Sharing my journey as a mother, wife, homemaker, Jesus girl, entrepreneur and all things in between!
How cute are those Unicorn Treat Pops (and the little face that is so proud of them)?! We had such a good time with this fun baking kit, and I am here to break it all down for you! Foodstirs offered to send me one of these boxes for Addie and I to make together, and I am so glad that I said yes! (They have several Fun Baking Kits to choose from!)
Activities like this are so fun for me, not only because I am a baker and love involving my girl in cooking, but also because I can build her confidence. As much as possible, I love to allow her to do things herself. Plus, Foodstirs is a “junk-free” company, so everything is organic and mama doesn’t have to feel guilty!
Seriously, the branding and packaging nut in me could not get enough of this cute kit!
The little stickers for the pops were a huge hit! Anyone with a 3 year old knows that stickers are life right now.
Each baking kit comes with a handy little card that tells you what is included in your kit and also what tools and ingredients you will need to gather beforehand.
Addie can’t read yet, but she was so excited looking at the pictures and helping me figure out what we needed to round up!
Sitting on the kitchen counter cooking with me is her favorite. I pray she holds onto these memories and precious times together for life. What a special thing FoodStirs offers, making this easier on parents that are not bakers by nature!
First, we gathered up all of our supplies. Honestly, you don’t need too much! Most everything I had on hand, including the extra ingredients. My Stoneware Bar Pan is my go-to for stuff like this, and was perfect for this kit!
Next, I let Addie add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl herself (I helped crack the eggs).
I let her use our Hand Mixer to blend everything together well.
While the cake baked, we went ahead and started making the icing. It was so easy, guys! You just add the yogurt and butter to a bowl.
Mix well using a hand mixer.
And add the icing mix in, mixing well again!
This particular kit calls for you to separate the icing into three bowls:
Then, you use the included plant-based dye packets to color your icing! No questionable colorings here!
Once we got our icing done, it was time to take the cake out of the oven!
I was a little impatient and flipped it out of the pan a little sooner than I should have, which caused a tad bit of cracking. Really not a big deal though, because we had way more cake than we needed! The scraps were fun to eat while we worked.
Now, for the fun! Once the cake is fully cooled, you use the Treat Pop container to cut rounds out of your cake.
Our cake was still a teeny bit warm, so we went ahead and set up the pop stand next! Really easy. You tape the cute little enclosed card to the top of the box, and then use scissors to make holes for the treat pops to stand! Don’t skip this! It was really cute, and also made life so much easier during assembly.
Now that all of the parts were done, it was time to assemble! We had a blast making a mess and tasting as we went.
If you aren’t baking-inclined, let me show you how easy this part is. Seriously. So easy! You just push a cake round down into each pop container:
Add another cake round:
Another layer of icing, in a different color:
Top with a final cake round. We had a lot left over!
Last, you swirl icing on top. I used a piping bag and a wilton star tip. Now, here is where the baker OCD got the best of me. I am not sure if our butter was too soft or what. But the icing came out a bit thin and did not hold its shape how I wanted it to. No worries, because it tasted delicious! I truly think letting it chill in the fridge for a bit, and maybe adding a little extra powdered sugar would likely have fixed this issue.
As you can see, they kind of “wilted” a bit. I also let Addie do the swirls, so my perfectionism had to take a back seat.
The final step was putting the sticker “faces” on them, which was a huge hit!
She had so much fun. I had so much fun. And Daddy and Lillie had a blast enjoying them with us!
Overall, I was incredibly impressed with this Unicorn Baking Kit! It was super easy to follow, even if you are a novice baker. An older child could probably even do it themselves, with some supervision. These would make such a fun and unique gift! Plus, check out some of the other kits:
If you need an idea to entertain your kiddos, or just want something fun to do to connect, go ahead and order yourself one of these kits. We will be doing more, for sure!
Also, check it! They have a whole line of Keto-friendly sweets! Yes, please!
