Summer loving with Entenmann’s Little Bites

Entenmann’s® Little Bites® provided us with information, coupons to redeem product, and a gift card so that we could try the new muffins and share our thoughts with our readers. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% our own and do not reflect the opinions of Entenmann’s® Little Bites®. Summer days are the best. … Read more

10 tips for summertime snacking on the go

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PrepFreeProtein #CollectiveBiasLorissa's Kitchen platedOne thing we are adamant about with our kids is that they grow up in an active family. With so many beautiful places to visit right near us, we make it a point to go biking, hiking, and exploring whenever possible. Our kiddos are well-traveled little adventurers at this point, and after the long winter we had, we're all excited to get out and play.

With summer weather slowly arriving in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve been taking every opportunity to get outside and enjoy every last minute of the sunshine. I love being out in nature and being active as a family, but I hate that that sometimes means eating out more than I would like. So, I've started packing healthy snacks with us for our adventures that help us keep fueled up without weighing us down. 

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Where we were: the first Dick’s Drive-In Seattle

Dicks BurgersIf you are looking for a burger in Seattle, you will probably hear Dick's Drive-In as one of the first suggestions. That's because Dick's Drive-In has been a staple in Seattle since the summer of 1953, when then 29-year old Dick Spady opened the first Dick's Drive-In.

The first restaurant was located on N.E. 45th Street in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood not far from the University of Washington, and quickly became a success. A second drive-in was built on Capitol Hill in 1955, followed by Holman Road in 1960, Lake City in 1963, and Queen Anne in 1974, always keeping the restaurant's growth within the Seattle area.

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10 tips for planning a simply perfect bicycle picnic

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AquafinaSparkling #CollectiveBias One of hubby’s and my very first dates was a picnic almost 20 years ago. Since that day, we have picnicked our way through 9 countries and countless cities, and we’ve made it a point to … Read more

Olive Garden copycat Zuppa Toscano recipe

I love soup, especially when it’s cold and grey. And, of all the soups I’ve ever tried, my favorite is the Zuppa Toscano from Olive Garden. I’ve been working on perfecting my Olive Garden copycat Zuppa Toscano for over a year now and I love the result. It’s even better than the actual restaurant recipe, … Read more

DIY bead storage and beading board for bracelet and necklace making

As a member of the Chick-fil-A mom panel, we were given coupons to try their new Chicken Tortilla Soup and then challenged to make a fun DIY with their soup containers. Some of the moms did some amazing upcycling projects and created luminaries, succulent wall planters, play instruments, and all sorts of super crafty things, but I went practical. As soon as I saw the containers, I realized they would make the perfect DIY bead storage container. Chick Fil A bead containerNow, I know that doesn't sound exciting because basically I repurposed something that stored soup and used it to store beads, but stay with me.  Chick Fil A bracelet elasticI've been redoing our art supplies now that the kiddos are able to craft more on their own and this has involved a ton of organizing. I was previously the only one using the crafting supplies and therefore knew where everything was stored. But, now that they can craft on their own, I needed to give them their own storage system so anyone can find whatever they need and then know where to put it back when they are finished.

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The perfect bread machine white bread {and how to keep it fresh}

Affiliate linksThe best bread machine white bread and how to keep it freshI’ve gotta brag for a moment: I haven’t bought bread in over 5 months. If you know me, you know that I’m simply not a baker. I can cook, but baking is just too technical for someone like me that has problems following directions. So, the fact that I’m baking all of our bread is a really big accomplishment. And, the fact that the kids like it is a small miracle. Bread in a bread boxMy intro to baking started as a quest to find a decent sandwich bread that I could make in the bread machine, and I just wasn’t finding anything awesome and the kids were very disappointed with the results. I wanted our weekly loaf to be soft enough that it would make a good sandwich loaf, but also dense enough so that it didn’t just fall apart when you spread peanut butter on it or sliced it thin.

So, using the handwritten notes of my grandmother scribbled in the margins of the bread machine cookbook she gave me, I decided to modify the recipe we liked the best using a little trial and error and a lot of help from grandma. Thanks, grandma!Homemade Bread upright up closeAdmittedly, there was quite a bit of error, but it was actually kind of fun trying out different ingredients and measurements. While doing this process I was really glad I was using the bread maker, as it took me out as a variable and made it easy to pinpoint ingredient and measurement changes because the process was so uniform.

When we finally hit on the perfect recipe, we were high-fiving in the kitchen as we enjoyed our now-famous loaf fresh out of the bread machine. The kids have now memorized the recipe and can basically do every step of the process, they just wait for me to plug it in and set it on the correct bread setting and loaf size.

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Making The Pledge with Entenmann’s Little Bites

Want a delicious on-the-go treat that your kids will absolutely love? Entenmann’s® Little Bites® muffins are baked soft and moist and then packed in easy to grab on-the-go pouches so they can be enjoyed just about anywhere. They are made with real ingredients, and never contain any high fructose corn syrup, which means parents love … Read more

The best snow ice cream recipe

Kids with snow ice creamOn our last snow day, we experimented a bit to find the best snow ice cream recipe anywhere. With only a few ingredients and almost no time to mix up, it's a perfect snow day activity for kids. Snow ice cream baby
Here's what you need:

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