Highchair Re-Do

Back before Kaypha was even a twinkle in my eye, we decided we wanted to get a high chair to have at home so that when our friends who did have kids came over for dinner their kids would have somewhere to sit. We were lucky to be able to get a highchair off of Freecycle:

It's used and while it's not super stylish, it did a great job. When my cousin moved to town, though, we let her take it and after a year and a half of daily use, it's falling apart. The vinyl is worn (that's not glare in the picture...the light spots are where the color has rubbed off), hard and crunchy and cracking.

It's gotten so bad that her daughter had to sit on top of a towel on the cracked cover to keep from cutting up or irritating her legs. That's no good. So I took it home and decided I'd try to make a new cover.  I think it turned out alright

The fabric is way cuter at any rate.  Here's how I did it:

Pro Tip of the Week: How to do Matts for Your Framed Art on the Cheap

I was cruising the entries for Crafting with the Stars (which you can enter to compete in through Thursday, September 15th....so make sure you crafty types go check out that link!) and saw this great tip from Kari over at The Sunset Lane.

She writes:
I love a good matted picture and frame, but sometimes they are so expensive!  I sometimes just buy a cheap frame and matte and spray paint them to black frames and white matte.  But, I had quite a collection of frames with no mattes. So, I made my own :)

You know what the best part is? You can buy the big posterboard you need to do this at the Dollar Store and it's enough for several frames. Which means you can matt your photos for about $0.33 (or less!) instead of for $5 or more that you'd spend on pre-made frames.

Check out Kari's tutorial here.

Be a Breakfast Time Hero: Strawberry Yogurt Waffle Stack Recipe

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls on behalf of Dannon. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program but my opinions are my own.

For more information and recipe ideas, visit www.oikosyogurt.com or www.Facebook.com/oikos. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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It's coming. The cool nights are setting in. The clouds are coming back. The corn stalks are drying up. Just this week you could start to feel the first hints of fall in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to all of the fabulous things that fall brings: deep jewel tones, scarves, crunchy leaves, the last of the fresh produce, warm cinnamon scents, beautiful scenery....I know for a lot of you, it's also bringing school: which in my house means a panic about what to feed everyone as life gets busy again.

This is the Blueberry 'fruit on the bottom' kind - yum!

This week I was given an opportunity to try Dannon's new Oikos® Greek yogurt. I'd tried a different brand of Greek yogurt at my sister's house a few months back, but this stuff was way better. It was super thick and creamy - like the yogurt equivalent of super premium ice cream. You know....the kind of thing that you're sure has a ba-jillion grams of fat and might make you gain 5 pounds just by thinking about it. What's amazing, though is that is fat free. I'm told that's because Dannon® Oikos® is created through an authentic Greek straining process which gives it a rich and creamy-thick texture. Straining out the extra whey is what keeps more milk solids and gives it that awesome texture without the fat. The texture reminds me of something that's a hybrid between cream cheese and standard issue runnier yogurt. The thicker texture also conveniently sticks to little spoons so my one year old with only budding silverware skills can eat it with way less mess.

Not only is this yogurt pretty fabulous by itself, but I think you could definitely go a long way with this as a recipe ingredient or maybe even a condiment. Oikos® is so thick and creamy, that you could spread it on your bagel instead of strawberrry cream cheese for all the flavor but none of the fat. And it was exactly that thought that inspired my recipe below. It is super fast and easy to make, is packed with protein and is low in fat. I personally think it would be a great way to start your day on your way out the door to work or school.


