How to Make Crustless Quiche

Name: How to Make Crustless Quiche
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 5 green onions, chopped, divided; 1 tomato, chopped, divided; 12 slices bacon; 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms; 12 eggs; 1/3 cup sour cream; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Crustless quiche is an easy breakfast casserole to make that doesn't require all the effort that making a pie crust with a traditional quiche entails. This is the only guide for how to make a crustless quiche you'll ever need.

When Derek and I were first dating I wanted to make him quiche all the time because he lived in France for a could years and I was trying to channel that French vibe for him. While I'm not much of a French chef, this crustless quiche was the first thing I ever cooked for Derek many moons ago, and it's still a family favorite recipe to this day.

How to Make Crustless Quiche:

To make crustless quiche you will first need to cook any ingredients that will ultimately get mixed into your egg mixture. For this recipe in particular, I cooked my bacon and mushrooms ahead of time, and then they eventually got mixed into the egg mixture with the remaining ingredients.

Once you've cooked the bacon and mushrooms, you'll need to mix up the remaining ingredients. In a large bowl you will mix together your eggs, sour cream, cheeses, and then your green onions, mushrooms, and bacon. When your batter is ready, it will bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 325º.

What Are Some Common Ingredients Found Inside A Quiche?

There are a lot of different ingredients that you can mix inside of your quiche. Some that you will see most often are:

Ham
Cheese
Bacon
Spinach
Sausage
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Onions
Green onions
Zucchini
Asparagus
Broccoli
Peppers

Can you Make Crustless Quiche Ahead of Time?

Yes! Crustless quiche can be made ahead of time. To do this, simply prepare all of your ingredients together the same way you would make it if you were cooking this recipe the same day. Once you pour your entire batter into your 9x13 baking pan, you can cover it in the fridge with plastic wrap for up to 24 hours before cooking. When you're ready to cook simply pull it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter while you wait for the oven to heat up. The cook time should not need to be adjusted for this.

How Long to Cook Crustless Quiche?

Crustless quiche will need to be baked in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. It will cook at 325º. The lower heat will ensure that the top of the quiche will not brown or burn too quickly while the rest of the quiche cooks slowly in the oven. You know your quiche is done with the top of the quiche is firm to the touch and a toothpick in the center doesn't have wet egg mixture on it when gently inserted.

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Best Online Piano Lessons for Kids

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Lessonface is the go-to program if you're looking for the best online piano lessons for kids. You can get your first month free to try it out before you commit!

While music isn't something that was huge in my life growing up, Derek comes from a long line of family members who can play instruments. Out of his nine siblings, all of them started playing the piano, and then eventually moved to another instrument such as the saxophone, trombone, violin, etc... When Kyle turned 8 this year we knew we wanted to get him started with piano, and wound up finding the best online piano lessons for kids through Lessonface and their Piano Pass program!

Best Online Piano Lessons for Kids: Lessonface Review

I had never heard of Lessonface until 2020. I was a little hesitant having Kyle's first introduction to the piano being through online lessons, but it's actually worked out really well for us, and he's been progressing really well over the last 5-6 weeks since we started. Lessonface offers both private and group piano lessons. We've been using their Piano Pass program which has over 80 weekly lessons available, so there is bound to be something that works in your timeframe.

Kyle does the kid's beginner class with Beverly every Sunday at 12pm. I also love that multiple people can all use the same account for the same one time monthly price. Meaning I can sign up to take a lesson at 6pm on Tuesday evenings for adult beginners, while Kyle is signed up for his class on Sunday afternoons, all for the same price.

Lessonface is more than just piano lessons though! They offer lessons in almost any instrument imaginable. I prefer the group lessons just because it works with our budget and availability really well, but they have over 1,000 teachers that would love to work one-on-one with you or your children if that's something you're interested in too.

They also recently launched a Guitar Pass program, which works the same way as the group piano lessons, only for the guitar instead.