Ya’ll. Babysitters are expensive, for real. My husband and I don’t have family in town, so if we want to leave the house for a date, you can just go ahead and tack on an extra $40 to that bill. I was craving some one on one time a few weeks back, so I planned this fun little Pour Paint Date Night on our porch, complete with homemade cheese fondue (recipe at the bottom of this post!).
Last summer, we did a total makeover of our side yard area, and my sweet husband built me this amazing deck. We love spending time on it, especially on these warm summer nights. We recently moved our outdoor dining table down there (long story), and it was a great spot to set up for painting.
Isn’t that little seating area so cute?! Seriously love sitting out there, and it did not cost much, at all! You can grab this seating set for less than $300 on Amazon right now (HERE). We also snagged the triangle sun shade and string lights from Amazon.
To protect our furniture, I laid down some cheap plastic paint drop cloths. I have been drooling over pour painting videos on Pinterest and YouTube for months. Something about it looked so satisfying to me and I knew I wanted to try it out.
One day I was hunting for deals for my Deals Group (JOIN US if you aren’t in there!) and came across a killer deal on this pour painting kit. I couldn’t say no! It seemed like the perfect date night. Creating is powerful and a unique way to connect. A big multi-pack of canvases and we were all set!
This kit was perfect for us as beginners! It came with tons of colors, metallic included! Paint brushes, gloves and the oil that you use to make the “cells.” We were able to get about 5 11×14 paintings done with this kit, and a couple of smaller ones. Definitely not bad for the price!
I got that all set up during our girls’ nap time. As I made dinner for them, I started prepping out our “dippers” for the fondue! I knew that I wanted to do a savory fondue this time, since our go-to is usually chocolate (Grab my recipe here).
And then while Mike was getting the oldest to bed, I went ahead and whipped up the cheese fondue (recipe below), and set it to stay warm in our fondue pot. As soon as both girls were down, we carried everything out!
For dippers, I went with broccoli, lil’ smokies, French baguette and Granny Smith apples. I saw the apple idea on Pinterest and to be honest, I wasn’t sure. But it actually was amazing with the tang of the cheese!
What’s a date night without a good bottle of Merlot?! We love Winc and their entire customization process. It’s nice to have some on hand for sweet evenings like this! I also love using these lowball wine glasses because I am notorious for breaking mine.
Because we live in the mountains, we get tons of mosquitoes. I lit our tabletop tiki torch, but quickly decided that it wasn’t enough. So we busted out the Thermacell, too. That thing works miracles, ya’ll!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that little box beside our food. That, my friends, is a box of the most delicious macarons you will ever taste! As a baker and Macaron snob, I am super choosy. My friend Marlee (Macs by Mar) creates the BEST macarons, hands down. Go give her a follow and order you some. You won’t be sorry!
After we snacked a bit, we got to the painting! It was every bit as fun and satisfying as I imagined that it would be. I mean, look:
We made a hot mess, but we sure did have fun playing!
This one was Michael’s. I absolutely love the way his color contrast came out!
This at home date was seriously so much fun, you guys. It was really nice to unplug and connect with each other, and to do something outside of our norm. If you are wanting to create a special evening- heck even a girls night- I would definitely recommend this! We already had a fondue pot, but even if you had to buy one, you could set this up super cheaply! Now, on to that Cheese fondue recipe!
Shew, it has been a crazy week. We lost a good friend of ours last week, and things have just been a whirlwind, processing grief and trying to be there for his family. I am so excited to share this week’s meal plan with you guys though, because it is a good one! If you try some of these, let us know. I’m the most excited about those burgers!
If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out my meal planning trick that helps me to bust this out in minutes every week!
I’ve been on an Asian food kick lately, and my kids on a pineapple kick. This marries the two so beautifully! Do make sure you note that the steak needs to marinate for 4 hours. I missed this when choosing it, but plan to put the meat into the sauce during lunch time today.
Meal Prep Hack: This Pineapple wedger is my BFF right now! I can cut one in seconds, and anything that speeds up dinner time is a win for this busy mama!
New twist on Taco Tuesday?! Turn it into a burger! We are adding some sautéed peppers and onions, as well as sour cream. But oh my gosh how good do these sound?
