Rotten Strawberries? No More!

Ever hear of Tupperware?  You’d have to be living in another universe not to have.  How many of your friends have had a Tupperware Party?  Too many to count, right?  I attended a friend’s party and the lady really sold me on these items called Fridge Smart Containers.  She said they kept your veggies and fruits longer and helped to save you money.  I mean let’s face it, doesn’t it just irritate the heck out of ya when you throw food away, especially fresh produce!!  Besides “supposedly” being able to keep my fresh fruits and veggies longer, I was already looking for new containers to complete this task, so I bought them to help my friend out with her party.  Kinda of pricey if you ask me, but I  got “better” containers than I was currently using.  I liked the warranty and I added up what I had spent on the throw aways and the purchase seemed sound enough.  Don’t get me wrong, I reuse the throw away containers, but after a few visits through the dishwasher, they get kinda yucky.  Let me be VERY clear.  I am not a Tupperware consultant, I’m not trying to sell their product for them, I am just sharing my experience. 

Strawberries were on sale last week for $1.88.  That’s a good sale and we eat lots of strawberries (did you know they help brighten your teeth?)  Strawberries NEVER store long, but I bought three containers knowing we would eat them all.  I only had one Tupperware Fridge Smart not in use, so I put as many strawberries in there that I could and kept the rest in their original packaging. 

I bought the strawberries a week ago today.  Look at the difference between original packed and Tupperware packed.  Needless to say, it’s been a week and we have not finished the strawberries yet.  Thankfully, I only had to throw away a few berries from the original container.  The others are still great and will be eaten with lunch this week.

Side by side....original packaging and fridge smart container...wow!  what a difference!

I really couldn’t believe my eyes.  These containers really DO work!!!  Next time, note to self.  Buy more strawberries and use very large Fridge Smart container to store them.

~Yup, that’s Pinteresting

Car Baking?

On a nice hot day in August there are many things to do.  When you live in a home without air conditioning, baking is not something you attempt when the heat index is already at 100 degrees.  So what do you do when your children are "dying" for chocolate chip cookies?  I happen to have purchased a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough from a local fundraiser sometime ago.  I rolled the dough into cookies and stuck them in a freezer bag to pull out a few when we felt like "fresh baked" cookies.  Spoiling my children with actually baked cookies instead of Chips Ahoy or the like has sort of back fired a bit on me here and there.  Every time they "have" to have them, so do I.  Super simple way to add the LBS on there!  Luckily for me, those cookies are almost finished.  By the way, they must be the most awful cookie I have ever tasted, but yet, somehow I continue to eat a few every time we bake them.  I much prefer the Chips Ahoy, or better yet, some hot out of the oven Nestle Toll House cookies.  Oh, right, back on track....

Months ago I saw a pin on Pinterest about baking cookies in your car.  That's right, in your car.  You can view the Baking Bites blog here.  Nicole Weston even shares her car chocolate chip recipe with you!!  A recipe that I must try next time, thanks Nicole!  

The kids and I prepped the cookie sheet with a Silpat (silicone baking sheet) just in case things were going to be sticky.  I had no idea how this experiment of baking in the car was going to go, and I didn't want to have to scour my cookie sheet.  We placed the chilled cookie rounds on the sheet and went to the car dashboard.

We started with the cookies on the front dashboard since the most sun was hitting the front of the car.  It was HOT in the car, but how hot...I have no idea, this wasn't a true scientific experiment, sorry.

Anyway, the cookies took sometime to bake, about 4 hours give or take 10 or 15 minutes.  I did move them to the back of the car for the last 1 hour.  The sun had moved and I thought maybe it would help "burn" them a little...crisp them up.  Didn't work, oh well.  

Here are the cookies at about the 3/4 finished point.

Eww...see all that oil, no wonder I think these cookies are awful.

I never did get an after shot of the finished product, the kids and their friends really just scooped up the cookies as soon as I said they were done.  

Good thing we were just hanging poolside and didn't have to go anywhere.  My children loved the finished result.  The cookies never got crispy and stayed pretty gooey, they were cooked enough and the kids said they tasted great...me, I think they are still awful, but I ate a few...haha!  Bonus, the car did smell yummy for a few hours. 

Yup, that's Pintersting!

Rain in a Jar = Cool!

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/06/making-it-rain/

Have you ever tried to explain to your children why it is raining?  I saw this Pin on Pinterest and I thought this was a really clever way to show how rain occurs.  Believe me, this can work for young and old.  It also happened to be raining the day we did this, so it was a perfect day to try this experiment out.  

We used an old Mason Jar, some blue food coloring (just cause) and a plate with a handful of ice cubes.  

←Here is the Pin that inspired our science experiment.  

The Pinspiration for this Pin came from http://www.weatherwizkids.com.  This is a fantastic site created by Meteorologist, Crystal Wicker.  She has compiled a wealth of fun information to share with your children regarding weather.  

  

Here's our rain jar....we did it twice because I didn't read the directions thoroughly.  Yes, I have that problem.  First time I put the plate on the jar with the cubes already in place.  Wrong!

Look, it's raining in the jar.  Cool!

Second time, I re-read the directions and placed the plate on the jar empty, waited a few minutes, then put the ice cubes on.  Wow, it was really cool!  Give it a try.  Another fun, Pinteresting project for FREE!

Yup, that's Pinteresting!