How Much Does Piano Pass Cost:

Your first month of Piano Pass is $14.99, and then $30/mo after that. When you use my link you can get a $15 credit making your first month free! If you have multiple children playing the piano, this is the most cost effective option because you can get all of them playing the piano for that one time $30/month price instead of paying likely double that per child per month using a traditional in person instructor.

Use this link to try Piano Pass for free for your first month!

How Do Piano Pass Lessons Work?

The day of Kyle's lesson we get an email from his teacher telling us where to print and download the course materials. We print off the needed music for the week, put it at the piano, and then click the button that says "join class". It pulls up a zoom meeting (you will need Zoom downloaded on your computer), and then the teacher and other students show up and the lesson begins. It takes a couple times to get used to the format of everything but it's second nature to us now!

How to Have Multiple People on One Lessonface Account?

When I initially created our account it was just under my name. Because Kyle and I were both going to be doing lessons, I live chatted their customer service people from my Lessonface dashboard and they were able to make another section of the dashboard for Kyle specifically so that I'm now able to toggle back and forth between Kyle and myself.

When I click on Kyle's dashboard this is what it looks like. I can click that blue button that says help to chat with someone who can add more users to my account. In the right hand column under classes I can see all the lessons Kyle is signed up for, and when I click that red switch back button, it will take me to my own personal dashboard. To access your weekly materials, you click on the class in the "classes" section that you'll be attending.

From there it will take you to that class page. There will be a bolded section that says, "class materials", and a link you can click to download the needed pdfs for the lesson. On the class page is where you'll also click to join the lesson and have Zoom pop up!

How Often Do You Do Piano Practice?

We make Kyle practice 15 minutes per day after school and on weekends. We have a pretty laid out after school routine where he comes home, does homework, practices piano, does some sort of exercise (kids yoga, plays basketball, etc...), and then he can have screen time until dinner (usually about 30 minutes). He's pretty motivated to chill and watch TV so getting him to practice and do other stuff has never been a huge issue. We have loved our experience with Piano Pass so far!

If you use this link you can get a $15 credit that can be used to make your first month of Piano Pass FREE! The credit can also be used towards Guitar Pass, or any private one-on-one lesson of your choice!

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I Broke Up With My Phone And You Should Too

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

As people living in the western world, it's obvious that we're all addicted to our phones. None of us want to admit it, but deep down most of us probably get an outrageous amount of screen time in a given day. I have the "screen time" feature on my phone send me a notification every Sunday. (Ironically it always comes right as I'm either on my way or getting to church... and if that isn't conviction by the Holy Spirit then I just don't know what is...) It never fails to tell me that I have averaged anywhere between three to over five hours of screen time per day in a given week. I would assume yours might not look too different.

As a pseudo-influencer, I told myself for a long time it was my job to be on my phone. For my actual job, I do need to be on my phone sharing my screen for client calls. So I told myself this lie that my screen time was higher just because it was my job and it's what I'm being paid to do. The reality is that I knew deep down that it was only a very small percentage of my screen time that was work-related. The rest of the time was deep scrolling the depths of TikTok and Instagram, avoiding everyday life, and waiting for the next hit of dopamine to give my brain the neurological high it was seeking.

Then I went on a humanitarian mission trip to India and my phone didn't work for an entire week. I would hotspot off a friend to download emails and text messages each morning to make sure there weren't any real-life emergencies back home, and then wouldn't think twice about anything the rest of the time I was there. When I got my screen time report for that week, my average screen time per day was 15 minutes. It was honestly one of the prouder moments of my life.

Two years ago I set a New Year's Resolution to get my weekly screen time down to under two hours a day and failed miserably. I didn't hit that goal for a single week the entire year. I still had my phone convicting me every Sunday, and nothing changed. It took a mission trip to India in the actual middle of nowhere to finally reach this goal.

One week in India convicted me harder than a Sunday push notification ever could. It was so easy to not be on my phone in India... mostly because I didn't have service, but also because life was so much better around me than what was happening on my phone that it just didn't matter. I didn't think about posting on Instagram. I was present and in the moment with amazing people, doing amazing work, and highly focused on something that mattered. The trip brought meaning and purpose to not only the people we were there to help but to myself as well.

Then I came home from India. A week later I was driving to church when my phone told me that I had averaged over five hours per day on my phone since being home. Five hours. It was so stupid. What did I have to show for those 35 hours of my life from the last week that were gone forever? Pretty much nothing other than a few dead brain cells.

It was at that moment that I finally decided to open my eyes and realize what my phone was taking away from me. My actual life. 35 hours a week for years and years and years and years. So I decided to treat my phone like the plague on my life that it truly was. I avoided my phone at all costs. If something could be done on my computer instead of my phone, I took that option. The blessing of having an all-Apple product household is that text messages, emails, etc... can all be sent from my computer. This wasn't an exercise to simply move screen time from one device to another. The time it takes me to send a text or email from my computer is less than a minute. The time it takes me on my phone when I get distracted by a plethora of apps could be 15-30 minutes.

As someone who manages multiple social media accounts for other businesses, I can't avoid the apps on my phone forever. They do need me on there for some time each day. Everything gets scheduled to auto-post from my computer, and then I make the point to hop on Instagram from my phone at 10 am each day when the posts go live, share them in stories on their respective accounts, interact with a few accounts from each company, and then hop off. This entire process takes me five minutes.

If I have to make a Reel (which can only be done well in the Instagram app on a phone), I'll write the caption in the notes app on my computer (which will sync with the notes app on my phone) and make sure the video is just the way I want it, and then mad dash into the app to find trending audio, put text on the video, copy and paste the caption, add hashtags, post, share to stories and get the "F' out of there. Again, five minutes.

The reality is, you have to treat this like a war because it is. Our phones are designed to keep us on our phones. Tiktok and Instagram make money the longer they keep you there. We're at war with something we often feel like we can't control, but we can. The quality of our lives depends on it.

During the last two weeks of doing this, my screen time has been about 40 minutes per day. That's me working my full-time job, sharing my screen on client calls, managing social accounts, and posting to my social media. I can respond to DMs on Instagram from my computer in less than three minutes a day and never have to go in there after posting to get sucked in by the scroll.

I've had almost no desire to pick up my phone and scroll. Turns out I love those DIY girls on Instagram just like the next person but at this point, I can't tell you what room of their house they're remodeling, and honestly don't care how it turns out. I've started writing the bible by hand, which although insane, is also crazy fulfilling and bringing me so much joy. When I'm out in public I see humans. When I'm in line at the grocery store, I just people-watch. When I'm waiting for food pickup at a restaurant, I just sit in my thoughts.

It's shocking how much I don't miss it, and yet at the same time my guard has to stay up so high. One night of scrolling, I know better than anyone else can make everything unravel in an instant. Right now I know I never want to see my screen time over 40 minutes a day ever again, and I'm doing everything I can to protect that. My hope for you is that you can protect that too. That you too can fight for your life, fight for your time, and take this war seriously. The stakes are so high. Our lives depend on it. We can fight this together.

30 Christmas Treats for Neighbors

Friday, December 2, 2022

Christmas treats for neighbors are such a fun way to celebrate the holiday with those in your close community. Here are 30 easy recipes to share with your neighborhood!

Christmas treats for neighbors are not something that I grew up doing but it seems to be a huge cultural thing to do here in Utah, and in Idaho where Derek is from. Maybe people did it in NY where I grew up, but it wasn't a huge focus or part of holiday celebrations for our family. Over the years I've come to really love this tradition. If you're in the market for some Christmas neighbor gifts ideas this holiday season, here are 30 recipes that I think would go over really well!

