Thai Chicken Satay with Noodle Salad

The peanut sauce/marinade for the chicken and dressing in this recipe is delicious!  I loved the idea of a cold noodle salad but also wanted a little crunchiness so I added the crispy rice noodles on top of the angel hair.  My kids loved watching the rice noodles poof up in the pan! I loved all the vegetables in the salad.  I adapted the recipe from :here

Thai Chicken Salad with Noodle Salad
8 boneless chicken thighs or 4 boneless breasts
10-12 wooden skewers (soaked in water to prevent burning)
8 oz. angel hair pasta
1/3 pkg. rice noodles
2 cups sliced red cabbage
2 cups sliced green cabbage
1 cucumber, cut into julienne strips
1 cup carrots, cut into julienne strips
1 red pepper, cut into julienne strips
8 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
        For the marinade:
1 cup coconut milk
zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. lemongrass, chopped (optional) I grow this in my herb garden, so I added it!
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
1-2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
          Combine all the ingredients except the rice vinegar together in small mixing bowl. It will be very thick!
          Cut the chicken into 2 inch cubes and place in a 9x13 glass pan.  Pour 1/3 of the marinade over the chicken and toss to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 hours.  Grill the chicken over high heat until cooked and slightly charred on the outside.  Add 1-2 Tbsp. of the rice vinegar to the remaining 2/3 marinade to thin it and make the dressing for the salad. 
          Cook the angel hair pasta until al dente, drain, and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.  In a large pan add 1 Tbsp. of oil and heat on high.  Add the rice noodles, about 1/4 at a time.  It should only take a second or two for them to cook and "poof".  Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain and cool. Cut up the vegetables.
           When the chicken is cooked, assemble the salad with the angel hair noodles on the bottom, then the rice noodles, next add the vegetables, finally the chicken on top and pour the dressing over everything and top with cilantro.

Raspberry Jalapeno Sauce/Jam

Our favorite way to eat this is to pour a jar over a warmed brick of cream cheese and use tortilla chips to scoop it up!

Raspberry Jalapeno Sauce
3 cups of raspberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1-2 hot jalapenos (Check the heat!  My garden jalapenos were waaaayyy too mild this year.)
4- 1/2 pint canning jars, lids and rings
          Prepare the jars for canning by washing them and put the lids in a bowl of hot water to soften the rubber edges.  Wash the raspberries and add them to a small saucepan with the sugar.  Stir to combine.  Wash the jalapeno and cut a slit, lengthwise in it.  Place the whole pepper into the pan.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  the berries will break apart and the sugar and juice will become a syrup consistency.  When the sauce has reduced to a thick syrup, turn off the heat and remove the jalapenos.  Ladle the sauce into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top.  Wipe the edge of the jar lid with a wet paper towel, place the lid on top, tightly screw the ring on top.  Turn the jar over and set it on a dishtowel to cool and seal. 

Chicken Fajita Skewers

I love to grill!  My dream is to one day have an outdoor kitchen.  These fajita skewers were an easy and different way to cook and serve one of my favorite meals.  The vegetables all came from my garden and the charred edges were so yummy! The marinade recipe was adapted from :here

Chicken Fajita Skewers
2 lbs. chicken breasts, cubed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper. diced
1 large onion, diced
1 lb. grape or yellow pear tomatoes
Wooden skewer sticks, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Marinade:
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup EVOO
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 tsp. red pepper flakes

• Combine ingredients.  Place chicken in a bowl or container.  Pour the marinade over the chicken and stir to coat chicken cubes.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
• Thread the chicken, peppers, onions, and tomatoes onto the skewers.  Grill over medium to high heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked.  Serve with warm flour tortillas and salsa.  Black beans and avocados are some of our favorites too!
• 
  

General Conference Sunday..."Sundae"