Dannon is also offering a coupon to try this yogurt for free! (we all know that's my favorite price). Head over to their Facebook page to 'like' them and grab the coupon.(update: It appears this current promotion was so popular they have run out of coupons. If you visit the page, you can still click the link to get a coupon for the Stonyfield Oikos and by liking the page you'll be able to find out about new coupon offers they have in the future)

Strawberry Yogurt Waffle Stack

Ingredients 

2 Frozen Waffles (I used multigrain waffles from Trader Joe's)

1 container Strawberry flavored  Dannon® Oikos® greek yogurt

2 or more strawberries, washed and sliced

How to be a Breakfast Hero in Less Than 5 Minutes

Battle of the Zucchini Fries

My sister is out of town for a couple weeks and has asked me to take care of her garden while she's away. Since she'll be gone for a while, she's also said that I can have any produce that ripens while she's gone. So far, while gone, her garden has produced two MOSTER sized zucchinis. No joke. These things are practically the size of my one year old:

I put out a cry on Facebook for good zucchini recipe suggestions as my main go-to recipes for zucchini aside from dunking raw pieces into ranch dip are Angel Hair Primavera and Antipasto Pizza....and I've got about 8 times as much zucchini as either of those recipes needs. When my cousin suggested frying it, I was reminded of some zucchini fry recipes I'd seen on pinterest and thought I'd try something like that. When I ran out of bread crumbs half way though making the baked fries, I thought I'd try frying some up as well and Battle of the Zucchini Fries was on!

Panda Pancakes!

I've been seeing pictures floating around pinterest of some awesome pancake art. Most of them are from Jim's Pancakes - who has brought pancaking to an art form. Amazing stuff. Check it out if you are looking for awesome pancake inspiration!

I'd had the idea in my head to do panda pancakes for a while. I tried the "blob" technique where I just blobbed the batter onto the pan, and while it looked okay on the griddle:

It did not look so great when I took it off. So un-great in fact, there is not even photographic evidence of it's existence.

For my next attempt, I decided to try watered down batter in squeeze jars. These turned out much better:

Here is how I did it:

Box o Books: DIY Home Storage

Like any good little Bonham, our kiddo has a TON of books. This is apparently genetic since Mommy and Daddy own an awful lot of books as well. Our living room can get quite messy as Kaypha is still a little guy and isn't very good at putting books away on a bookshelf (where the books had been living).

He does, however, love putting things inside of stuff. One of his favorite games is to put little items into a bucket and then dump the bucket out and put everything back into the bucket again. I decided to try and use this to my advantage in order to maybe get a little help cleaning up and deciding we needed a bin system for storing books. Regular bins aren't cute enough to put out in the living room and baskets can be pricey (I didn't already have one that was the right size to fit under my table). Instead, I threw some craft supplies together and came up with this...

And the best part was that is was free because I made it from stuff I had on hand. Ya'll know that free is my favorite price!  Here's how I did it:

Made in the Shade: My DIY Kid Play Tent

A few months ago I saw a few different designs for kid reading tents floating around on Pinterest. I love the idea of a little reading spot or shade nook. I wanted it to be super portable, though so I could take it to the beach, park or grandparents house. I tried a couple different ways to make them and ended up with this final design:

I love it because it is super portable, sets up in less than 3 minutes, and doesn't take up much room to store.

DIY Ginger Syrup for homemade soda

My family has been trying to find healthier alternatives to traditional soda. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is not only horrible for you, but almost all of it is made from genetically modified corn - which we oppose on moral grounds. Plus drinking lots of extra calories is bad for you. Diet sodas aren't too much better. And with all the hub-bub going around about caramel coloring causing cancer, it's enough to make you give up soda altogether.

Except I'm addicted. I think it's the bubbles. I find plain club soda has a weird bitter taste so I still need it flavored somehow. And it needs to be inexpensive.

I've seen a few recipes for infused syrups that you can use to make homemade sodas floating around online about thought I'd give it a shot.  I love that I have 100% control over what goes into it and it's not pricey! It turned out pretty tasty, too, if I do say so myself. Plus I think it makes a fun inexpensive gift. So without further ado...

Pop-Mania Part 2: Blueberry Lemon Pops

The Pacific Northwest heat wave has waned quite a bit but nobody needs to twist my arm to eat tasty frozen treats! These pops turned out tasty and creamy with a bright lemony flavor that I love.

Tasty Pop Flavor #2: Blueberry Lemon pops

Blueberry Lemon Pop Recipe:

• 1 box vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 cup vanilla flavored whole milk yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
• 1 lemon
• 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries