weeks. 35 crackers are only 100 calories! I've had these yummy crunchers on salads, soups, and have even used as chili toppers! The enhanced flavor of the cracker is so robust. I hope you try this recipe and enjoy!

What is your favorite, any-time snack?

 

Going Local: Big Fun Cleveland

"A cornucopia of delights, a cathedral of counter-culture, a warehouse of nerdabilia and nostalgia", Big Fun proclaims and I could not have said it better myself. One Saturday morning we packed up the kid and headed to the big city, Cleveland that is. Along the way we did, you know, the normal city things like checked-out a Cleveland city street turned New York demolished-street for the filming of the Avengers movie, ate the bestest, most freshest guacamole ever to be made in the city at 11:00 am (sorry for making you open early) with piping hot tortilla chips that have a tinge of cinnamon (if I'm not mistaken) at El Tango Taqueira. And even with a stroll through the West Side Market, we couldn't help but enjoy our time the most, meandering down memory lane getting back in touch with our childhood memories at a great toy shop called Big Fun Cleveland. 

Old is new, again.

You'll find those toys mom threw away or put in the garage sale at this wonderful shop! And to think, you can own it once again! Only now it's vintage and you'll just have to deal with sticker shock, but can you put a price on a memory? 

Click on the pic!

Click on the pic!

I am absolutely in love with all the antique fixtures holding and displaying all the fun toys from the past. Every drawer you open holds a treasure of nostalgia just waiting to be discovered.

I opened a drawer and there was my old Star Wars Princess Leia action figure staring me right in the face. I wasn't sure if she was saying, "Take me home! We have found each other once again" or perhaps it was "You again? Get lost, I've gotten along fine on my own without you." I'll admit, she was the only female action figure in the entire bin?!?! (Do you see what the movie Toy Story has done to my imagination?)

Search and you shall find.

My son had a blast looking at the old Spiderman comic books. He even bought one for $1 - whew, got off easy! I hope you take the time to take the kiddos to Big Fun Cleveland! It's a great place to hang out and introduce the younglings to the toys of the past that influenced your present. 

WARNING. WARNING. WARNING! Do not, I repeat, do not allow your children to wander through the store without your supervision. At all costs, do not meander to the far right back corner of the store. IT IS NOT FOR CHILDREN and their sign warning you of this is not at all big enough or bright enough to avoid marring innocent eyes of the young and truth be told, of the old, as well. Consider yourself warned. Everything else in the store was A-OK, G-rated.

Big Fun Cleveland is located at 11512 Clifton Blvd., Cleveland, OH, 44102. 216.631.4386
Their other location is located at 1814 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118. 216.371.4386

What was your favorite childhood toy?

Gratitude Journal Monday

Today is a difficult Monday to begin after yesterday's flooded memories of 9/11, a decade later. To honor, to pay tribute, to move ahead, to go on, even while carrying scars, to be better than before: no one does it better than America. Today's Gratitude Journal Monday is a remembrance of those lost on that day, those heroes of that day, and those that carry on in spite of that day.

46. I am grateful for all the courageous firefighters that were on the front lines that day doing their best to contribute to a situation never before dealt with on American soil.

47. I am grateful for the brave passengers of Flight 93 who used group effort and teamwork to probably save Washington D.C. from further danger and destruction.

48. I am grateful for the everyday office workers that became heroes as their unselfish efforts to get people to safety became their number one priority over saving themselves.

49. I am grateful for the memorial at Ground Zero because it allows for a final resting place for the innocent victims and gives their family members and friends a place to go and reflect.

50. I am ever so thankful for America's military who protect our freedoms and allow us to live life daily in peace without a second thought of what threats may be lurking.

Where were you on 9/11 a decade ago?

Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 11.

When keys start falling off, it may be a sign you blog too much.

Goodbye "A" key on my computer - I miss you.
Goodbye singing in the shower from a boy who was asked to join the school's new Glee Club.
Goodbye Parents' Night and meeting teachers dedicated to our children's success.
Goodbye Caribou Coffee and hanging out with a great couple of gals that are so funny my cheeks still hurt.
Goodbye last summer "to-do" item - rock climbing.

Hello lounging around the house for a change.
Hello heading out to the farm for some apple cider, apple fritters, apple-anything.
Hello Quiditch team at school; sorting hat ceremony coming soon.

Ain't no mountain high enough...

Hello Friday Night Lights and catching marching band sounds trailing through the air and into our home.
Hello Autumn fever beginning to flow through my soul and excite my spirit.

This Labor Day week of posts allowed me to reflect on the various types of citizens that contribute to our nation's prosperity. The lesson I learned this week is that we all labor to live, but it is in the being, not the doing, that makes a life matter most.


Do you define yourself by who you are or what you do?

Steve Jobs: The Father of "Do Better"

Lilana Slater from google.com via Pinterest

If you have not had the privilege of owning an Apple product, then you have not had the honor to touch greatness. You have not had the experience to glimpse into a heart driven by finding a better way. And when you embark on the Apple journey, you too are infected by this longing for excellence, and adopt a new religion where mediocrity is a sin. Steve Jobs planted the seed of curiosity into the mind of all his followers that questioned why all the world's products, services, and lifestyles didn't fit the Apple way: a demand for excellence, for inventiveness, for beauty in its simplest form. If you don't know Apple, you don't know a better way. You don't know a smarter way. You don't know the pleasure of technology.
You don't know...


The feel and operation of any Apple product is instinctive. What other technology product operates as easily in the hands of a 3-year old as in the hands of a 99-year old? How is it possible? Because Steve Jobs squished the generational gap of technology, not by pushing his company to provide a product that just gets the function complete, but instead creating a product where form and function are orchestrated and intermingled into one and where the form is so overlying the function, the miracle behind it becomes as unseen as the Spirit; but it's there.


Steve Jobs changed the world. He gave us ease and beauty in productiveness. He infected us through the brilliance of his products, and at the same time, gave us a new standard of expectation. When enough people demand excellence, excellence will result. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for giving us excellence without us initially asking for it or even knowing we could get it. Thank you for giving us a better way because, for me, it is the only way.


Remain peaceful and find joy in every day ahead, Steve. Family, friends, and fans are sending good thoughts your way.


From a grateful Apple user that used to bleed 6 colors, and now just glows in excellence. Thanks.


The intention of this post was certainly not to offend PC-users. Apple fan or not, you have to give Steve Jobs credit for his impact on our world.

In honor of full disclosure, my husband's own business exists because Apple exists. And because of Apple, we have food on our table (and you know how much of a foodie I am) and a roof over our heads, along with other luxuries. I, however, was an Apple fan far before ever meeting my husband.

What I Made Wednesday {The Chores Game}

Fight the chore doldrums with this easy-to-make game that will get your children begging to play it over and over again (I went too far on that last part, sorry). Chores aren't my idea of a great time but the task is necessary. To make it fun, veil the task as a game. And, when you can get your kids involved in helping, there are life lessons being learned (a nice way of justifying child labor - kidding). Let's face it, nothing's cuter than a 5-year old holding a dust rag!

What You'll Need
- lots of ping pong balls depending on your list of chores
- a Sharpie pen
- a kitchen timer
- a nice storage bin to contain the balls and timer

What You'll Do
1. Gather the cheap labor children and come up with simple chores that are age-appropriate for all involved.

2. Write each chore on a ping pong ball with permanent marker. One chore per ball.

3. I like to have one ping pong ball be a FREEBIE and another be YOUR CHOICE.

4. Dump all the ping pong balls into your container.

5. Equip the busy bees appropriately by having all the supplies readily available in one central location.


How to Play
Now the fun part: getting the house back into shape while teaching teamwork. Have everyone agree to a specified time say 10 minutes. (As tempting as it is, don't start your teeny tiny cleaning crew with a time more than 15 minutes - they'll catch on too quick!) Set the timer and yell GO! Each child will close their eyes (no peeking) and choose a ping pong ball and make a mad dash to complete the written task at hand. 

When complete, the unsuspecting, but very willing participants will come back for another mission from the ping pong task master. When time runs out, the person with the most ping pong balls wins. If you don't like the competitiveness of it then set family records and try to beat your previous scores as a group.

 

This game is an equal opportunity employer - are the kids too young to read? No problem, just draw the task onto the ping pong ball. This craft is fun and easy! Your kids will learn responsibility, you'll get a tidier home, and you won't have to answer to the U.S. Department of Labor (or even the health department depending on how dire your circumstances).

* On a serious note, DO NOT expose your younglings to any kind of chemicals, etc. It is up to you to determine what your children can handle in way of cleaning supplies. The Swiffer Dusters are a great non-toxic dust rag that really gets the job done. (No I did not get paid by Swiffer to say that but if they'd like to have a sit-down, I'm all ears.)



Linky Party for W.I.M. Wednesday coming soon, but feel free to share your crafts and recipes in comments now, if you'd like.
 

God Bless the Laboring Man

Lilana Slater from dandelionseeds.com via Pinterest

My father has been a factory worker all his adult life. Factory work was an opportunity for people who came to America from another country to earn decent pay for their hard work in a, albeit,  tough, and dirty environment. You didn't have to speak English well to run a machine. And if you were smart and good with tools, you told the machine what to run and how to run it. That is my father. Now retired, my father is the smartest machinist I know. The foreman always used to give the most difficult jobs to my father to run. Why? Because it required more than just pushing a button. My father designed entire set-ups to some of the most difficult pieces/parts used in manufacturing today. Even retired, my father is called back to his former company as a consultant on some of the most difficult machine set-up jobs.

The work was long and hard, it was always hot and exhausting, and the environment was dark, dingy, and always dirty. But my father worked everyday in that muck to provide for his family. And provide he did. We lived in a small all-brick ranch house by the lake that my mother beautifully made into our home. He sent me to one of the best engineering schools in the country. And we never had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. My mother was able to stay home and raise me right (I needed that). My father did all this because he was given the opportunity to work and to save.

You are first-class all the way, Daddy. Now that I'm older and know better, I am so proud to be my father's daughter. Thank you, my Tata. Thank you for all the bittersweet sacrifices you've made along the way. And, thank you America for giving my father, new to this land so long ago, an opportunity to earn a better life, pursue happiness, and help strengthen the backbone of America.
(The following video requires Flash Player - sorry!)



Do you think American manufacturing will be able to offer to today's working men and women the same opportunities my dad had to make a living and a life?