Getting my pizza fix without the carbs! I love quick, easy meals like this that I don’t have to feel bad feeding my family.
Meal Prep Hack: The Close & Cut makes slicing chicken a breeze! It is easily one of my most used and favorite kitchen items. You should totally treat yo-self to one ASAP!
Stromboli? Club sandwich? Everything seasoning? This is a big win for sure! Our favorite Everything Seasoning is the Trader Joe’s brand. So good! This is a crowd-pleaser dinner that comes together in minutes. Big win for the second half of what promises to be a busy week!
It’s like bruschetta on a chicken breast. YUM! The 30 minute meals are my favorite, especially on Fridays so that we can get on to the weekend!
My husband is a lover of all things lemon. As a surprise, I am treating him to these delicious homemade Lemon Bars for dessert!
Prep tip: using a citrus press like this one makes extracting the juice so much easier! You will never go back to the fake lemon again!
Told you. Bad Asian kick lately! I’ve never done ground beef in a teriyaki meal, so I was super intrigued and just had to try this one!
Bringing it home for the week with a good ol’ pork tenderloin. Super easy and really flavorful. A lot of the time I roast these in my oven in my Cast Iron Baker rather than grill them. Our forecast is iffy for this Sunday, so that is likely what we will do!
My favorite way to create beachy waves is with my L’ange Applatir Flat iron! (The Le Waver is on my short list!). I need to do a full tutorial video on that soon, but it is so simple! You work your hair into sections and simply alternate the direction that you have the flat iron turned! While you’re waiting for my video, my sweet friend Lauren has a great one in her Insta Reels if you need a visual!
This Soft Wave Sea Salt Spray by Not Your Mother’s is my new hair go-to! Not only does it smell amazing, but it doesn’t make my hair feel cakey like most product does. I actually like it best when I use it on my dry hair, on day two or three after washing! It adds a great texture and separation to my beachy waves without being crunchy.
This little hair routine happens about 3 times a week for me lately. I am all for quick styles that get my done and on my way in minutes!
Have you tried the beachy wave trend?
Isn’t this little lemonade stand adorable?! If you say no, you’re lying. The sweet saleslady is even moreso! I’d buy anything she’s selling! So, how did we get to this?
A few weeks ago, our three-year-old, Addie, came to me asking if we could buy her her very own camera to take on our beach trip. Usually, we just buy her things like this, but I decided in that moment that this would be a great teaching opportunity for her. We started her a piggy bank a while back, so I suggested we go and count up the money that she had in there.
The camera that she wanted was on sale for $12. She had $11 in her bank. I explained to her that she was short, but we actually needed more than just the $1, because we needed to tithe first, and save as well. I asked her how she wanted to earn the money, thinking she would suggest dishes or some other household chore. Her answer? She wanted to do a lemonade stand! (Isn’t it funny how kids just arrive at this? I partially blame Blippi!).
I could have just been a normal mom and set her up at a table in the yard. But I cannot help myself. I’m extra. So off to Michael’s we went! I’ve been wanting to make a stand for their playroom for a while anyway, so we killed two birds with one stone!
We decided to alternate how they were facing so that she would have some storage for supplies in the back, and some open shelving for decor and her money jar on the front.
I secured each crate to the others in the corners with some screws.
And along the thicker edges where they had something to grab onto.
Because the wood is thin and splintered easily, I used some small brad nails along the edges to hold them together more securely. You could also use really strong wood glue here if you prefer!
We opted to use some post-style wood pieces that I grabbed at Michael’s for the side bars. They were much easier to screw in than the round dowels were.
My little cutie just needed to test out the height. It was perfect!
Next, I threw down a cheap drop cloth and moved it out into the sun.
Trying to be economical, I bought two cans of white Walmart brand spray paint. On the unfinished wood, it simply did not cut it. This was what we had with two full cans:
Now, if you wanted to simply “whitewash” it, then this would work great for you! I knew that I wanted a more solid white look, so we went back to the store and got some Krylon ColorMaxx (the best!) indoor/outdoor paint.
Less than a full can of the Krylon paint got us here. Next time, I’ll just go that route!
Much better!
