Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Is Prime Day Worth All the Hype?

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Prime Day has arrived! It’s like Christmas in July. Or is it? Is Prime Day worth all the hype?

Well, that depends on your goals.

Are you planning to get some early Chrismas shopping done? Have you been saving up for a big kitchen appliance in hopes that it will be crazy discounted today? Are you simply interested in seeing what is being offered and scoring a few great deals?

Then I’d say that Prime Day is worth all the hype!

Remember how I finalllllly gave in and bought an Instant Pot a couple of Prime Days ago? Sure, I’d gotten sucked into the hype of the biggest deal day of the year. Sure, all the talk about taking advantage of Prime Day had me shopping more than normal paying more attention to sale offers. But you know what else?

It made me decide to follow the advice so many of you had given, and I got an awesome discount on an appliance I now absolutely love and use many times every week in my kitchen! If it wasn’t for Prime Day and the intrigue of possibly scoring a great deal, I may never have even looked into finally buying an Instant Pot.

WHAT WOULD MY LIFE BE WITHOUT MY INSTANT POT???? :) :) :)

For starters, my family would not be eating as many mashed potatoes. So clearly, all of the Coppingers are so grateful for Mom’s Prime Day Instant Pot score of 2017.

——-> Psssst! I don’t know how long this will last, but at the time I am writing this post, my very well-loved 8-Quart Instant Pot is marked down to just $99 AND there is a $15 off coupon to go with it!!!!!! I think that’s less than I paid back in 2017! The price is so low, I’m tempted to buy another one for absolutely no reason. <———

So is Prime Day worth all the hype?

If you ask me, it is. But just like anything, you have to know your goals and not spend money just because something is on sale. It doesn’t matter if you saved $20 if you didn’t need an item in the first place.

But if you have been saving and planning and are ready to make a purchase, and you are blessed to find it on sale on Prime Day. Beautiful!

And if you are like my cousin who does ALL of her Christmas shopping on Prime Day so that she can enjoy the actual holiday season without the stress of shopping, then Prime Day is more than just hype. It’s helpful and practical and a great blessing!

A few notes about Prime Day

  1. If you aren’t already a Prime Member, and you aren’t sure you want to become one and pay the yearly fee, you can still sign up for a 30-day FREE membership and enjoy Prime Day deals right now!
  2. If you want to hear from me about what items I’m most excited to see on sale for Prime Day, sign up here for our free newsletter. I’ll send an email or two as I find the best deals I think will benefit us all the most! (Plus, when you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll get a bunch of homemaking freebies!)
  3. As I’ve started looking for great deals, I’m finding a few not-so-great deals. So I advise that you do a little homework when you see something featured for Prime Day. It might be a fantastic deal!!! Or it might not. (Typically, deals offered for Prime Day really are great, though!)
  4. If you have been putting off buying an Instant Pot but really want to make it a part of your wonderful life, I’m not sure the price will ever be lower than this.

Also, here’s all my Instant Pot recipes so far.

What I’m hoping will be on sale for Prime Day

Here’s what I’ll be searching out first:

  • All things Pyrex
  • Instant Pot (I really hope this deal with coupon stays good through Monday and Tuesday!)
  • Nutrimill (Anything $219 or less is a deal worth taking advantage of.)
  • Blendtec or Vitamix (This Blendtec is only $228 right now, which is less than half regular price!)
  • Toys, because I get to shop for those again now!

As soon as I’ve compiled the best deals list I can come up with, I’ll send out an email. Join us here so you don’t miss it!

Are you excited about Prime Day? Do you feel it’s worth the hype?

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Simple Recipes We’re Using to Help Our 5-Year Old Learn Kitchen Skills

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We’re starting over at our house! Just like we did with our “first set of kids” we are teaching our new 5-year old Bonus Boy how to cook. Here are the favorite simple recipes we are using to help him learn kitchen skills!

Hopefully, you won’t get too tired of hearing me encourage you to teach your kids to cook. :) Obviously, it’s more important that you teach them to love the Lord and love people. Focus on that first.

But also, eating is something we must all do every day of our lives. Your kids need to know how to prepare simple foods (or complicated foods, if you are my 19-year old). It’s a much-needed skill, and guess what?