I love General Conference!  I love the talks, the music, the prayers, the whole weekend with my family, everything about it!  We have a living Prophet of God on the earth and 12 Apostles of the Savior, Jesus Christ, prayerfully seeking inspiration on messages which they then carefully write for Church members and non-members too.  I haven't always had this great appreciation.  I gained it as I grew older and learned the value of it over time.  I want my children to have this love for General Conference and what it represents earlier in life than I did.  I have found that the best way to gain and keep their interest now is to appeal their "fun" sides.  I treat conference weekend as if it were another holiday.  We plan special meals and in between session outings or service projects.  We have fun treat bags and gospel related activities to help occupy the younger family members during the talks.  Everyone gets a clipboard, a note taking packet and a set of colored pens, pencils or crayons.  I, myself, learn so much more when I am taking notes and so I am trying to instill the practice into my children as well.  I love re-reading my thoughts and impressions and comparing them to the written talks when the Conference Ensign comes in the mail.  The kids all seem to be catching on to the idea of note taking.  That is how they will "earn" the the ingredients for their Conference Sundae which we will make and eat at 4:05, after the very last Sunday session.  The kids have to take notes on each speaker to get the ingredient that goes with each speaker's picture.  The Prophet is the ice cream.  His counselors are the whipped cream and the fudge, butterscotch and strawberry toppings.  Each cup of candy toppings has a picture of one of the 12 Apostles in it.  The bowl and spoon are freebies. ;)  My kids are really excited for this new addition to our General Conference weekend festivities.

Winterizing the Garden

I was able to get the garden cleared out and winterized 10 minutes before a rainstorm.  After it began, it poured on us more than an inch and a half of water in a matter of a few hours. Whew!  I was so glad I got up early on Saturday.  I didn't even know it was supposed to rain.  :P

I first cleared all of the vegetation out of the boxes.  My cherry tomato plant still had several green tomatoes on it so when I pulled it out of the ground I left it in the cage.  I will turn it upside down and store it in the garage where it is fairly warm for now.  The upside down plant will send the energy it has stored in the leafy green areas to the tomatoes and they will ripen.  It will take about 10 days to 2 weeks.

Next I add a bag of steer manure to each garden box and mixed it in with the garden soil.  The soil is a mix of compost, peat moss and vermiculite.  It is a great, airy, light soil for vegetables.  The recipe comes from the square foot gardening guru.  It is really good for growing vegetables and flowers and only needs to be fertilized each year with compost or manure.  The steer manure is very "hot" and will burn tender plants and seeds if not given enough time to sit.  It should be applied at least 6 weeks before planting.  By putting it in the soil now I won't have to worry about it being too strong when I plant again in the spring as it will have all winter to sit and mellow.  After mixing in the manure I recoiled the drip hoses over each box.  When they heat up in the sun they become very pliable and in the winter they get cold and stiff.  I want them to retain the circular shape I have coiled them in so it is just easier to leave them in the boxes to hold that shape.

The final step was to staple heavy, clear plastic over each bed.  The soil is so light that it dries out very easily.  We get some pretty high winds and in past years I have felt like the garden boxes were pretty low by spring.  Hopefully the plastic will help keep the soil where it belongs.  I cut a 6- inch slit in the top of each of the plastic pieces to allow for a little air circulation and water drainage.

The strawberries are still producing so I will take care of them in a week or two.  They are a little different.  I will cut them back to the crowns and then add a layer of mulch over the top.  The herbs stay the way they are!  Some are perennial and will come back, others are annual and I will have to replant, and a few will actually survive the winter as is.  Good night garden!  See you next spring! :)

Butterscotch Oat Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Bacon Sprinkles

The name is super long because I couldn't think of what to call them!  It was a warm day, early in September, when I made these as you can see by the melting ice cream.  My kids liked them without the bacon, but what do they know?!  I liked the slightly salty bacon flavor.  I thought it balanced the sweet cookie and ice cream perfectly.

Butterscotch Oat Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Bacon Sprinkles
(Grandma Betty's cookie recipe with butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup shortening
3 eggs
3 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
5 1/2 cups oats (whole, rolled, not instant or quick!)
1 pkg. butterscotch chips
      Cream shortening and sugars together until fluffy.  Add beaten eggs, vanilla and water.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and then add to wet ingredients and combine just until mixed.  Stir in the oats and then the butterscotch chips.  Place rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and using a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, cut the cookies into circles and transfer to a cooling rack.  Cool completely.

For the ice cream:  I let a container of ice cream (Breyer's Natural Vanilla Bean) sit on the counter until just softened, about 20 minutes.  I lined 3 glasses with thin, plastic, bread-type bags that had been sprayed with Pam.  Then I spooned the soft ice cream into the glasses and put them into the freezer to refreeze.  When I was ready to assemble the sandwiches I removed the plastic bags from the glasses, peeled back the plastic and sliced the ice cream logs, 1 inch thick.  They were the same size as my cookie circles.

