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Leftover PEEPS Recipes
Crafty!Food & Wine

Leftover PEEPS Recipes

by Jill
written by Jill

Okay, I know.. I know.. Easter is far behind us. Nobody actually has leftover Easter candy hanging around at this point, right? Maybe?

Well, even if you don’t, consider these ideas for next year (or run out and get some PEEPS for 90% off somewhere, I guess).

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 I was on D Living last week, showing off some leftover PEEPS recipes. Here’s what I came up with:

PEEPS S’mores

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Pretty simple. Graham cracker, chocolate, PEEP. Melt and smoosh as desired. BONUS! Use leftover chocolate easter candy for the chocolate. I beheaded a chocolate bunny for mine, but you could also get creative and use Hershey’s Kisses, M&Ms, even try it with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

If you’re going to do this in the microwave, just be sure to keep a close eye on your PEEP. It only took about 9 seconds in mine before it puffed up really big. STOP IT WHEN IT DOES THAT. Because, you know, PEEP explosions are not fun to clean up.

PEEPS Fruit Salad

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This is a recipe I adapted from a traditional 5 Cup Fruit Salad recipe I found on KraftRecipes.com.

1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 can mandarin orange slices, drained
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup cut up PEEPS

I substituted Greek yogurt for the sour cream because I basically use Greek yogurt for everything. I used cut up PEEPS in place of mini marshmallows. It’s easiest to cut them up using kitchen scissors. 1 row of  PEEPS (5) equals a cup.

Mix all the ingredients together. Super simple, and surprisingly really good. I would only recommend the yellow PEEPS for this one because the colors do tend to bleed just a little, and I think any other color would look… gross.

PEEPS Colored & Layered Rice Krispie Treats

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PEEPS are just marshmallows on crack, so you can use them just like marshmallows in recipes (in case that hasn’t been clear up to this point). These colored and layered Rice Krispie Treats were made with 4 colors of PEEPS.

The bottom layer is supposed to be purple, but I only used 5 PEEPS to make it, and the color was really light. I decided to use 7 PEEPS for the other layers, and that helped boost the color a lot without making it too gooey. For each layer, combine the following:

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium/low heat
Add 7 PEEPS of one color and stir until melted
Add 1.5 cups of Rice Krispies
Stir until incorporated
Press into a buttered round cake pan

Then start all over with the next color, and press that layer on top of the previous layer. Continue doing this until you’ve got as many layers as you desire, or your pan is full. Let cool, then flip it out onto your serving plate or cake stand. To top, add PEEP dust! That’s just the leftover sugar at the bottom of the PEEPS boxes.

Here’s my D Living segment where I had a great time cutting off the heads of PEEPS and bunnies to demonstrate all these yummy recipes.

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Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs
Crafty!

Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs

by Jill
written by Jill

I pretty much despise dying Easter eggs. It never goes well for me, especially now that my kids are old enough to insist on actually doing it themselves and not watch me do it for them.

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Don’t feel too bad for them, though, because their father is some sort of super dad who loves doing stuff like that with them… when I’m not around.

Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun decorating eggs with them, though! Here are some dye-free ways to decorate Easter eggs.

First, STICKERS. Kids love stickers. I’m betting you have a ton of them hanging around, and there are loads of cute Easter themed stickers out right now. Check out the scrapbooking section of your craft store for dimensional stickers, but don’t be afraid to use up non-seasonal ones you have hanging around and even yard sale dot stickers!

While decoupage is nearly as messy as dye, I’ll admit, it won’t stain your fingers, and your clothes, and your counters, and… everything else. I don’t know about you, but I seem to hoard used tissue paper from gifts given to us. Half the time it’s too wrinkled or torn to use again, but it makes a great craft supply. Just tear it into little pieces and apply with a paint brush and a little Mod Podge. Let your imagination run wild, and combine colors and patterns.

Glitter. Okay, it’s messy. Okay, it’s slightly harder to clean up than decoupage. BUT, it’s… glittery! And this method keeps the mess to a minimum because there’s no glue required. Just apply some double sided tape or double sided dots to your egg, then roll it in some glitter until the sticky sides up are all covered.

Check out my post on Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas

Something about kids and tape… it’s like you’ve given them the key to the office supply closet. They get to play with tape? COOL! You used to only be able to find these colorful, patterned tapes at fancy paper stores, but now they’re in the office supply aisle of Target. Pick up a few colorful rolls and let the kids go crazy.