After putting in hours of effort, making lots of messes, and having a blessed mixture of frustration and fun with my oldest four kids – they can all cook. It is fantastic. The work involved was entirely worth it. And when all is said and done, we made a lot of awesome memories (and Monkey Bread).

Sometimes now, they feed me. Often they feed themselves. They will someday feed their wives and children. This is beautiful!

Now, we’re starting all over again. This little one moved in with us when he was four. He has become the 5th Coppinger Boy! If I have the audacity to make food without him, he can’t possibly understand why. “But I wanted to help you!” Well, who am I to argue with that?

He cracks eggs, makes messes, helps measure ingredients, makes messes, stirs carefully, makes messes – well, he’s also learning how to use a broom and dustpan. ;)

Teaching Kids to Cook is MessyYum

So what? I like a clean kitchen, but now that I have teen and adult kids who can cook, I realize more than ever that the messes from when they were little are just part of the teaching process. If I expect a mess from the little one in training, then I’m less frustrated when a mess inevitably happens. If we happen to crack, pour, and stir correctly so as to avoid a mess, well, that’s a bonus.

Ready for some kid-friendly recipes?

Simple Recipes to Help Kids Learn Kitchen Skills

Here are some of our favorite simple recipes we are using right now to help teach our 5-year old basic kitchen skills. He helps measure, pour, and stir. As we work, I talk through everything we are doing so that he learns the vocabulary of cooking and the reasons we do what we do.

In addition, he helps:

  • Crack eggs for Scrambled Cheese Eggs (he cracks it, then hands it to me to open it into a bowl).
  • Put frozen fruit and mixed greens into the blender for Smoothies.
  • Do whatever he can with whatever I’m making because he really wants to be a part of all of it! So if possible, I always try to find him a job while I’m cooking or baking.

Looking for more help and recipes as you pull your kids into the kitchen with you?

If you really want to go all in and teach your kids to cook this summer, I encourage you to invest in Katie Kimball’s Kids Cook Real Food eCourse. I used this course with Malachi and plan to use it with Bonus Boy too. It is FANTASTIC!!! Get the details here. And pick up her awesome FREEBIE —>

What are your favorite foods to make with your kids?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Summer Activities for Kids: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

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Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

Yum

As I was remembering this fun summer activity idea, I decided it would be much more fun to do if we invited friends over to join us! So we sent out the invitation, got our supplies ready, and had a little Ice Cream Making Party!

By the way, we are SO CLOSE to final adoption day for Bonus Boy that I almost waited to post this so that I could show you his precious face. Soon and very soon he will officially be a Coppinger and then all stickers come off!

This “make ice cream in a bag” idea is one of those we always WANT to do, but never seem to get around to ACTUALLY doing. Somehow inviting friends to do it with us made it much more doable, you know? Afterward, the kids played and the moms visited. Bliss! And also, there was ice cream to eat, so double win!

Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!

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Summer Activities for Kids: Make Ice Cream in 10 Minutes!
 
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Serves: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 droppers full of liquid stevia, or 3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup, or 3-4 Tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup rock salt or coarse sea salt
  • Ice
  • quart and gallon sized freezer bags
Instructions
  1. Measure cream, sweetener, and vanilla into a quart-sized freezer bag and seal.
  2. Fill a gallon-sized freezer bag half-full of ice.
  3. Add ½ cup rock salt to the ice.
  4. Place the sealed quart-sized bag filled with ice cream ingredients into the bag of ice and salt. Seal.
  5. Toss the bag back and forth, shaking and tossing for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens to ice cream.
  6. Remove the quart-sized bag and rinse the salt off.
  7. Open the bag, scoop out the ice cream, and enjoy!

We moms found that the ice cream shakers needed a little bit of help to get the mixture shaken vigorously enough to turn into ice cream! Also: be sure to do this activity outside!! The bags tend to get drippy. :)

Here are some of our other Simple Ice Cream Recipes.

Use any of these with the above Freezer Bag Toss idea!

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites – (Gluten and Dairy Free)

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You might notice that this No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites recipe looks identical to our No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars recipe. This one is a fun one to make with your kids!

Yep. You figured it out. Same recipe. One shaped into bars. One shaped into balls. We are so creative, are we not?

Speaking of creative, we’ve got three other simple varieties of this recipe here. Just a few ingredient variations will give you one of these!


Grab the No-Bake Cookie Dough Bite recipes here:

Need Coconut Flour?