The banner decorations were on clearance at Michael’s in their summer line, but there are a lot of cute options on Amazon! Etsy has tons, too. Browse them here!
Her little Lemonade pitcher was a $2 Walmart find, but this one on Amazon is way cute! I used one of these small easel chalkboards to make her sign! And the little colander of lemons? This gorgeous teal metal colander, and these fake lemons– so that we can use them over and over!
The day before her lemonade stand, she decided she wanted to also make and sell cupcakes. I was so proud of how much work she put in, and let her do as much of it as possible herself.
The result of letting the toddler control the sprinkle container!
The morning of, she helped me get everything set up. It was her choice to set up on our deck, “so her customers would have seating.” She kept telling me that everything was “absolutely darling.”
In the interest of less spilling, I decided to let her serve her customers with my Pioneer Woman Beverage Dispensers (these exact ones). That way she could simply hand them a cup of ice. She served pink lemonade, sweet tea and I stood by with the cute lemon pitcher filled with raspberry lemonade as well!
She really impressed me. Her customer service skills were fantastic, telling everyone their options and serving so cheerfully. I do have to say, my tribe is amazing. I put it out on my social media platforms and people showed up big. It was so heartwarming to see.
Her auntie even overnighted her a lemonade stand outfit because she spotted it in the store and couldn’t resist! Amazon has some cute ones, too!
My precious little lady, serving with a smile!
And of course, sampling the product!
She was a gracious host, entertaining her guests in-between customers!
We completely sold out of all 50 cupcakes that she made, and she went through 3 gallons of lemonade! Not bad for a little girl!
Sissy just wanted to play with the decor.
The lemonade stand was a smashing success! My girl got to learn entrepreneurial skills. She was able to pay back her investors for the startup money (her dad and I), tithe, put money into her savings account, buy her little camera and she even had some money leftover to take for spending money on vacation. More importantly, my little girl ended her day feeling valued, capable and confident.
Could I have just bought her the $12 camera or spotted her the difference? Sure! But we would have missed out on these awesome life lessons, and the joy of a really fun project together. This will by no means be her last event! She’s been bitten by the entrepreneur bug! I want my girls to grow up knowing that they can be self-made. They don’t have to trade their time making someone else’s dollar. They can do hard things if they set their mind to it and see it through until the end.
If you’re like me, planning dinner can be such a struggle! I love using eMeals to pick out simple dinners that I can feed our family, on a budget. I especially love how much quicker this “chore” has become for me, and I especially love sharing delicious meals with you guys each week!
This week has tons of variety and is a great mix of healthier options, and some that are just good!
If you want to check out past weeks’ plans, head on over to the archives! You can also read my full write up on how I meal plan each week here!
Scroll on for this weeks’ dang good dinners, and as always- click the pink links for the recipes!
Pesto is an easy sell for me on any recipe! I love that this starts our week off on a healthy foot after a weekend of July 4th celebrating! I always prefer making sheet pan meals on my Pampered Chef Bar Pan because it really just enhances the flavor so much!
Hint: If you’re like me and hate touching raw chicken, the Close & Cut is amazing for halving chicken breasts super easily!
Low-carb doesn’t have to be bland! These dilly burgers sound so good! This dill is my all-time favorite dried dill, too!
My kids love quiche and breakfast for dinner in general! I’ll be serving this up with some fresh Orange Juice for a hearty dinner after a busy day!
Tons of fresh, summer flavor in this simple salad! Our tomato plant is finally rockin’, and I love using sweet corn in dishes during the summer!
Hint: Use a kernel cutter to make getting the corn off of the cob so much easier!
I’m a recent convert to the pepper jack cheese club, but you guys! I am hooked all of the sudden. I can’t get enough! These sound amazing, and the perfect way to wrap up a busy week!
I hope you try a few of the delicious meals from this week! We are so excited to dig into these and love the balance and flavor.
Is your interest in eMeals piqued? If so, try a FREE two week trial and see what you think!
Want to impress your friends and family with the most delicious cake ever?! Check out my viral Chocolate Buttercream recipe, and pin it for later!