30 Christmas Treats for Neighbors:

Super Easy Gingerbread Cookies:

We make these cookies every year and they're so tasty and easy to make! There is no chilling of the dough, so they take less time than other cookies, and taste great both frosted or not!

Saltine Cracker Toffee:

This is my favorite treat to make during the holiday season! It starts with saltine crackers, pour homemade caramel on top, spread melted chocolate over that, a dash of holiday sprinkles and you're good to go! This is what I did for gifts last year and got rave reviews!

The Best Sugar Cookies:

These sugar cookies have been my go-to recipe for the last several years. They turn out great every time, and are perfect to stack on a plate for neighbors when frosted with royal icing.

Canned Vanilla Spice Pear Butter:

I made this for neighbor gifts when we lived in Georgia and it got rave reviews! It's simply a canned pear sauce essentially, or maybe more like a jam, but if you eat it by the spoonful I'll never tell.

Amish Friendship Bread Without a Starter:

I got in a bad habit of making this bread and eating it single handedly this year, but it's so good literally everyone loves it. It's a banana bread consistency, and has cinnamon sugar through the middle and on top. It's perfect to share with friends for Christmas!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These cookies turn out perfect every time and have been my chocolate chip recipe of choice for about seven years now! There is something perfectly classic about chocolate chip cookies, and anyone would love to have a batch during the holidays!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These chocolate chip cookies are slightly chewier, more like what you would get from the bakery section at the grocery store, but they're also half dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in sea salt, and that my friends is a delicious combination.

Perfectly Moist Banana Bread:

This banana bread is hands down the best recipe ever. It's perfectly moist, made with sour cream in the batter, and turns out great every time. I've never had a flop. If you have some ripe bananas on your counter, whip up this bread and share it with a friend!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:

I haven't made these in ages, but brought them to a friend when they were hurt several years back. It might have been the brain injury talking but they seemed to really love these cookies. Although I'm partial to any chocolate peanut butter combo.

Swig Copycat Cookies:

Cookie culture is a real thing here in Utah. These Swig cookies are amazing and my personal favorite sugar cookie out of all the local cookie shops! This copycat recipe is super easy to follow and will make perfect treats for your neighbors if you happen to not live near one of these shops.. although I feel like they're creeping up nationally now too.

Peppermint Whoopie Pies:

While yes these are originally a Halloween recipe, you could easily roll the edges in Christmas sprinkles to make it more seasonally appropriate! These come together with a can of frosting and boxed cake mix, so they're super easy to make!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars:

These are another easy and delicious recipe! They take almost no time to make at all and are the perfect peanut butter and chocolate combo... make them for a neighbor or yourself...

Caramel Popcorn:

Derek is a huge caramel popcorn lover. We've been making this recipe since we first got married and it turns out perfect every time! This would be perfect to make in a big batch and then divide among cellophane bags to give to neighbors.

Oreo Truffles:

I used to make these all the time, but haven't done so in years! You simply crush up a bag of oreos, mix in a block of cream cheese, roll into balls, and dip in chocolate! So incredibly easy to make and taste incredible!

Chocolate Coconut Pecan Cookies:

I found this recipe in a church magazine at my mother-in-laws house a several years ago and took a picture of the recipe to try them when we got back to North Carolina. They were super delicious and are all the fun flavors of the holiday season in one delicious cookie.

Snickerdoodle Cookies:

I don't know when else you would eat snickerdoodles outside of Chrsitmas time... This is another great recipe to make in bulk and then wrap up in small bags for neighbors since they stack really well together!

Reese's Fudge Recipe:

I'm a huge fan of basically all the three ingredient fudge recipes on the internet. This one is a perfect variation with Reese's pressed into the top, and mixed into the middle as well. You could easily make this, cut it up, and place into Christmas tins, and you've got a super easy and amazing treat!

The Ultimate Chex Snack Mix:

This Chex mis is perfect for the holiday season with tons of yummy goodies all drizzled in white chocolate. This is another big batch recipe that you can divide up easily for multiple families at once!

