Family Travel Essentials

It's officially Summer which means family travels. I have complied my list of all the essentials you need for your next family trip.

Converse rubber sole shoes, 105 CAD / Asics footwear, 165 CAD / Gap woven tote, 38 CAD / Yves Saint Laurent acetate glasses, 330 CAD / Travel Journal Recycled Map Notebook - I Read More Maps Than Books -..., 11 CAD / Map home decor, 5.46 CAD / Metal home decor, 11 CAD / Boy's Shoes: Dress Shoes, Sandals, Boy's Toddler Shoes | Payless Shoes, 16 CAD / Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18.0MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm..., 575 CAD / Toy Car Garage with Road, 17 CAD / HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT 'A Treasury of Curious George' Book, 12 CAD / Review, 7.91 CAD / Disney Monsters University Sulley Cuddle Pillow - Blue(12x10"), 20 CAD

My Family Travel Essentials

-Great, Comfortable yet fashionable Shoes for the entire family.
-Fabulous Sunglasses.
-Stunning Tote to carry all your new finds as well as snacks and water.
-SNACKS! A must when travelling with kids.
-Fun Reads for at the beach or on the plane.
-New Toys, Movies and Books for long car rides, plane rides or rainy days.
-Camera for catching all the travel memories and a travel journal & pen so you don't forget anything.
-Paper Road Maps for just in case you get lost or the GPS gets you lost :)
-Sunscreen (oops I missed that one in my picture)

What's your favorite family travel essentials?

The Try, Try, Try Again Dessert : Jell-O Cheesecake Dessert

Some of you may remember my post about the cherished dessert that my grandmother used to make that I tried to recreate several times but something always went wrong. So I put it on the back burner and decided to try the recipe again in a bit, also so we wouldn't get tired of the dessert.

A couple of weeks ago, while at the grocery store I spotted Cool Whip Whipped Dessert Topping with a picture of what looked to be my grandmother's dessert, or a close version, so I bought it. On the back of the picture was the recipe. Now armed with the recipes and directions I knew I was going to master this dessert.

As promised, I tried it again but this time with the "found" recipe. There were a couple of things that were different: instead of the recipe using Dream Whip like my grandmother's recipe it used Cool Whip, and this new recipe adds sliced strawberries to the Jell-o. Though I could have added the strawberries I wanted it to be as close as I could get to my grandmother's recipe as I could without her here. This time I had success and the recipe turned out exactly the same except for the bumpy Jell-O. The reason for the bumpy jell-o was that I let the Jell-O set for too long in the fridge.

What Not to Do - Lessons Learned

1. Do not cook the crust because it changes the texture of the crust. My first two tries I baked the crust.

2. Not let the crust and the cream cheese layer chill long enough. This caused the cream cheese mixture to melt slightly.

3.Not letting the Jell-O set up long enough (which happened in the first two tries) but not too long as I learned this 3rd try. Getting the time right prevents the more dense cream cheese layer from floating to the top like in this picture.

Though it doesn't turn out as perfectly as I wanted,  I definitely learned that practice gets you closer and keep trying, again and again until you succeed.

Here's the Recipe from Kraft Canada that was on the Cool Whip Lid.

Strawberry Delight Dessert

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. Honey Maid Graham Crumbs

1/4 c. non-hydrogenated margarine, melted

1 1/2 pkg. Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese Spread Light, softened

2 tbsp. skim milk

1 c. thawed Cool Whip Light Whipped Topping 

2 c. boiling water

2 pkg. (85 g. each) Jell-O Strawberry Jelly Powder Light 

1 1/2 c. cold water

1 qt. (4 c.) strawberries, sliced 

Directions

Mix graham crackers and margarine, press firmly onto the bottom of 13x9 inch pan. Beat cream cheese spread and milk until well blended. Stir in whipped topping. Spread over crust . Refrigerate until ready to use. Stir boiling water into dry jelly powder in a large bowl at least 2 mins. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Stir in strawberries. Spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Store any leftover dessert in refrigerator. 

