Pedipeds Originals Review

If you read my blog with any regularity, you know how much I LOVE Pediped shoes!  They are great shoes for young, growing feet.  I'll buy inexpensive clothing.  I'll buy from clothing companies I've never heard of before if the clothes are cute.  I'll take the risk.  But I won't risk my children's foot health on cheap shoes!  No way!  Not since I did some research and found out that wearing illfitting shoes can actually change the shape of my little ones' feet and lead to foot problems down the road!  No way!  Its not worth it!  So, my kids only wear a very few shoe brands.  And right at the top of that list?  Pedipeds!

Easter Basket Ideas from Zonderkidz!

Its almost Easter!  Can you believe it???  This year is just FLYING by!  With three little girls, Easter baskets are a must!  I love placing some candy in their baskets, along with a little stuffed animal or toy.  But, most of all, I love giving them books in their Easter baskets!  Especially books that point my little ones to the Reason we celebrate Easter!  With that thought in mind, the wonderful folks at Zonderkidz were kind enough to send me several books to review!

The Legend of the Easter Robin...

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

You guys, its HARD to get my kids (and my husband) to eat broccoli.  But I've figured out the secret.  Add mayo and sugar!  Haha!  Seriously, this broccoli cauliflower is delish!  And the proof is that the kids AND the hubby devoured it tonight at dinner!

Oreo Truffles - So Many Possibilities!!!

If you've never tasted an Oreo Truffle, you haven't truly lived.  That's right.  I said it.  These things are SERIOUSLY good.  And the best part is that, with this simple, basic recipe, you can make tons of different flavors!  The possibilities are endless!!!

Homemade Vanilla Wafers

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've been baking up a storm this weekend!   (If you don't follow me on Instagram, you really should!  Check me out @theproverbs31mama !)  One of the recipes that people really seem to want is my Homemade Vanilla Wafers recipe! 

I can't take credit for this recipe.  I found it (through Pinterest) at bakingbites.com.  Now, usually when I find a recipe on Pinterest, I change it up a bit.  Add something, take away something, change measurements.  I like to play.  But this recipe - nope!  I haven't really changed it, except that, I sometimes switch the vanilla extract for lemon extract and make lemon wafers!  And they are DA BOMB! 

But I digress.  Let's get back to the Vanilla Wafers...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, if you wanna make lemon wafers)
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2.) Cream softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar together.

3.) Add egg and vanilla (or lemon) extract and beat to combine.

4.) Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together and pour into butter mixture; stir to combine. (Dough will be very thick.)

5.) Spoon dough into a pastry bag (fitted with a plain piping tip), or go "old school" like me and spoon dough into a zip top bag.  Snip a little hole in one corner.

6.) Pipe dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  For mini wafers, you only need a large chocolate chip-sized amount of dough.  For larger cookies, pipe out less than a dime-sized amount. 

7.) The larger the dough, the longer they'll need to bake, so for chocolate chip-sized dough, bake for 8-10 minutes.  For larger cookies (they'll still be slightly smaller than traditional vanilla wafers) bake for 12-15 minutes. You want them to start to get golden around the edges.

8.) Depending on the size of your cookies, this recipe makes between 100-300 cookies!  But don't let that discourage you because it still won't seem like enough!  TRUST ME! 

Enjoy! 

Star From Afar - A Fabulous New Christmas Tradition

Its November guys!  Can you believe it??? I certainly can't!  But the beginning of November means its time to start some Christmas reviews & posts!  I know, I know.  Many of you are thinking, "But we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet!  Don't worry.  Our family doesn't forget Thanksgiving.  There's plenty of Thanksgiving fun going on over here.  But I like to share Christmas posts with you guys early for two reasons.  1.) Its never too early to celebrate Jesus' birth!  2.) I wanna make sure you guys have plenty of time to order this awesome Christmas tradition before the Christmas season officially begins.  What tradition am I talking about?  The Star From Afar!

"The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New" Book Review

I have to tell you guys, I'm SO EXCITED about this review! You may remember my reviews of Long Story Short, Old Story New, and the other Gospel Story items.  I love Marty Machowski's Bible studies for kids.  He has a way of taking complicated Biblical truths and explaining them so that a child can understand.  And he's done it again in The Ology! 

Marty Machowski's Gospel Story Bible Study Aids For Families

Several months ago, I did a review of Marty Machowski's Long Story Short.  This is a fabulous family devotional on the Old Testament!  Today I'd like to introduce you guys to the rest of Mr. Machowski's Gospel Story collection!

"Song Of The Stars" Book Review

Let me start this review by saying I LOVE Sally Lloyd Jones!  If you haven't read the Jesus Storybook Bible, go out IMMEDIATELY and buy a copy for every little child you know!  Its wonderful!  So I jumped at the chance to review Sally Lloyd Jones' Christmas book, "Song Of The Stars."

"M Is For Manger" Book Review

You guys, Christmas is coming!!!  Ahhhh!!!!  I'm so excited!!!!  We love Christmas in our house!  We go ALL OUT!  Decorating, baking, Christmas movies, Christmas music, and Christmas books!  We love snowmen and reindeer and gumdrops.  But most of all, we love Jesus!  So we try our hardes to make sure that we keep the reason for Christmas very clear in our own minds and in our kids' minds.  That's why we love storybooks about the first Christmas!  "M Is For Manger" is a new favorite!