S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These maybe might be more of a summer cookie, but they're so good you need them in your life right now, promise. The combination of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips are out of this world!

The Best Brownie Recipe:

I first made these brownies back in 2013, and they have been my go-to since. They're perfectly soft and fudgey, with that brownie crackle on the top. They also cut up perfectly into squares when cooled, so you could easily gift them on a festive paper plate for Christmas.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies:

These are such an easy and classic cookie to make. You could easily double or triple the recipe into one massive batch and divide them up into multiple plates for several families. These cookies come together in about 20 minutes with little effort.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies:

Another holiday classic recipe. These cookies could also be made with mini Reese's Cups instead of Hershey's Kisses and they would be just as good!

Chocolate Pumpkin Bark:

This chocolate bark is another great recipe! Simply spread melted chocolate on a wax paper lined baking sheet, press in some dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and slivered almonds for a great and easy treat!

Reese's Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These cookies are a chocolate and peanut butter rush! You could make them a bit more Christmassy if you can find some red and green Reese's Pieces (just googled, they don't exist), but these are still a great cookie option.

Super Easy Rocky Road Fudge:

This is another three ingredient fudge recipe with easy mix-ins. This one calls for mini marshmallows and peanuts and is fabulous for Christmas time!

Simple Six Ingredient Granola:

If you're feeling a little sugar overload and want to gift something a little healthier that could be used for an actual meal, make a batch of this super easy granola! It only uses six ingredients, and could easily be packaged in a cute mason jar from the dollar store.

Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Popcorn:

This is another amazing big batch recipe that you could easily make in just a few minutes. I love the combination of the salty popcorn and the sweetness from the white chocolate... it's to die for.

Vanilla Pudding Funfetti Cookies:

These cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, sweet, and just all around perfect. Kick them up a notch with Christmas flair by adding in some Holiday colored sprinkles and you'll be good to go!

White Chocolate Chip Dried Cranberry Cookies:

These cookies scream Christmas in my opinion. I love the combination of the white chocolate and cranberry and they are made with the same base as my chocolate chip cookie recipe. Easy, delicious, and full of holiday flavor.

What are some of your favorite Christmas Neighbor Gifts? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

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Saltine Toffee Recipe

Thursday, December 1, 2022

This Saltine Toffee Recipe is our go-to Christmas treat to make for neighbors and friends during the holiday season. If you've never tried it, it's a must to add to your baking list this season!

Saltine Toffee Recipe:

When I finished high school I was living with a friend's family for the fall and winter before I moved out to Utah to start school in January the following year. This meant that I spent Christmas with them and their family. During the holiday season this Christmas Saltine Toffee Recipe was a family tradition in their home that everyone loved and it didn't take long for me to become addicted to it as well. The street name for this stuff is Christmas Crack and once you've tried it, you'll know how it got it's nickname.

Saltine toffee is essentially saltine crackers, topped with a caramel sauce, and then topped with chocolate chips that are melted and spread across the top. The you let the toffee chill in the fridge and break it into pieces and it becomes the most delicious toffee ever. 10/10 recommend.

Ingredients for Saltine Toffee:

1 cup brown sugar: Gets melted in a pot on the stove with the butter to create the caramel base for the toffee
1 cup butter: Doesn't need to be softened, can go straight into the pot with the sugar.
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract: For flavoring so balance out the sweetness from the sugar.
2 cups chocolate chips: Spread on top of the crackers after the caramel has been poured on. I prefer using semi-sweet chocolate.
1 1/2 sleeves saltine crackers: Any brand will do!
optional: sprinkles, nuts, candy for topping

How to Make Saltine Toffee:

Preheat your oven to 350°. Line a large 11x17 cookie sheet with parchment paper, or a silicone baking sheet, and then line it with saltine crackers. My pan took about 1 1/2 sleeves, and I had to break some crackers in half to fill in the final edge.

