Sore throat soother

I haven't been feeling well for the past week with cold like symptoms. I've never liked to take medicine anyway, but I am pregnant so even when I'm desperate for some sleep and relief from the congestion I have no options as far as medicines go.

My daughter, Liv, seemed to be having the same symptoms as me and when I took her to the doc he said it was simply allergies. My doc said the same about my symptoms. What?! I've never had allergies before, so this was news to me. Also news to me: allergies can cause an awful wheezing cough. I got the okay to use Claritin, but the most relief has come from my homemade concoction of hot water, honey, and lemon. I've used this remedy for a sore throat for years now, but I thought I'd share it with you in case you haven't heard of it yet. It is so tasty and has always helped relax and soothe.

Hot Honey/Lemon Drink

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp honey

1 cup of hot water

Pour the hot water over the lemon and honey. The hotter the better when soothing a sore throat.

You are free to alter those measurements to your own taste. I always end up using a little more lemon juice than that because I love that flavor. I've also heard of adding ginger root, but I have never tried it with ginger root so I don't feel qualified to recommend it. For those that have tried this drink, have you tried it with ginger root? Any other yummy or soothing homemade concoctions I should know about?
Next time you feel that tickle in the back of your throat, try this if you haven't already!

Birthday girl

As I mentioned before, we just celebrated our teeny little girl's one year birthday. I love this girly so much and we had fun celebrating with her. Some details:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

1. The 'party' table. We don't do big parties for our kids, with all of OUR friends. Just don't see the point. So it was just the five of us, but I always love to make it special, with some decorations and a cake. (Balloons, tapered candles, polka dot napkins, and small paper plates from Zurchers! Who knew they had such cute party supplies there? I also got some stripey straws there.)

2. Flower Garland. I just bought a bunch of artificial flowers from Wal-Mart. I formed the flowers into a garland and connected them to each other using flower wire (don't know if that's the correct term. I got it in the flower section at Hobby Lobby). Then I cut off any long stems that were sticking out and, voila! A simple way to add some color to the party decor.

3. Chocolate cake with Salted Caramel Frosting. My frosting was too runny but the cake was still delicious. (Note: We don't drink coffee so I replaced that with an equal amount of water and a teaspoon or so of cardamom.) Remember my cake stand?

4. I made Penelope a chevron blanket, from this pattern. There's a similar one for FREE, here.

5. Presents.

6. Our antique store find. Remember this post? Also, tissue paper and tulle flower tutorial here.

7. & 8. Birthday girl, enjoying her cake.

Girl Scout Cookie Recipes

Trefoils, Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs. Mmmmm!

My Hubba has always loved the Samoas but MY favorite are the Thin Mints. We'd put them in the freezer and eat them cold. Yum!

I want to try these copycat recipes, found on Shine, with my boysies. They like to help out in the kitchen (especially when helping results in warm treats in their tummies).

::I have a couple little projects to share soon. In an attempt to bring a little color to my kitchen, I made a few changes that I'm really liking. So stay tuned!::

Guess what my kids ate for breakfast...

...SPINACH!! No really, its true! I came across this recipe on this blog the other day, and I was skeptical to say the least. I just couldn't believe that a smoothie that included 2 handfuls of spinach could be anything but disgusting. But I gave it a try anyway, mostly to prove them wrong. I'm glad to say that I failed in that mission. This smoothie really was delicious, and I really did add 2 big fistfuls of spinach. I'm thrilled that my children are now capable of eating spinach without complaint! Thank you Pleasant and Plump!

What's for lunch?

I'm in a rut lately. We eat the same recipes over and over. Lunch is especially hard for me. How do I make lunch more interesting and still get my littles to eat? Here are some ideas from ivillage...

And some from Kraft foods...

O Happy Day

I love Sundays. I love going to church. I love relaxing. I love spending time with my family.

Today, we're all being lazy and relaxing. I've had the Jack Johnson song, Banana Pancakes, in my head all day. I hope you're all having as good a day as I am! *courtesy of Food Network (click on the picture for the recipe)

Cute as Pie!