For the bacon:  Cook, drain and crumble several slices of bacon. Place the bacon on a small plate.  After assembling a sandwich I rolled the edges into the bacon.  Yum!

Grape Salad

Grape Salad
2 cups red seedless grapes
2 cups green seedless grapes
1/4 block (2 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp.granulated sugar
2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
    Wash the grapes and mix them together in a large bowl.  In a small mixing bowl combine the cream cheese and sugar.  Mix on medium speed for about a minute until well combined.  Add the sour cream and mix together.  Pour creamed mixture over the grapes and gently stir to coat all of the grapes.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the grapes, followed by the pecans. 

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole (recipe adapted from www.thriftyjinxy.com)
24 ounce pkg. frozen hashbrown potatoes
1 1/2 cups medium cheddar cheese, shredded
1 stick butter, melted
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups frozen vegetables (I used a mix of green beans, carrots and corn)
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
    Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a frying pan cook the ground beef and onion.  Drain off any grease ( I use 93% lean and rarely have to drain it!)  Add the flour to the pan and stir it to coat the ground beef and onions.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add the broth, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and stir.  Add the veggies and salt and pepper.  Cook for 4-5 minutes.  Pour meat and vegetables into a 9x13 pan.  In a medium sized bowl combine the potatoes, cheese and butter.  Spread the potatoes and cheese mixture over the meat and vegetables.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the hashbrowns are golden and crispy on top.  Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Elotes (Mexican Street Corn)

Elotes

Corn on the cob
EVOO or butter
mayonnaise
cotija cheese, crumbled
cilantro, chopped
chili powder
        Shuck the corn and remove all the silk threads.  Cook the corn on the grill, brush with either EVOO or melted butter and turn it after about 3 minutes.  I only cook it for about 9 minutes total.  I like my corn kernels still firm not soft or mushy. Remove it from the grill and immediately spread a thin layer of mayo on the corn.  Sprinkle with the cotija, then the cilantro and finally sprinkle on a little chili powder.    

Parmesan Basil Cream Sauce with Cherry Tomatoes

This sauce was really good over linguine with baked, breaded chicken breasts.  I love the taste of fresh basil and I have a lot of cherry tomatoes in my garden right now that I am trying to use creatively.
  
Parmesan Basil Cream Sauce with Cherry Tomatoes
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. EVOO
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
     In a hot medium skillet pan add the EVOO, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper, and tomatoes.  Toss and coat the tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add the chicken broth to the pan and bring it to a boil, stirring and occasionally scraping the sides of the pan to remove and garlic or seasonings.  When boiling add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese.  Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes to thicken.  Add the tomatoes back into the pan and the chopped basil leaves.  Let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Serve over pasta or chicken or both!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza (makes 2 cookie sheet pizzas)
1 recipe of pizza dough (see below)
3 chicken breasts, seasoned, grilled and diced
8 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup ranch dip (I use Uncle Dan's)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
6 green onions, sliced
12 ounces of shredded mozzarella or Italian blend cheese
      
Pizza Dough
1 1/2 cups hot water (105-110 degrees)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 extra cup flour
      In a medium bowl add the water, yeast, and sugar.  Stir and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.  In another bowl combine the 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, and garlic salt.  In a mixing bowl add the bloomed yeast and flour mixture.  Turn the mixer on low and with the dough hook and mix for about 5 minutes.  Add the extra cup of flour and let it mix in.  Turn the mixer up to medium and let it knead the dough for 5 minutes.  Take the dough out of the mixing bowl.  Lightly oil the mixing bowl, place the dough ball back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it raise about 10 minutes. (I like to turn my oven on for about 3 minutes and then turn it off and put the bowl in the warmed oven for the raising period.  Just don't get it too hot and cook the dough or kill the yeast.)  After it has risen, remove the dough from the bowl and cut it in half.  Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets and sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. of cornmeal onto each cookie sheet.  Stretch one of the dough halves onto each sheet.  You can roll it out with a rolling pin, or just push the dough out to the corners with you fingers.  Bake the dough for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees before adding the toppings.