I found a great price here!

Need Almond Butter?

It’s hard to find a good price on this! Aldi has been my best option, if and when I can make it there to shop. (I live an hour away from the closest Aldi, boo!) Try to find one without added sugar. Or better yet, if you can find a good price on almonds, make Homemade Almond Butter!

Need Honey?

I much prefer and recommend buying local honey! Otherwise, I recommend buying a big jug from Azure Standard if that is an option for you.

Need Chocolate Chips?

My very favorite chips are these Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips! They are usually more expensive in the summer as they don’t ship well in the heat. So watch for them to go down in price in the fall and winter months, then stock up!

Need Vanilla Extract?

Oh how I love making it myself! Unfortunately, the price of vanilla beans has gone up over the years. Boo. Still, I think it’s best to make it ourselves if we can! Learn how here!

And now, grab your kids and let them help you make these awesome little treats!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough BitesYum

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites - 5 Ingredients
 
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Author:
Serves: 12-15
Ingredients
  • 1 cup natural creamy almond butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
  2. Roll the mixture into teaspoon-sized (or whatever sized) balls.
  3. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.

We like using a cookie scoop like this one to make these Cookie Dough Bites.

Looking for more help as you pull your kids into the kitchen with you?

If you really want to go all in and teach your kids to cook this summer, I encourage you to invest in Katie Kimball’s Kids Cook Real Food eCourse. I used this course with Malachi and plan to use it with Bonus Boy too. It is FANTASTIC!!! Get the details here. And pick up her awesome FREEBIE —>

 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

One Simple Trick That Helps Get Dinner on the Table FAST

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I’ve shared it before (more than a few times), but I find that I must share it again. Everyone should know about this one simple trick that helps get dinner on the table fast!

My Simple Trick that Helps Get Dinner on the Table Fast!

It’s simply this:

Brown several pounds of hamburger meat ahead of time. Store it in your fridge or freezer in meal-sized packages. This is a beautiful thing!

It doesn’t take very long to cook hamburger meat when prepping a meal, but still, if it’s already cooked and ready to use, then all we have to do at mealtime is add it to the dish we’re making. Somehow, having pre-cooked meat in my fridge takes away a lot of meal-making stress. How?

Well, I often have very little time for cooking. Mealtime comes up quickly (and many times each day, for our entire lives, oy!). But if I am able to pull out meat that’s already browned, that means I don’t have to worry about thawing meat or cooking meat. I simply add it to pasta or potatoes, or we make Tacos or Nachos, or…

33 Meals to make with Cooked Hamburger Meat

Here are a few more ideas. :)

My current favorite is this Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot. Not only is it incredibly delicious and a huge hit with everyone I’ve fed it to, with pre-cooked meat, I can have dinner on the table in only 10 minutes!! That is 10 minutes from start to finish, truly. It is amazing! (While it’s cooking in my Instant Pot, we get out salad fixins, and our meal is complete!)

My Favorite Instant Pot Hamburger Tip

Speaking of the wonders of an Instant Pot, you should definitely click over to read this:

How to Cook 5 lbs of Frozen Hamburger Meat in 30 minutes

Amazingly, I cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in my Instant Pot, and it is browned and ready to use for meals for the next two weeks for my family – just like that! (And yes, we eat a lot of meat. We are a family of many, many athletic men and a beef-lovin’ mama.)

Don’t have an Instant Pot?

I have this one and I absolutely love how much time it saves in the kitchen. So do consider investing! This 10-Minute Mac and Cheese is another good reason to buy an Instant Pot!

But, if you don’t have one and don’t want to invest, you can still easily cook several pounds of hamburger meat in a large pot on the stove. You’ll just need to thaw it first. :)

How to Store Pre-Cooked Hamburger Meat

Once you’ve got several pounds of hamburger meat cooked and cooled, what should you do?

I usually separate mine into meal-sized portions (1-3 pounds) and put it into these bowls with lids. Or if needed, I’ll put portions into ziplock bags.

I store these containers of cooked meat in my fridge for up to two weeks, and then pull them out as needed to prep meals. You can also store it in the freezer, of course. Just remember to thaw ahead of time!

Do you cook meat ahead of time? What are your favorite kitchen time-savers?

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The Easiest Frozen Yogurt Cups

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When I say that these are the Easiest Frozen Yogurt Cups, I truly do mean that they are the easiest!