Finally… OMG. I love this last one. So, tattoos work on eggs. You just put them on like any regular tattoo. They look beautiful on them, too. You can use any kind of temporary tattoo you can find, BUT I am in LOVE with these little mustaches I found at Michael’s this week. They’re meant to go on your finger, but they are the perfect size for an egg! I simply used the fine end of a Sharpie to draw on the eyes and other features for these, but if I had more time, I would have gone wild with sticky googly eyes and yarn for hair.

I was on D Living today, showing off these dye-free egg decorating ideas. It’s really worth a watch if only to see the host’s face when I call glitter the “herpes of craft supplies” on live TV.

Also, thanks to Better Homes and Gardens. I got quite a few of these ideas from this post of theirs.

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Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas
Crafty!

Non-Candy Easter Egg Stuffer Ideas

by Jill
written by Jill

I’m prepping for a weekend of my kids on crack. And by crack, of course, I mean sugar. It’s really beyond my control. We’re going to be around a lot of family, and visiting homes that will have an abundance of candy, cookies and cakes out for the taking. What I can control, though, is what goes in the Easter eggs.

Here are some non-candy egg stuffer ideas.

For Leyna’s 2nd Easter, the first one she could really walk around and collect eggs, we stuffed all her eggs with alphabet magnets. One $5 bag was more than enough for all the eggs she could carry.

Don’t miss my post on Dye-Free Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs

If you have older kids, I love this idea of printing off coupons for them. Not only are they a non-candy idea, but they’re free! I got the printable from MakingLifeWhimsical.com

Along those same lines, I love the idea of printing off a picture of something big, or something that you couldn’t put in an Easter basket, turning it into a puzzle and putting each piece in an egg. Then having the kids put the pieces together to figure out what it is. Take, for example, a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge! Because sometimes the very last thing we all need is more stuff, big or small.

And don’t overlook how fun it is to skip right past the traditional Easter basket, and let the container help you set the tone for the goodies. Have a budding fashionista in the family? Were you a child of the 80s and 90s? Did you know Caboodles are back? Oh yes, yes they are. Perfect containers for eggs stuffed with jewelry, hair clips, socks and – of course- Lip Smackers.

If you have any LEGO lovers in the house, fill the eggs with the bricks, and get one of these cool LEGO head containers instead of a basket. I got ours from the Container Store.

Finally, a watering can is a great alternative to a basket for collecting eggs stuffed with seeds. Put a trowel, garden shovel and some garden gloves in there, and your budding little green-thumb will be all set.

I got to show all these ideas off on D Living this morning. Check out the video below!

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BabiesReviews

Making Baby Food Easy- For Home And On The Go

by Jill
written by Jill

It’s a few minutes out until today’s D Living episode airs. I was in the studio on Wednesday, and recorded a couple segments with Kim on how to make your own baby food. There’s still time to tune in and catch me on KTXD if you live in the DFW area!

If you already watched it and are heading here to get links to all the products and recipes I used, here you go:

The first recipe I showed was the Sweet Potato Coconut Puree. This is a recipe from the Weelicious site, by Catherine McCord. Head here to check it out. 

I also talked about how much I love Catherine’s book Weelicious! You can order it on Amazon here.

Those handy little glass cubes we put the puree in to store it? They’re by Wean Green. And let me just say, I plan to buy a bunch more of these in the near future. Not only will they come in handy for baby food this next time around, but I can pack my kids’ lunches in them! Check out their website here.

The second recipe I (tried to) show you all was a simple banana & avocado mash. Remember, this is something you can really only make right before you serve it because both bananas and avocados brown with time and don’t freeze all too well.

Simply smash half a ripe banana and half a ripe avocado with the back of your fork for a chunk consistency. If you want it to be smoother, throw it in a small food processor. You can always add a little breastmilk or formula to thin it out, too. My kids’ first foods have always been bananas and avocados! They’re super easy to prepare, and so great for little growing bodies. If you’re practicing baby-led weaning, they are great for this too! You can read more about baby-led weaning here.

Dr. Greene’s book Feeding Baby Green is also an excellent resource for figuring out how to start your baby on solids. I highly recommend it!

Finally, I showed off these AWESOME new pouches by Squooshi. They are refillable and reusable. I don’t know about you, but at our house we can go through a box of squeezable apple sauce in 2 days. It’s expensive! And I don’t have much control over what’s inside them. We’ve had these pouches for about a week now, and it’s awesome being able to fill all 12 bags at once with organic applesauce or even greek yogurt and some honey, then leave them in the fridge for the kids. They’re BIG fans.

You can’t put these in the dishwasher, but they are seriously easy to just rinse out and set on a drying rack before using again.

You can check out Squooshi here.

The recipe I used to fill these, the one that sneaks in some spinach, can be found on their website here.