Topping the pizzas.  Add 1/2 cup of the ranch dip and spread it onto the dough.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the shredded cheese over the ranch.  Next add the chicken, bacon, tomatoes, and green onions, half for each pizza.  Place the pizzas bake into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.  Remove, allow to sit and cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Ranch Corn Salad

This can be made with canned or frozen corn, but it is not as good as when made with fresh, off-the-cob corn.  It is simple to make and sooo good!

Ranch Corn Salad
4 ears of corn, shucked and cleaned
2 large Roma tomatoes
1 small red bell pepper
5 green onions
1/2 cup ranch dip (I use Uncle Dan's packets mixed with mayo and sour cream)
          Fill a large pot with water and put it over high heat to boil.  When it reaches a rolling boil add the ears of corn and cook for 3 minutes.  Remove the corn and rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Using a sharp knife cut all of the kernels off of the cob.  Add the corn to a medium mixing bowl.  Dice the tomatoes and add them to the corn.  Remove the seeds from the red bell pepper, dice it and add to the bowl.  Slice the green onions and add them as well.  Spoon in the ranch and gently stir everything together.  Top with green onions and serve or refrigerate and let the flavors all blend together before serving. 

Vacation Planning--My Final and Favorite Tip

 My favorite vacation planning tip is this:  Leave the house clean!  I love coming home to my house being clean and ready for another week.  Here is the list of things I have done before leaving:  Empty all of the garbage cans.  Clean out the refrigerator.  Clean the floors.  Clean the bathroom and wash all the towels.  Wash all the bedsheets.  Catch up all of the laundry.  These things get done a day or two before we leave.  The night before we leave I like to get the van/car all packed up and ready to go.  Then in the morning before we leave everyone has to make their bed and have their room inspected. 

The last thing I do is vacuum.  Usually everyone else is buckled up and ready to go and I am running the vacuum around one last time.  I love the look of freshly vacuumed rugs.

P.S.  I do not have OCD.  My kids are really good at making messes and some days I feel like I am never going to catch up with the laundry.  I love to read and play with my kids and have fun and sometimes I ignore the vacuuming for a few hours.  I just really like things neat and orderly and am happier when my home is clean, so I work to keep it that way.  Please don't hate me because of it! :)

These cereal containers have small garbage can liners in them and we will use them as garbage cans in our vehicles while we are traveling.  I hate driving in a messy car!

One last tip.  Everyone has packed enough clothes for the week, but you never know if you might want something washed while you are away.  Most hotels have a laundry room available to guests so I like to take a laundry kit with me when I travel.  I don't like putting dirty clothes into my bag with my clean clothes so I usually use big garbage bags to hold everybody's dirty clothes.  I found these mesh laundry bags at the dollar store, so we'll give them a try this time.  Even though everyone has packed enough for the 8 days we'll be gone, I still like to do a few loads of laundry about halfway through the trip or even the night before coming home.  It makes it easier for me when we get home if some of the clothes are clean and can be put away instead of everything needing to be washed.  I typically wash and dry about 2-3 loads every day at home so multiply that by 8 days and that is a lot of laundry to catch up on.  I don't wash everything because the machines are usually small loads and it can be expensive, but even 3-4 loads helps me feel like I have gotten a head start.  It also reminds me of how much I should appreciate my large capacity, front loading machines and helps me grumble a little less when I get home and have so much vacation laundry to do.

Vacation Planning--Souvenirs and Saving Money

About 2 months ago one of my girls, Sarah (15) said, "Mom can we wear matching shirts one day at Disneyland?" I told her I'd think about it and see what I could come up with.  I looked up "Disneyland iron transfers in JPEG" on Etsy and found HUNDREDS of designs to choose from.  I found the one above for $4.  I chose the JPEG format instead of premade transfers so that I could adjust the size.  The original print is a large one and I wanted a pocket sized image.

I then went back to Sarah, showed her this design and asked her what color shirts we should put it on.  She immediately said, "lime green."  I went to the Hanes website and found that they were having a sale, 40% off orders of $100 or more.  I also found free shipping code.  I started thinking about souvenirs.  My kids all love wearing hoodies in the fall and winter and I knew they would love to have one from Disneyland, but my research showed that they cost $60 in the stores at the park.  Yikes!  I decided to try to make my own.  I found another 2 designs on Etsy that I liked and let the kids choose which one they wanted.  One had 5 Mickey heads with the traditional characters and the other had 5 Mickey heads with the princesses.  They also chose the colors for their hoodies and whether they wanted pullover or zip up.  I ordered the 10 t-shirts, the girls got polyester (I love the dri weave!) and the boys got cotton, which is why there is a slight variance in the colors, and 8 hoodies for $151.  Way cheaper than buying them at the parks!