The “recipe” I’m about to share with you is going to entirely amaze you. Where has this been all of our lives? Why have we never thought of this before? We should have been making these for years!!

This is the time where you gently interrupt and say, “Laura, I figured this one out a long time ago. You are the only one who didn’t know. Bless your heart.”

Heh.

Well, either way, let’s all talk about making these Frozen Yogurt Cups right now. It’s the easiest thing in the world. And the result is super fun and refreshing on a hot day!

The job of making these Frozen Yogurt Cups has been turned over to our 5-year old. He’s thrilled to be our biggest kitchen helper, and we love that he is starting to learn basic cooking skills!

Of course, in the case of these Frozen Yogurt Cups, there is no cooking involved. This is perfect for a 5-year old!

I do need to interrupt myself now and say that I have actually made a variety of these Frozen Yogurt Cups before. But now I’ve discovered a cheater way to make them, which is why the 5-year old has found himself a kitchen job, and why I am left wondering why I never thought of this before now.

What’s the cheater way to make these Frozen Yogurt Cups?

Well, as you know, I’ve started buying a few cheater foods at the grocery store. Why? Well, now that our family is doing foster care and have started over raising Littles, all while keeping up with the Bigs, and navigating all the meetings and such involved with foster care – my time in the kitchen is more limited than before. And that’s saying something.

So yeah. Sometimes I buy ready-to-serve yogurt. It’s sweeter than what I could or would make myself if I always made or bought it plain and added our own good ingredients. But I’m pretty happy with the pre-made Whole Milk Yogurts I’ve found. So for now, we settle for this yogurt compromise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

——> Need some re-assurance that compromising on perfect foods is just fine and dandy? Read my post called Beyond the Free Range Chicken. Be encouraged! Be free! Buy the yogurt. (Or not. Because we’re all in a different place and God will lead us each in how to feed our families.) <——-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, in the land of store-bought yogurt and 5-year old chefs, may we now present to you the lovely idea you are going to thoroughly enjoy this summer!

First, if you don’t already have them, I highly recommend that you invest in these lovely silicone muffin cups. With these jewels, you can make this Frozen Yogurt Cup “recipe” and many more. I love them and don’t know how I got by without them!

Other Recipes to use with your Silicone Cups:

Simple No-Bake Cookie Cups


Simple Strawberry Cheesecake Cups

Honey Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Healthy Peppermint Patties

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups


There you go. Just in case you didn’t believe me when I told you that I use my Silicone Cups very frequently!

Now, where were we? Ah yes…

The Easiest Frozen Yogurt CupsYum

While this is hardly a recipe, I’ll write it in recipe form, just for fun and ease. Hand this one to your kids and let them enjoy making this awesome treat!

The Easiest Frozen Yogurt Cups!
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • Your favorite yogurt
  • Muffin Cups or Silicone Muffin Cups
Instructions
  1. Spoon 3-4 Tablespoons of yogurt into muffin cups.
  2. Freeze for about 2 hours or until frozen solid.
  3. Store in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container.

P.S. Want to help your kids learn to cook? Great!

Need some resources to help you know where to start?

We have this great eCookbook package that is a huge help!

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Better yet,  I highly recommend this incredible Kids Cook Real Food eCourse! We used it with Malachi and it was a lifesaver!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Survive Summer

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We offered this last summer, and it was a huge hit! For all who missed out, we definitely want to offer it again so you can take advantage of the fun. Struggling with the heat, with the kids, and with the kitchen? We can help you survive summer – and thrive! Check it out:

In case you didn’t know this already: I LOVE SUMMER!! I love the break from all the crazy schedules, I love the church camps, the people we get to see, the swimming, the food, and the SUNSHINE. I love everything about summer and yes, I even love being hot. So in celebration of summer and everything I love, I created this:

How to Survive Summer – beautifully!

It’s an eBook package worth $32.70, but for one week only, we’re charging $6. BECAUSE IT’S SUMMMMMMMERRRRRRRR!!!

This package is extra special because it focuses on simple summer food, gardening, getting your kids to eat fresh summer veggies, and even finding awesome activities to do with your kids that do not involve a screen. It’s ridiculously fun, and it’s all for just six bucks!