And those beautiful lunch sacks that I had on set? The ones in all the cute patterns, that are lined and insulated with a freezable gel all the way around? Those are the fantastic Packits. I’ve been in love with this line of products for months now, and their new colors and designs make them even better. The smallest mini-cooler is the perfect size for a few Wean Green cubes, a spoon and a small sippy cup. Making baby food on the go SO super easy. Just fill it up and toss it in your diaper bag. You’ll be good to go all day.

Check out Packit’s entire line here.

For those who missed the segment, you can watch part of it here!

I’m so excited I had the chance to show just how easy it is to make, store and take your baby food with you wherever you go.

 

 

 

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Green Living

Going Green For Baby

by Jill
written by Jill

Today I was on Texas Living on KTXD in Dallas/Fort Worth, showing off a few ways you can go “green” when it comes to baby care.

There are several ways to green your care for baby, but I focused on just a few categories- diapering, feeding, sun protection, and bath and body.

Here’s the video of my segment, and a more detailed list is below.

Diapering

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know I’m a huge cloth diaper advocate. You can check out all my posts on the cloth diapering here. Cloth diapering isn’t what it was for our parents or grandparents. There are SO many options on the market, and they seem to get easier and easier. It may not be an option for everyone, but even busy working parents may be able to squeeze in time to cloth diaper at home.

Traditional disposable diapers can take up to 500 years to decompose in a landfill! So every one you can keep out of the landfill makes a big difference.

On today’s show, I’m showing off one my favorite cloth diapers – bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers and all in ones.

If cloth diapering isn’t for you, there are great disposable diaper options out there, too. Disposable diapers from The Honest Company are biodegradable/plant-based, and made free of chlorine, phthalates, PVC, perfumes and other nasty chemicals found in big brand disposable diapers.

You can order a monthly diaper bundle, delivered to your door, for $80 a month.

And no matter if you use cloth diapers full time, part time or not at all, it’s always good to have a natural (and cloth diaper friendly) diaper cream on hand. On today’s show, I’ll have some Balm Baby with me. It’s organic, vegan, and packaged in a recyclable glass container. I’ve also enjoyed using Burts Bees in the past.

Feeding

The easiest way to control what your baby eats, and to be sure they are getting unprocessed, whole, healthy food is to make it yourself.  And while making baby food may not conjure up images of anything “easy,” I assure you it’s not rocket science, whether it’s baby led weaning or purees.

If you choose to offer purees, it doesn’t take an expensive baby-food-making system. If you already have a food processor, you’re good to go. The only other things you’ll need are a steaming basket and some containers to store your food in.

On the show, I’ll have some glass and polypropylene containers by Green Sprouts. I’ve also had luck with freezing purees in ice cube trays and storing the cubes in freezer storage in the past.

Of course, we don’t always have time to make our baby’s food. I used a lot of Plum Organics and Ella’s Kitchen food pouches with Leyna, and I loved the convenience! These are our go-to options for dining out with baby.

And nothing beats the ease of tossing a banana in your diaper bag, and letting baby nom on it at your destination.

Sun Protection

With the warm months ahead of us, the time our kids spend in the sun is only going to increase. It’s so important to keep sun protection on them, but many of the sunscreens on the market are full of toxins.

My favorite resource for learning more about the sunscreen you’re using on your family is the EWG’s Skin Deep Sunscreen Guide. Type in the name of any sunscreen and find out the Hazard Score, which rates the ingredients in each and how toxic they are.

I’m super excited to show off a new product on the show by Goddess Garden. It’s a continuous spray sunscreen, made from a formula with an EWG hazard score of 1 for very low. And those of us with mobile kiddos who are itching to jump into pools and sprinklers know how great the ease of continuous spray sunscreens can be!

This product will be available at Whole Foods and Walgreens.com in March of this year.

Of course, never overlook the importance of keeping your kids covered with hats and even rash guards (swim shirts). You can find many of these with built in SPF.

Bath and Body

What we put on our babies’ bodies is just as important as what we put in it.  I’ll have a line from Dolphin Organics with me today on the show, which contains no artificial ingredients, and it’s labeling makes it very clear for parents to see exactly what they are exposing their children to, be it an organic or natural ingredient.

This line is also free of parabens, chemicals used as a preservative in many cosmetics which have been shown to link to breast cancer and to mimic estrogen.

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Going green never has to be an all or nothing ordeal. Take as many steps as you can to limit the toxins your baby is exposed to and do what feels right for you and your family. These are just a few suggestions of how and where to start.

Another fantastic resource is HealthyChild.org.

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