In a small pot, melt together the butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Bring it up to a boil, and then set the timer for three minutes, and stir the mixture constantly so it does not burn. Remove the butter and sugar mixture after three minutes, add the vanilla, and then pour it on top of the crackers, and spread it out evenly with a rubber spatula.

Place the crackers in the oven for 10 minutes, and then sprinkle the two cups of chocolate chips on top. After 3-5 minutes, the chocolate chips should have melted, and then using your rubber spatula again, spread the chocolate evenly on top of the caramel and cracker mixture.

If you're topping your toffee with something, now is the time to sprinkle it on top.

Place the tray in the fridge for at least one hour for the chocolate to harden, and then break into pieces and place in bags or tins to give as gifts, or just eat it all for yourself.

Variations for Saltine Toffee:

Graham Crackers: You can switch the saltine crackers for graham crackers to give a different feel, taste, and texture.
Ritz Crackers: I personally do not like Ritz at all (strong feelings) but many people prefer to make this recipe with Ritz over saltines.
Various Toppings: You can top your toffee with nuts, sprinkles, toffee pieces, holiday m&ms, and so much more, the sky is the limit!

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Frosted Cinnamon Rolls

Frosted cinnamon rolls are a classic breakfast treat for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or any occasion where you want to make special for those you love.

Frosted Cinnamon Rolls:

Frosted cinnamon rolls have been a long time favorite treat of mine for my entire life. Growing up they were always the go-to holiday breakfast of choice and it's a tradition I've carried on in my own family. This has been our go-to recipe for cinnamon rolls for several years because you can do all the leg work the night before and then put the cinnamon rolls in the fridge overnight, and then take them out in the morning for the final rise while the oven is heating up. It makes it really convenient for those holiday mornings where you want something yummy but don't want to be away in the kitchen the entire time.

Making Cinnamon Roll Dough:

Making cinnamon roll dough can be tricky if you're new to working with bread and yeast recipes. I used to be super intimidated by this process but I've gotten comfortable with it the more and more I practice. TO make this dough you're going to start off by allowing the yeast to bloom in your warm water. I use a food thermometer to make sure my water is 110º. I'm able to get this temperature right from my tap. This is the perfect temperature because the water is warm enough for the yeast to bloom, not too hot that it kills the yeast, and not too cold that the yeast never blooms.

Once the yeast has bloomed you'll add in your flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and butter. Mix this really well. You can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, but I actually prefer to mix and work my dough by hand. Mostly because I don't have a mixture, and also because I got rid of my mixer by choice a few years ago and have just never looked back. I'm a rebel.

Once your dough has been well mixed and kneaded for about 10 minutes, let it rise in a well greased bowl for 2 hours. The dough will double in size and the oil on the bowl helps to make sure the dough doesn't get stuck to the edges of the bowl.

When the dough is done rising, roll it out into a rectangle, spread the filling, roll the dough up, and cut the log into 12 equal pieces. Place them in a 9x13 baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge overnight until you're ready to bake in the morning.

Baking the Next Morning:

When you are ready to bake these cinnamon rolls, simply pull them out of the fridge and allow them to rise on the counter for about 30-40 minutes while you're preheating your oven. When the oven has preheated and the rolls have doubled in size, bake them in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

The Best Icing for Cinnamon Rolls:

I know a lot of people love cream cheese frosting for their cinnamon rolls. That is not my preference ever. In our house we made a vanilla icing which consists of powdered sugar, vanilla, butter, and a splash of milk. The result is a thin, but delicious icing that melts over the cinnamon roll and tastes amazing. It's sweet, but not super tangy like a cream cheese frosting can be.

Baking the Cinnamon Rolls the Same Day:

If you don't want to wait to bake these overnight you can cook them the same day you make the dough. To do this you will simply cut the cinnamon rolls like normal and place them in your 9x13 pan. Let them double in size for 30 minutes while the oven is preheating. When the oven reaches 350 degrees bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.