What’s in the 6 for $6 Summer Survival Package:

Simple Summer Suppers – $6.95 Value

Simple Summer Suppers is a brand new eBook that we’re releasing just in time to include in this offer! (Notice that the full price of this one new book is higher than the cost of the entire package? Whooop!) This book gives you a sneak peek into the 13 great simple summer supper ideas we’ll be sharing here during the month of July. Too hot to cook, too tired to care, but the people still need to eat? This book’s got you covered!

Screen Free Summer – $3.95 value

This book is also brand new!! (Yep, we’ve been busy!) Get dozens of great ideas for fun to have as a family to make the most of your summer days. Get fun recipes, cute printables, oodles of games and activities to do inside and out. Wait till you see all the creative ways to use sidewalk chalk!

How to Eat Your Fruits…and Veggies Too! – $4.95 value

We pulled out this oldie-but-goodie that I originally wrote in 2008 and re-worked it to add more and better ideas. There’s no better time than summer to focus on adding more fruits and veggies to your diet. Learn fun new ways to encourage your kids to eat these gems, and who knows? You might start liking a few new fruits and veggies too!

Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving – $6.95 value

I wrote this back in 2009 and just like the book above, we re-worked it a little bit just for this occasion! There are pictures of my babies in this eBook, because in 2009, my boys were little guys helping me snap green beans, shuck corn, and plant potatoes. Be still my heart. They still do all of the above, they’re just a lot taller than they were in 2009. Learn some simple gardening and preserving basics in this eBook. Get the kids involved!

Beat the Heat! – $4.95 value

Get 33 fabulous ideas and 49 simple recipes to help you beat the heat this summer! From fun ways to use the crock pot (while avoiding the oven) to some awesome summer snack ideas, this eBook is delightfully refreshing!

What to Do with the Chicken in Your Kitchen – $4.95 value

Aww, this gem is one of the first eBooks I ever wrote. I loved the chicken in 2007, I love it today. This eBook is everything chicken – basic, simple, delicious recipes you’ll love!

Ready to dig in? Get this entire Summer Survival Package for just $6! Offer ends Monday, July 8.

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30 No-Bake Treat Recipes

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Avoiding the oven this summer? Me too! To help us out, here are some awesome No-Bake Treat Recipes for us to make!

Allow me to highlight some of my favorites for you. As you can imagine, I had a hard time narrowing it down. Ah, the difficulty of choosing ones favorite treats…

As far as “cookie bars” go, this Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars recipe is my current favorite. Can you blame me?

As for drinks, you already know that this Chocolate Frappe is my very favorite in the summer.

When strawberries are in season, I feast on these Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits. It’s like heaven in a bowl.

Or I mix things up a bit and make Chocolate Whipped Cream to put on my strawberries.

I super love that I have figured out how to make No-Churn Ice Cream varieties! These recipes only take 5 minutes to prepare, and they are so good! See #26-#29 below for all the recipes, but here’s the Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream recipe to get you started!

These Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats are so very simple, and I love the sweetness with the crunch!

Last but not least (because I have an entire list of No-Bake Treat Recipes below!), I must highlight my two favorite “jello salad” knock-offs. Spoiler: There is no jello involved in the making of these recipes. Simple real food ingredients, plus delicious fresh fruit make these awesome salad treats!

Here’s my Pineapple Fluff Salad…

And my Strawberry Fluff Salad…

Ready for the entire huge list? Here you go!

30 No-Bake Treat RecipesYum

  1. Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
  2. Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites
  3. Honey Sweetened No-Bake Cookies
  4. Chewy Granola Bars
  5. Chocolate Frappe
  6. Coconut Fudge Bars
  7. Stevia Sweetened Fat Bombs or Honey Sweetened Fat Bombs
  8. Frozen Yogurt Cups
  9. Honey Peanut Bars
  10. Mudballs
  11. Nectarine Cream Cups
  12. No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites
  13. No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
  14. No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites
  15. Pineapple Fluff Salad
  16. Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups
  17. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  18. Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  19. Americana Cheesecake Parfait
  20. Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee or Fruit
  21. Strawberry Milkshake
  22. Strawberry Peach Slushie
  23. Pineapple Mango Smoothies
  24. No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
  25. Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats
  26. Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream
  27. Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream
  28. Low Sugar Strawberry Ice Cream
  29. Low Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream
  30. Strawberry Fluff Salad

Have fun making these great No-Bake Treat!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

77 Screen-Free Summer Activities for Kids

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Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s post includes: 77 Screen-Free Summer Activities for Kids

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

List of Screen-Free Activities for Summer Fun

You might remember seeing this list a couple summers ago. It is huge and wonderful, and therefore well worth posting again! Get ready to be inspired as you see all of these great screen-free activity ideas!

