Fantastic Food Friday

Ah.. Friday..ok who am I kidding. I am a teacher so Friday hardly means much during the summer. BUT nonetheless we stayed home for the afternoon to cook and play away.
The first thing I did was prep dinner, which was AMAZING! The main dish was italian caramelized chicken. I followed the recipe exactly and every single member of the family was thrilled! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253257179022700343/
AND BLT salad which I really just cut up cucumber, avocado, tomato and added a small amount of italian dressing instead of mayo like the recipe said.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/426153183467120344/

Meanwhile we made some healthy snacks. First came fruit snacks from here:
http://www.mommysavers.com/c/t/164335/dollar-store-crafts-homemade-fruit-snacks-from-100-juice

Next I made my first attempt at fruit roll ups. It sure does take a long time to dry out, but it tastes yummy, as it was close to dry earlier. All the kids are dying to taste it as they smell it throughout the kitchen, I cannot for the life of me find the original post that had way more suggestions, options etc on it. But this one works or you can search yourself. For my first round I went with 2 1/2 cups of strawberries, 1 1/2 cups of banana overflowing the measuring the cup before I put them in the food processor. I am so grateful to my friend Ashley for having one because I never knew how much I needed one till we used it at her house. ANYWAY, after they were pureed I tasted and added a bit of honey. You could use powedered sugar, regular sugar, agave or any sweetener you want as desired.
http://www.raininghotcoupons.com/homemade-2-ingredient-fruit-rollups/

Lastly since the impatience factor is HIGH we made something we could eat right away. Starbacks vanilla bean frappuccino
http://simpleethrifty.com/copycat-starbucks-vanilla-bean-frappuccino/

I would recommend more ice cream and possibly ice for the next batch and less milk. Either way they were perfectly yummy!

Gak attack and a repeat treat

This Summer break has been an odd one. It seems we are packing for one thing or another, (Youth camp, Nationals, Camp Penuel and finally vacation) and always on the run. I cannot believe how little time we have spent just hanging around the house. I guess that just shows I don't have little kids anymore. Sigh..
Last Friday we decided to repeat an attempt at the outdoor waterbed with friends who haven't done it before. Apparently I should have read my own reflection because it took more effort than playtime to get it right. First I grabbed 2 tarps forgetting that you really only need to get one and fold that over before taping with duct tape. Bigger seemed better in mind but NOT real life.
Second a FLAT SPACE is best. We got it filling with water and realized the space was not at all flat. After fixing a leak or 2 we decided to flip the entire thing to get to flat ground. 2 adults and a few kids later we had it flat. BUT well a few rips and tons more leaks we finally cut it in half and tried a 2nd time.
While the kids had a blast for a pretty short time all in all I have learned my lesson for any future attempts.

Now on to today. I am in the unmotivated process of finishing packing for our trip to Nationals with dance. Well for 3 of us out of the 6 anyway. Knowing I will be gone from my baby girl who truly cares the most about spending time with me I decided why not make some GAK.
Here is the website I used: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/glue-borax-gak

The great thing about GAK is there is no perfection on recipe needed. You simply follow the directions and then edit as desired. We did what it said and then I spilled too much of the Borax solution in the bowl making it runny again so I added straight Borax. It definitely made it way better. We then had some color mixing fun too though I am out of red food coloring..random.
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/glue-borax-gak

Other than Borax you probably have everything you need.