Favorite Costco Picks

Costco is a once a week trip for us {Sometimes twice} My girls know how to clean house. They love to eat! Which is why I am very cautious about what I purchase. They will eat anything! Sea weed is their favorite snack.. which I forgot to get a picture of ... but that is like a treat for them! and i am not worried about it! It actually is extremely good for you, and very low in calories. 

My girls Love these danimal drinks.. I know they are not the healthiest.. But I love to have them on hand. They are so easy to grab and go when were in a hurry

 I rarely let my kids eat chips... infact the girls get chips once a week in their lunch.. On fridays! Its definitely a treat. But these snapped crisps are a great alternative.... so they get their "Salty fix"

 I love these Organic Soft baked squares. They are tasty, and low in sugar, and my girls love them in the go in the morning before school. I usually complement it with a protein shake. My girls call them cookies! 

These fig bars are somewhat new. They come in a pack of two. so when I make lunches, I open up 2, and they each get a square in their lunch. They think this is also their "treat". They are 100% whole wheat, and 100 calories per square. they are packed, and so good.

 These are also a great alternative than chips. my girls loves these. They are organic, and light

 So were kind of a cheese family. I swear every time I walk out of costco I have 5 different types of cheese in my cart. This lake country cheese, laughing cow cheese, string cheese, feta cheese (I love putting on my salads) and shredded cheese for baking. So this lake country cheese... we make something in our family that we made up called a "cheese cupcake". We slice this cheese.. in a 1 ounce square. Put in a small dish, and microwave for 45 seconds. We then drain all the oil, then eat it. Sounds SO weird and crazy, but its seriously amazing, and healthy! The girls LOVE it!

 We eat eggs ALOT. They are so high in protein. So when the girls want eggs for breakfast.. I do 1 egg, and 1/4 cup eggs whites per girl.. with a little cheese. Its so much better than 2-3 eggs, and so much healthier. It makes a lot too. The girls love it on toast, or with salsa! (I told you my girls will eat anything)

 So this laughing cow cheese is a favorite of ours , and we get creative with it! we dip bell peppers, sliced apples , and thin pretzels. I pack it in the girls lunches all the time. Only 35 calories per slice.

 My girls love trail mix, and they eat ALL of it! Not just the m&m's :). This is a great filler and high in protein. I don't do this everyday in their lunches, but a coupe times a week :)

 Do we do grilled chicken and fish ALOT. But every once in a while, we do this orange chicken. It is so yummy, and 1 bag feeds our entire family. The box comes with 2 bags. So we get 2 meals out of it. I do put brown rice and broccoli with it as well as fillers :). I LOVE this organic brown rice.. not just the taste, but its SO easy! and so moist! you just pop it in the microwave for 1.30 seconds. The girls eat it up!

 I always buy 2-3 bunches of bananas. Well 1- because the are SO cheap! and at night when the girls are hungry I say "Grab a banana!" But I also un wrap at last half... half them ... and freeze them. I can't have a protein shake without frozen banana. It makes the consistency PERFECT!

 I HAVE to have tomatoes on my salad. I eat a salad at least one meal.. sometimes 2... Which is why I lOVE summer, because home grown tomatoes from the garden are my absolute favorite. But when its not summer, I buy these. They are the closest thing to home grown I have found :)

And last... I am a sucker for dried cherries and chocolate! SO this totally satisfies my sweet tooth! I love the mix of almonds, cashews, dried cherries and chocolate! there isn't 1 thing in here that I "Pick out" if you know what i mean :) 

I love SWEETS!

The girls and I got to do a fun kitchen photo shoot for Day Spring Dresses darling aprons. We threw some Matilda Jane aprons on for a couple of shots too. We were making our favorite chocolate chip cookies, that we make weekly. Its my favorite recipe. They truly do taste like bakery style chocolate chip cookies. So soft and gooey. We love to make a big batch, hand some out to neighbors and friends, eat 1 or 4 ... then freeze the rest. The reason I throw them in the freezer, is because they keep their "same day as baked" taste. You know how the day after you make cookies they taste different? well not when you freeze them. So whenever I am craving something sweet, I pull one out of the freezer. Oh and they taste amazing frozen. It's the weirdest thing. I also love to pull them out of the freezer and make home made ice cream sandwiches, then line the middle part with mini chocolate chips. The perfect treat. 

 RECIPE:

I always double it... so here it goes doubled.

3 cubes batter melted.

2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

mix together.

Then add: 

2 eggs and 4 egg yolks

2 tbls vanilla

mix that.

then add:

4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

okay  after all that is mixed- add 5 cups chocolate chips. 

bake at 350 for 10 minutes

If you do large like I do, bake 12 min. 

 Of course the girls get one with milk. Its their favorite treat.

Okay here is a way to really spice up a plain old brownie mix. I LOVE making brownies like this. And when you take them some where so does everyone else!

I call them "Triple layer" to be fancy :)

So take any boxed or homemade brownie mix. When there is about 3 minutes left of baking, throw some marshmallows on top, and let them just toast... about 3 minutes.