Ready to get lots of ideas of ways to spend time with your kids and their friends while staying away from screens? Here we go!

Read, Read Read!

We’ve already talked about all the good books to read! (Did you see this list?) First and foremost, cooling off under the fan with a good book is a perfect screen free option this summer. Look over our list of great book suggestions. Join our Summer Reading Party. Read, read, read!

Have a Board Games Tournament

Huge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

Select any of the following, making adjustments depending on your kids’ ages. If your kids are old enough, enjoying any of these games in tournament form could be a blast! Even if your kids are “too old” for little kid games, sometimes it’s fun to pull them out and have a “Throw Back Game Day!”

  1. UNO
  2. Skip Bo
  3. Rummikub
  4. Chutes and Ladders
  5. Farkle
  6. Checkers
  7. Monopoly
  8. Scrabble
  9. Bananagrams
  10. Rummikub
  11. Headbanz

Have Fun With Bubbles

  1. Have Bubble Races – Hold your bubble on your wand and see who can go the farthest.
  2. Set up a Bubble Obstacle Course – Create an obstacle course and try to get through it without your bubble popping.
  3. Hold a Bubble Contest – Compete for who has the biggest bubble, smallest bubble, one that flies the highest, one that lasts the longest…
  4. Make Big Bubbles – Use lids from different sized cottage cheese, yogurt, or sour cream containers to cut into fun bubble rings. Dip the the rings into the tubs of homemade bubbles, made as directed below. This makes great big bubbles!
  5. Check out these Bubble Guns for an extra level of fun!

Need a Homemade Bubble Recipe?

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Homemade Bubbles
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 12 cups water
  • 1 cup dish soap
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 2 Tablespoons baking powder
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients in a bucket or tub, stirring gently.
  2. Allow mixture to sit for one hour before having bubble fun!

Use Sidewalk Chalk in a Fun New Way

  1. Use Water – Dip your sidewalk chalk in water and see how that changes the color and consistency of the art.
  2. Have Sidewalk Chalk Contests – Compete for who can draw the silliest, biggest, smallest, brightest, largest, most accurate, etc.
  3. Use Sidewalk Chalk to Decorate Rocks – It is like dyeing Easter eggs, only with chalk and rocks!
  4. Spread the Love – Write a message of love, encouragement or fun on a neighbor’s sidewalk. Leave a Welcome Home message on a vacationing family’s driveway.

Enjoy Outdoor and Backyard Games

  1. Ladder Ball
  2. Bocce Ball
  3. Kubb
  4. Lawn darts
  5. Soccer
  6. Water Balloons
  7. Hopscotch
  8. Jacks
  9. Four Square
  10. Obstacle course / Outdoor Olympics
  11. Hold jump rope contests, hula-hoop contests, or roller skating contests
  12. Leaf, bug and flower collections or tree identification game
  13. Cloud identification and imagination game

Set up Some Water GamesHuge List of Screen-Free Activitiesfor Summer Fun

  1. Jump on the trampoline with sprinkler underneath
  2. Use a fun sprinkler to add fun to the play
  3. Slip and Slide
  4. Fill a kiddie pool with ice cubes and water

Set up Sand Box Fun

  1. Use the sand to draw pictures
  2. Bury small toys in the sand box and let the kids hunt for them
  3. Add water to build castles and other creations
  4. New sand toys and shovels are always fun
  5. This dump truck won’t rust if left out in the rain
  6. Durable watering can, shovel and rake

Go on New Adventures

  1. Park Hop – Go from one park to another in your town and surrounding areas, take a friend, have a picnic
  2. Have a Progressive Dinner – Start with salad at one house, hors d’oeuvres at a second, main course at another and end up with dessert at a final house
  3. Go Geocaching – With a smart phone and some hiking shoes, you can make this happen. Don’t have a smart phone? Try a handheld GPS.  You will have to scout your locations in advance and bring a list.
  4. Go on a Treasure Hunt or Scavenger Hunt – Create a series of clues and a treasure at the end.
  5. Go a New Way – Have a destination to which you like to bike or walk? Try taking a different route.
  6. Look Online – Use the internet to find new, fun, free things to do in your area
  7. Camp out in the backyard – If you can’t do over night, then pitch the tent in the yard for an instant playhouse/fort/hideaway