We put pocket sized transfers on the front of the zip ups and larger transfers on the front of the pullovers.  With the cost of the transfers and transfer paper and hoodie, each was a grand total of $12!  The green t-shirts were $4 each.  We love the designs too!

The lighter colored shirts and hoodies work the best with the homemade transfers!

I am going to share a few of my ideas for saving money on vacation.  Keep in mind that this is all relative to me!  Everyone has different ideas on saving money and it is always value based.  By that I mean, what is of value to you.  I have done vacations on a dime before and they are not my favorite way to travel.  I am kind of an "all or nothing" person.  I would rather take one really nice vacation every 2-3 years, than a cheap, no frills, skimp by vacation every year.  That's just me!  I don't really want to cook or eat fast food or sandwiches for every meal and I don't want to cram 10 people into a small hotel room.  There are a few ways that I like to save a little money though, so those specific to this vacation I will share.  The first one pertains to meals and drinks.  I do not buy soda for my kids very often and I rarely have any at the house.  I do, myself, like to drink Dr. Pepper, but only from a fountain, so I don't have cans or 2 liters at home.  This is my one "do as I say, not as I do rule" for my kids.  Bad example, I know.  Having said this, for this trip I have purchased about 12- 12 packs of different sodas for the kids to drink.  I will keep a cooler full in the van and one in the hotel room.  They will be allowed to drink them pretty much whenever they want.  Because they will have access to this special treat in the van and hotel I will encourage them to drink water while we are in the parks.  The cost of a small soda in Disneyland is $3.19  Yikes!  I think the kids will go along with this idea, especially since they will be on a budget, which I will explain later.

Everyone will have a fanny pack, terribly unfashionable, but extremely practical.

We don't need a stroller and I am NOT carrying everybody's crap stuff all around Disneyland, California Adventure, Sea World and Universal Studios!  So everybody will have to wear one of these.  They can put their electronics in a plastic bag to keep them dry on the wet rides and still have them to play with during the long line standing we will be doing.  Snacks, sunscreen, sanitizer, water bottles and as you can see, a $20 bill.  One of the ways we are saving a little money is by staying at a hotel that has a hot breakfast buffet included with the rooms, along with free parking, and it is close enough to walk to Disneyland (2 blocks).  We will eat a good breakfast in the morning and then plan to stay open to closing at the parks.  Each person will be given a $20 bill for food for the day.  The snacks in the fanny packs will help stretch the money and we will encourage the kids to share orders and eat smaller, more frequent meals during the day.  $20 is not much per person for 2 meals and snacks in these places!  I know, I have all the menus! :)  A Dole Pineapple Whip is almost $4 and I plan to eat at least one of those.  I feel that $20, along with the snacks they can carry, is a reasonable amount and by giving the kids the money to hold and spend themselves, they will be more responsible in their choices.  We can always adjust after the first day if we need to.
These are a couple of creative ways I choose to save money.  It may not be a large amount saved, but it is what works for me to still enjoy my vacation!  

Vacation Planning--Making the Car Trip Fun!

 Instead of dreading a long car trip with kids, why not make the drive a fun part of the vacation?  Even teenagers, well mine anyway, like these little special efforts I make to have fun on the way to our destinations.  It's an 8 1/2 hour drive from our house to Disneyland.  That's not a terribly long trip, especially with ipods and dvd players, but it can still get a little boring.  Boredom sets the stage for contention in the car.  The pictures above are one fun thing I love to do for car trips.  When the kids were little I would have several packages for them to open.  I tried to have something for every hour or even 1/2 hour.  Coloring books, crayons, treats, toys, etc.  It helped keep them occupied and really made the time pass quickly as they waited to open the next little "gift."  Now that they are older I don't think we need as many so I chose to do 3 for this trip.  It seems like they are always looking for their ear buds, so that is one of the packages they will open.  The other is a shuttle pen and the last is the treat.  We will stagger them and open them as we stop for breakfast, lunch and gas.