*image via Bakerella

Don't these look delicious?! They're the perfect amount of pie for little ones, and who doesn't like food on a stick!

Check out the how to on Bakerella. The instructions are given by an 8 year old, so I should be able to handle it...right?!

Crazy for Chocolate -PETUNIA

I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine I have. Since I had so many strawberries, I thought I'd try it out. I dipped the strawberries in the chocolate, and it was so good! After I dipped them, I tried letting them sit so the chocolate would harden. It didn't work. I didn't care though. They were delicious with the chocolate, and it works well on ice cream too!

*via MarthaStewart.com

So Berry Delicious

Martha Stewart has done it again! You've got to try these Nectarine and Strawberry Pops. They're so easy and tasty!

I didn't have Popsicle molds. Instead, I sprayed some ice cube trays with Pam and used bamboo skewers for the sticks (cut to the length I wanted). The little ice cube size Popsicles were perfect for my baby J!

::Homemade ice cream in a bag::

I've been looking for fun easy things (crafts, food, etc.) to take and do on our camping trip (July 4th). In my searching, I found a recipe for ice cream in a bag! I decided to try it out first in order to, hopefully, save ourselves from a total fiasco while camping. I was a bit skeptical when I saw the recipe, but we tried it and IT WORKED! Is it delicious? It's no Blue Bell, but its pretty good. My little man sure liked it, and it was so easy! I set the bag of ice cream in a dish towel for J to eat because it was really cold. The one downside is that its kind of leaky while you're shaking it. So, maybe plan on making outside, and it should work great!

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
-Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
-Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
-Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
-Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
-Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:
A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

I got this recipe from Kaboose. Go check it out! They have more fun summer craft ideas to help keep those kids entertained while school's out.

Mmm Mmm!

I've been trying to add variety to snack time. I heard about strawberry peanut butter crepes, and thought we'd give it a shot. It turns out that my little guy isn't a big fan of crepes, but after some experimenting I did finally figure out that he will eat them with peanut butter, honey, and bananas.

I, on the other hand, loved trying all of the combos we put together. I enjoyed it so much that I felt the need to share the crepe recipe with you. It is so easy and delicious! Thanks to my friend Shelley for sharing the recipe with me!

Crepes

3 eggs

1 1/4 c milk

3/4 c flour

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Blend or beat eggs well. Add rest and mix. Butter the griddle or pan. Cook until edges just start to get dry on one side and flip. Cook other side for 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Its super easy if you use a blender.)

Have fun experimenting! If you find any especially delicious mixtures, let us know! I made my crepes with stuff I already had, and as discussed before, I love things that are easy to put together, so I chose combos that took little to no effort.

Here are some suggestions just to get you started:

-chocolate (melt chocolate chips), strawberries and whipped cream

-peanut butter and strawberries

-strawberry cream cheese, yogurt, and strawberries

-peanut butter, honey, bananas

In honor of 'Strawberry Month' -POPPY

Our second strawberry recipe for 'strawberry month', comes from Caroline, at Zupas. This Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie looks DE-lish, does it not? Thank you, Caroline, for sharing your divine cooking skills with us.

Oh, and I tried Sister's recipe for Butternut Squash Soup yesterday.

It. was. to die for. Sister, you need to post.

A month of Strawberries -PETUNIA

Its Strawberry month here at PETUNIA+POPPY! We just love strawberries! We're on a quest to try out some new recipes, and we'll hopefully have a new one to share each week. The first recipe we have for your tasting pleasure is the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies from Martha Stewart. You have got to try this recipe! My husband is rather picky. The only kind of cookie he will bother with is chocolate chip. However, I made these the other day and convinced him to try one. Let's just say, he didn't stop there. They are de-licious! I love them because they aren't as sweet as most cookies, so after you have one (or two, or three), you don't feel like all you've eaten is sugar. This picture isn't as gorgeous as the one on the Martha website, but this is my proof that I actually made them! Now, go try these cookies!