Set up Creative Indoor Play

  1. Sensory Bins with Rice, Beans, or Salt – Let kids play in containers of rice, beans or salt. They can draw letters, shapes and pictures.
  2. Play with and draw in Shaving Cream
  3. Make Homemade Playdough (Mix 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch and 1.5 cups warm water. Stir all together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour into something to cool. Once it is cool, knead it and you can play away. If you want to add color, put food coloring in the water before boiling the mixture.
  4. Paint with Water Colors – Cover the dining room table with large sheets of paper and let the kids paint away
  5. Make a Selfie – Take a large sheet of paper and trace the child’s whole body. Let them decorate and draw the shape to resemble themselves.
  6. Hold a Talent Show – Do Mom and Dad have talent? What about the kids? Show it off! Don’t forget the video camera!
  7. Get out Simple Art Supplies – Use pine cones, pipe cleaners and googly eyes to create a miniature family
  8. Have a Lego Contest
  9. Hold a Coloring Contest

Cook TogetherHuge List of Screen Free Activities

  1. Make Popsicles
  2. Hold a Chili Cook-Off
  3. Make a Picnic
  4. Hold a Cooking Contest (i.e. Who makes the best cookies?)
  5. Take advantage of this time to Teach Your Kids to Cook

Fun Kid Friendly Recipes

  1. Download a FREE Kid-Friendly Snacks page here.
  2. Homemade Tootsie Rolls
  3. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  4. Crustless Pizza Pie
  5. Easy Guacamole
  6. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  7. Chewy Granola Bars
  8. Pudding Pops
  9. Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
  10. Cool Pineapple Cream Dessert
  11. 5-Minute Frozen Yogurt Cups
  12. Easy Blue Raspberry Salad

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

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Easy Recipes for the Grill

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Need some easy recipes for the grill? Keep your summer food simple, and make it taste great too! Here are some great recipes for you!

We fire up our grill multiple times per week during the summer! I love how easy the grill makes lunch and dinner, all without heating up the house.

TIP: To put a super simple, healthy meal on the table during the summer:

  1. Cook your meat on the grill
  2. Toss a salad
  3. Slice fresh fruit
  4. Serve and enjoy

There is nothing easier and nothing more nutritious or delicious! The side-dish possibilities are endless during the summer since the garden fresh produce is plentiful!

Ready for our favorite summer recipes?

11 Easy Recipes for the GrillYum

  1. Simple Grilled Tortilla Pizza
  2. Simple Grilled Salmon
  3. The Perfect Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Barbeque Chicken Legs
  5. Pizza Boats in the Grill
  6. Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers
  7. Simple Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs
  8. Simple Cheese Stuffed Burgers
  9. Cheddar Ranch Burgers
  10. Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats
  11. Easy Bacon and Potato Foil Packets

I can’t stress how easy and delicious this Perfect Grilled Chicken is! Simply throw on some sauce and grill. SO GOOD! So simple!

Great Sauce and Dressing Ideas to Marinate The Simplest and Best Grilled Chicken

bbq_sauce

These are our favorite sauces to marinate our chicken in prior to grilling. But just about any of your favorite sauces will work!

How to Make Perfect Grilled Chicken

Here’s my best and favorite tip for making perfect grilled chicken!

  1. Use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. This makes all the difference.
  2. Marinate the thighs in something delicious before grilling (suggestions above)
  3. As you can see from the picture below, I blackened the chicken more than I meant to – and the meat still turned out juicy and flavorful! This is because chicken thighs have more fat than chicken breasts so they are much harder to ruin.
  4. We usually cook boneless thighs for 10-15 minutes on each side, turning it from time to time.

TIP: Chop your leftover Grilled Chicken into a fantastic Chef Salad for lunch!

Yum, grilled chicken in a tossed salad makes an awesome meal!

Here are our favorite Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes:

What to serve with your grilled food:

Need some side dish ideas? Here are our favorites…

Oh how I love summer food! What are your favorite foods to grill?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!