 Over the stove melt 2 tbl butter, 2 cups chocolate chips and 1 cup peanut butter.When that is all melted, add 1 1/2 cups rice krispies. 

 Stir and pour over the marshmallows. 

 Let it set in the fridge 2-3 hours. IT IS so YUMMY! Now go try it! 

HALLOWEEN 2014

 I decided to do witches this year for halloween. I am not really sure why, I just thought all the girls being a different colored witch would be SO cute! and my friend Stephanie from Oh sew Fancy did an amazing job with their costumes. The details are amazing!  

 Pumpkin Patch number 1. We love going down to Avila valley barn in the fall. Its a mile away from the beach, and just a beautiful place, with hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins.Its a 2 hour drive for us, a perfect day trip. I wish I would have gotten more pictures, I must have been pretty occupied with the kids. 

 Our Traditional Family "Halloween Spooky Dinner". Its always so fun for me and the girls to do this tradition of ours. The menu changes ever year, but this year it was: Pumpkin deviled eggs, Mummy Wraps, Split pea soup, and Halloween decorated cake pops, with mint green ice cream. The girls lo forward to this every year.

 Kynzlee is my little October Baby. She turned 7. 

Pumpkin Patch #2. On Halloween day. 

My 5 little Witches.. My mind is already brewing up for this year :).

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY HAWAII

 Last July we Celebrated our 10 year Anniversary. 3 states, and 5 kids later. We had never left the kids...EVER. This was a big deal, and I was scared to death. My baby Kambree was 15 months. I usually nurse my babies until 15 months {actually until I get pregnant again}....But in this case, I did stop, as we left for 8 days. But through lots of prayer, I actually was ok. I knew the babies were in great hands, and I knew my husband really wanted this. Me, and all of me for a whole week. I was totally blessed, as I truly was fine, and had an amazing time. Don't get me wrong, I did miss them, and was SO happy to be with them again. But this week in kauai, is a week ill never forget. A dream, a paradise.  To be with my best friend, no distractions, and to play and have fun and enjoy the most beautiful island {in my opinion} in hawaii. Here is our Journey: Top pic was a little blurry as we jumped on a shuttle as we had a small lay over in honolulu.

 It was amazing flying in. The water was truly crystal clear. 

 We got into our hotel late at night, and really didn't know exactly what was right in front of us. It was so amazing to wake up to this view. 

 Every morning we ran down to the beach, had to jolt across the water {waste deep} and then continued to run, until we reached the little town. Talk about an awesome workout. The views were breathtaking. 

 Our first day on the island we hiked to Hanakapiai Falls. It was an 8 mile high round trip. But when you reached the water fall at mile 4, everything was worth it. This hike was so fun. One thing I would for sure do again when we go back. 

 When we reached the waterfall we swam back behind the waterfall. The water was cold, but we had to do it. It was awesome! 

Oh and the ice cream above never tasted better after that hike! 

p.s, Hawaii has the best Ice cream I have ever tasted. 

 This was part of our run every morning, going through tons of trees like this, that were right on the beach. Sometimes we would see locals just taking a nap under the trees.  One morning, we were standing on the beach, waiting to cross the water, and a huge coconut fell from the tree, just inches away from where joe was standing. Kinda scary actually. But of course we had to bust it open and try it. It was interesting, the milk was so sweet, and the "meat" had the same consistency as fish. Not a ton of flavor, pretty bland actually, which surprised me because coconut is so sweet! 

 DAY 2: Our best friends form Arizona were also celebrating their 10 year anniversary. The adventures were so fun with them. The helicopter ride took my breath away. I had never been on a helicopter, and wow. The island is just amazing. We flew right over the beach that Bethany Hamilton lost her arm to the shark. And also just feet away from the waterfall that is on jurassic park .

DAY 3: zip lining. 9 zips. It was so fun flying through the forest.

 DAY 4: we rented some scooters in the evening, and rode down to a really nice restaurant on the beach... Then continued to zip around the island,  Going to ice cream and little shopping stores. I will say I was scared to death at first. Its like a minature motorcycle .. but by the end of the night I loved it. 

DAY 5: Boat Excursion.  One little store we stumbled upon while we waited for our boat excursion had tons and tons of different local nuts, some sweet, some salty... and they wanted you to try them all! it was awesome. Everyone loves a free sample! we did all end up getting our favorite ones.They tasted so yummy on our 5 hour excursion. 

 The views going around the island were un believable. Straight out of a movie. We got to go around the island... through caves, and stopped for snorkeling for an hour. That was so fun to do, a first for both of us.

 We LOVED going to the local farmers markets, and coming back to the hotel and making yummy stuff with all the yummy local fruits and vegetables. We made a really good salsa, and a really yummy desert: half mangos, with hawaian ice cream, with homemade granola and some more hawaian fruit. 

I am A HUGE fan of hawaii food. So fresh and so delicious.

 Our last day we went canoeing....then ended our night eating on the beach at the st Regis Resort, watching the sunset. It truly topped the trip off. I can't wait to go back. maybe 5 more years?? I really don't know.... But here is to hoping.