Have you had any recipes you had to try several times before getting them just right?

Exciting News

I have some exciting news to share: I am pregnant with my second child and just over halfway through. We are so thrilled to be blessed with this baby and soon have a playmate for our son.

Both my pregnancies have been pretty good with only a little bit of nausea during the first trimester. But with my nausea comes some food aversions and that is why you have noticed not very many food posts for a while. Along with the food aversions, I didn't realize how truly tired I was going to be pregnant and trying to keep up with my almost three year old. I knew I was going to be tired but not this tired. DIY projects have fallen a little off the radar but hopefully for not too much longer.

Right now, I am trying to figure out how to balance everything. I still want to keep blogging so I am working out the details on how I want to make that happen. How to keep blogging, find time to do creative projects, and create new recipes.

I guess I am on a search to find a life/creative balance so stay tuned.

How do you find your balance?

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Today I was out shopping with my son and it got me thinking about what I was going to get my husband for Father's Day.

Here are some ideas I came up with:
    - Assorted Beer Glasses which is always a big hit with a beer drinker.
    - Cologne. Love a guys who smells good.
    - Pjs. I choose pj shorts because my husband hates being hot but these are nice when we travel.
    - Great Sunglasses
    - Cool Sneakers. Converse are a classic that have been around for a long time.

Converse sneaker / Fossil eyewear, 76 CAD / Dior Homme Eau for Men (EDT, 50ml – 100ml), 88 CAD / Sant And Abel Clive's Eye Men's Sleep Shorts, 48 CAD / Luigi Bormioli drinkware, 27 CAD



 What do you like to give for Father's Day?

Easy 4 Ingredient Cookies

This week I thought I would share this recipe for one of my favourite cookies. The cookie only has four ingredients and requires no baking.

Ingredients
1 pkg. Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 10 oz. Bag Mini Marshmallows
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Shreddies (optional; see note)

Steps:
Line an 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil.

Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 minute or until melted. Once melted pour the chocolate-peanut butter mixture, marshmallows and Shreddies into the 8x8 dish. Stir until incorporated and everything is covered in chocolate. Cover the dish and refrigerate for an hour. Use the aluminum foil to pull the cookies out of the dish, remove the foil, and cut into squares.

Enjoy! I bet you can't stop at just one.

Note: You can make these cookies with or without the Shreddies. They add a nice crunch to the cookie but are equally as tasty without. 

What's your favourite cookie?

Summer Lovin'

Summer is one of my favourite seasons maybe because:
                       - Summer is warm.
                       - Fresh, local fruits and vegetables are available at outdoor markets.
                       - You don't have to wear bulky clothing layers.
                       - You can go to swimming at the beach.

I know it's still spring but I thought I would share some of my picks for summer inspiration.

Emilio Pucci bath towel / Outdoor patio furniture / Rattan arm chair/ Cantilever patio umbrella, / Outdoor side table,/ Pier 1 Imports colored paper lantern,  / HomArt beach wall art,  / Aqua home decor,  / Lisa Marie Fernandez one piece swimsuit,  / Havaianas flip flop sandals,


What do you do love about summer?

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is just around the corner so I thought I would share with you some gift ideas.

Shoes - Always a great idea, especially when they are Sam Edelman.
Face Cream - This face cream is a bit of a splurge for me which makes it a special gift.
Make-up - Another splurge item that would make any mother feel amazing.
Purse - A lady can never have too many beautiful bags.
Candle - A little treat to make Mom feel like she is at the spa.
Jewellery - Need I saw more...every Mom deserves a reward for all her hard work.

Fresh face moisturizer, 46 CAD / Vegan leather handbag, 38 CAD / Hourglass cosmetic, 52 CAD / Sam Edelman leather pointy toe flat, 120 CAD / Jo Malone coconut candle, 72 CAD