 These awesome neck pillows were sewn by my 13 year old daughter, Kaitlin.  She drew her own pattern on newspaper and got busy!  It took 3 prototypes before she got one she really liked, but then she sewed 8 of them.  The fleece and stuffing brought each pillow to a cost of less than $1.  Isn't that great?  $1.  I think she did a fabulous job!  They are very comfortable and will be so much easier to use than the big bed pillows and blankies we used to have to take when they were younger.

We always bring games and activity books to play with.  For one car trip I had a green container, like the one pictured, for each child.  It held snacks and crayons and books and games and activities for each one and they could use the closed container as a desk on their laps.  For this trip I decided that we didn't need a container for each child.  Instead, I packed games and activities in one container and they can take things out as they want to use them.  They all have chapter books and series' that they are reading right now that they will take with them, and everyone has an ipod, so I think the items in this one box will be enough to hold them over in between.

As soon as she finished the neck pillows, I got my seamstress started on another little project for me.  These little drawstring bags are part of an incentive game during the drive to California.  Each kid will start out with 30 points worth of red, white and blue chips in their bag.  If they are causing distress to a sibling or annoying the driver, they will be asked to hand over a chip.  The number on the chip they hand over will depend upon the severity of the infraction, as determined by the driver.  If they are penalized and lose a chip, they will have the opportunity to earn it back with prolonged good behavior.  I am pretty strict about keeping your hands to yourself and not pestering siblings so the possibility of losing chips is pretty high for some of my kids.  Parker (12) has already told me, very matter of factly, that he expects to lose about 5 points before we reach the hotel.  *sigh*  He is one of the main reasons I am putting this game together in the first place.  He is a good kid, but he is a brother and he loves to tease his sisters and he gets his little brother to go in on the action with him.  Boys!

The chips will be used to "purchase" snacks and treats for the week.  Each will cost 1 chip or 1 point.
I have a bag packed with the little portion cups from Costco (love these!) to fill with the unwrapped little treats and candy.  These will fit perfectly into the fanny packs that everyone will wear in the parks.  Hopefully these snacks and treats will motivate good behavior during the drive so the kids will want to keep their points/chips. I am confident it will!  I have chosen some of their favorites.

Vacation Planning--Clothes Packing

 This is a simple tip, but it can really help when you are away from home, especially with little children, big children too!  Because my children are mostly teenagers who pack for themselves, it is easier if they all have their own bag.  These duffel bags are great because even though they are compact, they will easily hold a week's worth of clothes for each person, that is, if you pack them tightly.  I think the best way to do that is to roll your clothes. 

 I have the kids lay out one whole day's outfit like this picture above.  Pants/shorts on the bottom, then the shirt, underwear and socks.  Start at the waistband and roll everything into a tight roll, just like you would a sleeping bag.

 I usually just put the roll into my bag at this point, but it really helps if you add a rubberband around the roll in the middle, especially for kids packing.  Then their rolls will stay tight and they can pull out several to decide which outfit they want for the day, without unrolling everything.

Vacation Planning--Thinking Ahead "Beach Towels and Sand Castles"

I like planning a vacation several months, or years, ahead of time.  The anticipation and the building excitement are a big part of the fun for my kids.  Countdowns and discussions of what to do and where to eat and will we wear matching shirts one day are some of the things they love to plan.  I love the time to think ahead and plan for things we will need or want while away from home.  We started planning this coming Disneyland trip back in December.  I began looking at options right away and waited until I found the right package and best deals for our family before booking the details.  We are taking the kids' favorite uncle with us so there will be a total of 10 people.  My 9 year old son is the only one still considered a "child."  We are driving 2 cars and need 2 hotel rooms.  We decided to stay in a hotel 2 blocks from Disneyland so we could easily walk to the park.  We chose one with a hot breakfast buffet, included with the rooms, and free parking.  We also chose 2 suites with enough beds for 6 in each room.  I was able to purchase the City Pass for less money than the 3 day park hopper tickets and 1 day Universal Studios tickets that we were originally planning, so we got to throw in 1 day in Sea World for free and actually saved an additional $113 by doing so.  We booked through GetAwayToday travel.  I love this company!  I have spent a lot of time putting together packages on my own and have never been able to get the price lower than what they offer.  (I am not a paid spokesperson for them.)