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How to Make a Strawberry Smoothie

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

If you're wondering how to make a strawberry smoothie for a healthy breakfast or nutritious snack, this strawberry banana smoothie is the perfect on-the-go solution!

How to Make A Strawberry Smoothie:

Making a strawberry smoothie is a very easy process. This is the formula that I use when making any of my smoothies! It's a simple combination of high protein greek yogurt, frozen fruit, banana, and liquid. If you're making this into a single serving smoothie, I always go for 1 cup of frozen fruit, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup liquid, and 2 tbsp of greek yogurt. This is my personal favorite ratio and formula for making a smoothie, and it's great because you can customize it every time depending on what you have on hand.

The Best Blender for Smoothies:

A few years ago I received this KitchenAid Blender for a blog project. We have blown through several blenders in our 10 years of marriage and this one has exceeded all of my expectations and has held up over many smoothies and recipes over the years. I think you really can't go wrong between a KitchenAid, Vitamix, or Blendtec, but after going through several bad blenders, it's of my opinion that this is an appliance to invest some money into.

Ingredients for a Strawberry Smoothie:

1 cup Frozen Strawberries
1/2 Banana
2 tbsp Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup milk of choice

Variations for this Strawberry Smoothie Recipe:

If you're looking for ways to switch up this recipe, try swapping the milk out of the recipe and using one of your favorite juices! I love adding juices to my smoothies because they add great flavor to the drink! Some of my go-to juices are apple or orange juice, but you can really get as creative as you'd like!

You could also add in some protein powder to add some more nutrients to this smoothie. Protein powder is always a great add in for smoothies because it boosts up the satiety factor in the drink and allows you to feel fuller for longer. If you're going to be having this smoothie as a meal instead of a snack, this might be a great option for you!

Storing Strawberry Smoothies:

Storing smoothies is really never recommended. They are best when consumed immediately after making them. If you're going to save some leftovers though, they should be sealed in the fridge in a mason jar with an airtight lid for 1-2 days max. There will be separation when you go to drink the smoothie. This is normal and safe. Simply shake the smoothie well to blend everything together before drinking.

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Mason Jar Halloween Lanterns

These mason jar Halloween lanterns are a fun and simple DIY to do with kids during the fall season to add some fun and spooky decor to your home.

Mason Jar Halloween Lanterns:

When Derek and I first got married and had zero money to spend on Halloween decor I got together with a few girl friends to make these easy and simple Halloween mason jars. It was such a fun and easy project to put together and they have been a staple in our Halloween decor ever since. This project is super easy to do with kids for a fall themed family night activity, or get some girlfriends together and do it with them for a craft night!

Best Candles for Mason Jar Halloween Lanterns:

You can certainly use real candles in these lanterns if you would like. You can also use small tea lights if you want to go for an electric option that can't potentially start a fire. My favorite lights to use are these flickering tea lights that you can purchase on Amazon. 12 lights come in a pack for under $10 and the flickering adds the perfect ambiance for the fall season.

Supplies Needed:

How to Make Mason Jar Halloween Lanterns:

To make these mason jars you will need to get some small bottle of acrylic craft paint. You can order your paint on Amazon or head to your local craft store. You will also need mason jars of any size. You can purchase mason jars online, in craft stores, grocery stores, or even the dollar store.

To make these jars you will pour some of the paint on the inside of the jar and then use a small foam paint brush to brush the paint onto all of the sides of the mason jar. If you want a thicker finish you can add a second coat. You don't want it to be super opaque though because these are supposed to look like lanterns and you want to be able to see some of the light coming through.

Finally you can make a face on the outside of the jar. You can either use black paint or a black sharpie to draw a spooky halloween face. You can even use black construction paper to make a face and tape it onto the outside of the jar.

When the paint is dry you can add a small candle inside to make it glow like a spooky Halloween lantern!

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