$300 + in beach towels for 75 cents plus $10 s/h:
At the beginning of this summer I was thinking of our trip and the beach.  I started thinking about how our beach towels are getting a little raggedy and thread bare.  I wanted to purchase some new ones, but wanted to find a really good deal and then I remembered Kohl's Cash.  We were planning a day in July to take the kids up north to do their school clothes shopping and go to 7 Peaks Water Park, just waiting for a Kohl's sale and coupon to come in the mail.  Sure enough, we soon received a 30% off your entire purchase coupon and planned our shopping/swimming day.  I received $80 in Kohl's Cash that day, which I could spend the next weekend.  The following weekend I looked online at the Kohl's site and was excited to find that their $29.99 beach towels were on clearance for $6.99.  I was able to use my Kohl's Cash to buy 11 beach towels for 75 cents total, plus $10 s/h to have them mailed to me.  We got a great deal on some of our back to school clothes and free towels!

I like to keep things simple and organized for traveling so I went to the dollar store and bought these colorful drawstring bags for everyone.  They will hold a towel, swimsuit, beach shoes, sunscreen and sunglasses for each person.  Then when we hit the beach we won't be searching through duffel bags looking for stuff.  We'll grab our bags and be ready to go!

I also decided months ago to buy each of the kids a nice, sturdy duffel bag for traveling.  For years we have used mismatched, small suitcases and bags that we have accumulated here and there.  I have noticed that the favorite bag and the first one chosen each time is an old UDOT duffel bag that Mike received one year from work.  I found a style of duffel that I really liked and began to watch for a sale.  Sure enough!  I found the $39.99 bags on sale a while later for $15.99 with a free shipping code.  Each child got to choose their own print for their duffel and I ordered them.  I will show a picture of them when I post my "packing tips."  The point is to think ahead for what you might want or need and watch for good deals!

One more idea is to plan what activities you will want to do while at your destination.  I love making sand castles at the beach!  Before a trip we took to Disney back in 2003 I did some research on sand castles and how to build a really great one.  I found a company online that sold special castle building tools and a video on how to use them.  I spent $25 and ordered the kit.  We watched the movie and learned what to do.  When we got to Huntington Beach, I built an awesome castle!  The tools and kit really helped! It made it a lot of fun. We are taking the bucket and tools again this year and we will try to recreate another great sand castle.  We have had a lot of fun watching the how to movie and relearning.

Plan ahead!  It's fun and adds to your vacation experience!

Vacation Planning--the Notebook

 I am a planner!  I love to have things organized and easy.  These pictures are of the notebook I put together for my Hawaii trip.  I like to have these for every big trip we take.  It helps me to have an itinerary and menus and maps and copies of reservations and ticket info. all in one notebook.  Now in our digital age I can access most of this online and so I now keep an electronic version for easy phone access, but I also like having a paper version handy just in case of poor cell service.  I am in the process of completing our current Disney notebook, so I am showing you my finished Hawaii one as an example for now.

 The first section is restaurants and menus.  What you can't see in the picture is the second page after each restaurant has a mapquest map from our hotel to the restaurant with "walking" directions.  We were on foot in Waikiki so I printed the walking maps.  After a few days we had a better feel for the area and didn't rely on the maps as much, but they were really helpful at first.

 I had a section for each of the days activities and maps that were relevant.  I also kept copies of reservations and payments and wesbite info and contact numbers for the various activities. It was really easy to see where we were going and what was planned for each day with this notebook.  As you can see it is super thick and used a lot of paper and ink, but I felt it was worth it!  I was able to schedule everything we wanted to do and we were never lost or confused while we were there.

I had a lot of maps!  A LOT!  I had a map to every destination and a map from every destination to the next until we returned to the hotel. It was great!  We were never lost or confused.  All of the time I spent in preparation really gave me a good sense of direction before we even arrived and while we were there I had a good idea of street names and positional directions (N,E,S,W) on the island.  I felt familiar with placement of our destination spots before even arriving.
To see the whole itinerary of what we saw and did go to this post:Aloha! Itinerary
For the menus pages, go to:Aloha! Restaurants
Both of these pages have links to websites with information.  You might find some fun things to plan for your own vacation!  They both show you examples of how I like to plan for vacations.